Food Behavior Tip #5

Food Behavior Tip #5 - The 'excuses' series

Everyone has excuses.  The more we can eliminate these 'road blocks,' the closer we can get to our goals.  I am going to help you do that. :)

"You can have excuses or you can have results. NOT both"

So with that said, excuse #1:

"I don't have time" (to workout, prepare food, track food)

Did you know there are 168 hours in a week...

We work on average 50 hours a week
Sleep 8 hours per night, 56 hours a week
Spend 5 - 8 hours per week running errands
Maybe (on the high end) 5 - 7 hours per week commuting to work

That is a total of 47 hours of free time.  FORTY SEVEN.  So instead of saying you don't have time, you decided not to make time.  How important is your health and fitness goals?  It takes 1 hour per day (6 days per week) to exercise, and maybe 5 hours TOPS a week to prepare and plan your food.  That is   only 11 hours!  You still have 36 hours to do whatever you want!  Whether it is hang out with your friends, spend time with your family,  do house work, or watch TV.  Either way, it takes about 11 hours out of your schedule to make a better version of yourself... you have the time, make it happen.

We are good at wasting time, if it is important you will MAKE time and find a way.  Decide how important it is to you.

Schedule it in your planner, iphone,  or calendar when you are working out and when you are making food.  Make it an appointment, just like anything else.

Here is a quick and easy recipe for you, NO excuses! :)

Mango Banana 'Frozen' Dessert 

Ingredients:

1 cup of Trader Joe's organic frozen mango
1/2 of a banana (regular, NOT frozen)
1/2 cup of Trader Joe's light coconut milk or 365 Whole Foods coconut milk (full fat) - both in the can




Directions:

Put all ingredients in a Blender or Food Processor
Let the Mango soften up a little bit, but still somewhat frozen
BLEND
Take out of the blender, put it in a bowl and enjoy!
You can eat it with a spoon (i think it is similar to frozen yogurt) or drink with straw, it is pretty thick!

You can add your favorite protein powder and have it as a after workout smoothie OR put fresh pomegranate on top and have as a dessert.

ENJOY!

Food Behavior Tip #4

Because you do deserve it....

We start 'diets' and we think at some point we deserve a 'treat'

Planned cheats are different than this...  (so yes you can treat yourself here and there) but with the right intention.

I had a bad day, I workout for 2 hours, I am REALLY stressed out, I DESERVE this...

This is a black hole for continuous offenses of bad food behavior... 

You don't deserve that, you deserve better.  You deserve health, energy and a sense of accomplishment.  You deserve a better version of you.  

Reward yourself with other things: like a massage, or an hour to yourself reading a book.  'Do not reward yourself with food, you are not a dog'

Same goes with punishing:  Because you ate something bad, doesn't mean you have to beat yourself up for 3 hours at the gym either, it won't work anyways... you can't and won't out train a bad diet.  So start fresh and move on.

Speaking of healthy rewards....

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

• 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• nutmeg and clover 
• 2 tbsp of apple spread/butter
• 2 heaping tbsp of ground flaxseeds

Heat a frying pan at medium to warm up, add a little bit of coconut oil to prevent sticking (I do recommend a non stick pan)

Put all ingredients in a medium bowl

Use a hand mix and blend till even, little to no lumps

Use a ladle and pour single pancakes, if you have a bigger pan you could do more at a time

Cook about 5 minutes on each side (depends on your stove)

Then eat with your favorite topping! I put sunflower seed butter and sliced bananas

You could heat up fruit and put that on top as well

Add protein powder and have after a workout

Enjoy!