Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail!

I'm going to make this a quick one because I think the point has been beat into everybody by now.

We all know what we are SUPPOSED to eat, right?

Likewise, we all know what we are NOT SUPPOSED to eat, right?

If that is the case, then why do we start to feel guilty every time we "cheat" on our diets?

Very simply put, it is because we do not prepare well enough ahead of time when it comes to our nutrition. We fail to plan and thus, we plan to fail.

You can throw every statistic in the world out there about how vital our nutrition is to our goals. Personally, I believe that it weights about 80% of whether or not we achieve those goals for a variety of reasons. Namely:

• Food is fuel, and if we do not fuel ourselves properly throughout the day, it triggers responses in our body that force us to make some not so wise choices towards the latter part of the day.
• The type of food we out into our body dictates whether we have enough energy for our workouts, or just to get through our day. We wouldn't put diesel in a Ferrari would we? (Hint: No.)
• There are varying schools of thought which say eat 5-6 small meals a day, and others that say that you should eat when your hungry. You have to try both and see which works for you and make it sustainable.
• We just don't plan.

I consider myself to have a very good diet. There are days however, when I do not plan to bring enough food to work with me. I find when I come home, I tend to feel lethargic and just want to put anything in. As such, I tend to look for the quick, easy fix, and that is when my own diet starts to take a dip.

Sound familiar?

Don't feel bad. It is perfectly normal. Everyone does it. The key factor here is that now we know that we need to plan out our meals for the day to ensure that we do not get caught in this "quick fix" trap. Figure out whether you need to plan the night before, or give yourself adequate time in the morning to get it done.

Try it for one week and see the results. Food affects our mood, our energy, our stress, our body composition and even the way we sleep. Taking a few minutes in our days to plan out our fueling strategy can and will make the difference between success and failure.

AmeriCanuck Paleo Challenge: Do or Do Not...

For those of you who don't know, my dear friend Patrick and I decided last week to partake in a little nutritional challenge between April 3rd and May 8th. I've really been on a Paleo kick lately, but find my commitment to it wanes from time to time. Turns out, grains really are an addiction!

Why are they so hard to give up? Well let's be honest: we've grown up thinking that these were good for us, that we needed "carbs" in order to function and so on and so forth. Old habits are hard to break, as are previous mindsets. Recent studies by Paleo gurus Art De Vany (http://arthurdevany.pro.subhub.com/), Robb Wolf (http://www.robbwolf.com) and Loren Cordain (http://www.thepaleodiet.com), have shown otherwise.

In a nutshell (pardon the pun), the Paleo diet means no grains, no dairy, no legumes or sugar. It means plenty of lean meats, quality vegetables and fruits, and healthy fats as well as some nuts. (A simple google search will answer the rest of your questions). Protein, carbs, fat. Simple right? Sure. How long have you gone without break, rice, and pasta? Not as easy as you think. The more I educate myself however, the more I realize that this is really doing nothing for me. Why would we put garbage "food" into our bodies? You wouldn't fuel a Ferrari with diesel would you??? (Hint: No. You wouldn't.)

Back to the challenge.

My friend wants to shed some pounds. I'd like to work on my discipline and if it means some aesthetic qualities show up at the end (ie. abs), I'm not going to complain about it. We've set goals for ourselves, taken pictures on day 1 and taken measurements. We've told our friends and family on a Facebook group what we are doing so that we can hold ourselves accountable.

It's been two days and I feel great. Did hot yoga on day 1, and had a great workout in the evening today. What's driving me is not necessarily the end goal, but the process and the commitment to eating right, and fueling this Ferrari with some high octane fuel. It also helps that my buddy down south is doing the same. And if in turn, it makes you think about some of the stuff you are actually putting into your body, and makes you really THINK about it, then hopefully it will help you along your path too. This is why I do what I do (blog name! They do this in movies all the time!)

To finish, I read a tweet today from @_robin_sharma today: "The translation of "I'll try" is "I'm not committed."

I think a little green dude in Star Wars said something similar once.