Thrive Personal Fitness Springfield, MO Personal Trainer Pamela Hernandez is your guide on the journey to health and fitness. Personal training for weight loss in Springfield, MO.

Food Is Not The Enemy

by Pamela

I love food. I don’t find this a complication in my journey to health and fitness. I find, however, that most people do. When I talk to people who exercise, but fail to address the nutrition side of the fitness equation I usually hear the same excuse.   They all tell me they love food too much.

Loving food is not a bad thing. Food is not the enemy.  You do not have to stop loving food to live a healthy and fit lifestyle. It is really the dynamic of your relationship with food that has to change. 

First, you have to look at those foods that you really love and ask yourself do they love you back? If you really love French fries what are those French fries doing for you?  They are giving you lots of sodium, fat and tons of calories with little nutrient value. Why do we love something that doesn’t love our body?

Next, take this same food and realize that you can make it better.  One of my favorite foods is sweet potato fries. You can find many variations on this recipe, but basically you cut up a sweet potato into sticks or wedges, drizzle with some olive oil and your favorite blend of spices. Personally I enjoy a Cajun spice with a little kick. Then bake. This is a quick, easy recipe that is full of nutrients without all the fat.  I find that any fattening treat can be revised and retooled to become part of a healthy eating plan.

When I do indulge I pick quality over quantity.  If I decide I just have to have some French fries, I would not go to some generic and bland fast food establishment. I go to a great pub not far from my house that has homemade hand cut waffle fries with just the right blend of spices. I use my calorie "budget" on something that is worth it. I would also probably share so I could have a little, but not enough to make me miserable for the rest of the night.

No one ever said you can never have another restaurant fry again. I do not think it is realistic to expect us to give up our favorite treats for life. What you might find though is you do not want them like you did before making healthy and fit changes in your life.  I use the French fry example because they used to be one of my favorite foods. If I had a “cheat meal”, fries would most likely be included. The further along I got on this journey, a funny thing happened. I wanted them less and less. They made me feel bad after I ate them. They were too greasy going down. The last time I had French Fries was probably 6-8 months ago.

After we clear out some of the junk food we start to crave different things. Our bodies start to want something more than salt, fat and sugar. I know it sounds odd, but our tastes do change.  Another personal example, I love hard boiled eggs with the yolk pulled out. This is actually something I ate as a kid, but my love of them has grown in the last year or two. I am constantly boiling eggs because I eat them every night as a snack.  I also look forward to those sweet potato fries with a tasty veggie burger. 

Your love of food should not impede your progress.  You need food to stay strong and healthy. Loving the right foods and changing your relationship with food will make your fitness journey that much satisfying and successful.

Got a healthy but somewhat unconventional craving? Tell me all about it!

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Posted on December 17th, 2009