“It must be nice to be naturally thin.”
“You can eat that, you’re skinny”
“Oh! YOU don’t have to worry about what you eat.”
As trainers we hear these comments often. Everyday we encourage and coach clients to live their best lives and to make good choices. We help them decide what it means to make good choices. We talk about food options for many different scenarios including staving off cravings, surging through the midday “slump,” and powering up for a vigorous workout. We come up with creative, convenient, and delicious ways to replace unhealthy foods with healthier options. We share our favorite healthy recipes and tricks to stay on track when temptation arises. We “walk the walk and talk the talk” when it comes to eating healthy, and on the outside we may make it look easy. BUT the struggle is real!
As a fit and active adult, Matt admits that he struggles with portion control. When the volume of endurance activity increases, he is very hungry. It is very easy to justify eating extra calories, and in reality the body needs the extra calories. However, it is easy to allow yourself to eat without limits to curb the hunger. Matt acknowledges that he needs to measure out the appropriate portions of food and work really hard to resist going back for more. Sometimes he can talk himself out of the extra serving of pasta, and sometimes he can’t.
Melissa confesses to repeatedly opening the pantry, looking at what’s inside, then closing the pantry -- searching for something. She finds herself asking,”What am I looking for?” and “Am I even hungry?” Chances are, the answer is not even in the pantry, and she isn’t even hungry. Food can creep in as a replacement for boredom or a comfort for a stressful day. Sometimes Melissa can close the pantry and walk away empty-handed, and sometimes she can’t.
Logging food, counting calories, modifying unhealthy recipes, and timing out meals and snacks throughout the day is exhausting. Erin finds herself obsessing over this process on a daily basis. Striving to maintain the balance of calories in vs. calories out is a struggle each and every day, and the temptation of ice cream or cheesecake is always there. Walking away from the temptation is never easy to do, but she knows she will feel better in her clothes, and during her workouts, and throughout her long days with kids, if she does. Sometimes she can walk away from the treat, and sometimes she can’t.
So, yes, the struggle is real, and it is constant for all of us — trainers included! We experience these feelings too, but remember that perfection is impossible and not even necessary. As trainers, our goal is to live our best lives with balance, moderation and the occasional slice of cheesecake!