I had a realization the other night of how sloppy my diet had become. I set out on the mission at the beginning of the semester to discipline myself on what I ate when and have done an awful job of sticking to it. Since I have to prepare my own meals and do not have the luxury of always having a full pantry like I do at home, I make the excuse that I need the extra calories any way I can get it when something less than optimal is available. To some extent, this may be true. I have gained some weight, which I am trying to do, and have not seen at increase in body fat percentage. But it got me thinking of how much better I would look if I substituted real, nutritional food for the junk I eat, especially simple sugars at night. Also, I will be going home in a month for Thanksgiving and don’t think its fair to my mom (probably the best cook east of the Mississippi) for me not to eat anything and everything she puts in front of me during my Thanksgiving and Christmas break. To allow for this gorging, I came up with a short term plan to get myself back on track.
I am breaking the month I have left into two, 2 week sections divided by Halloween. This will allow for a cheat day of your choice where you can indulge in candy, snacks, pizza, and/or adult beverages if you are of age. This is only one cheat day though, so you can’t justify going to a Halloween party on the weekend and then crushing candy all night on Halloween. One or the other, you choose. Other than that, no simple sugars except for when it is appropriate as outlined in the Nutrition section.
Don’t let this be you
I have another three weeks after Thanksgiving where I will be at school doing the same thing before I go back home for Christmas break where I will be tempted with 7 layer cookies, chocolate pie, and black bottoms (my personal favorite).
My challenge to you is to do the same. This is a great time for you to tighten your diet up and try to make some permanent changes before you get bombarded with traveling, poor eating habits, and no place to workout.
If you have any questions about food choices, please do not hesitate to ask. Feel free to share what your strategy is around the holidays to keep the unwanted pounds away.
Barrett Stover 