Battle of the Wills

Will Power. What exactly is that? I have no idea, but I do know that I do not possess any of it. If there is something I deem to be tasty laying around, I will eat it. (which is why I must say sorry to my hubster. We won't be having those Swiss Cake Rolls around the house anytime soon. I simply cannot resist their calls) I love food. Especially chocolate. And bacon. Everything tastes better with bacon. But one thing I have learned in the past, is you have to allow yourself to partake in some food indulgence once in a while otherwise you will just eat the whole plate of goodness when presented with an occasion where there are less than healthy food choices available. I have also found that it is good to find recipes that include some of your favorite foods. For instance, I have two recipes that include bacon and they are healthy! It really does help to reduce cravings and keep you from going off the deep end.

A tip that I read from an article on Jillian Michael's website was to not be strict in your diet every day. She suggested that you be strict 4 days out of the week then be moderate in your diet the other 3 days. I did try this method for about a month (I believe it was last October) and it did help to keep the strong cravings for things like chocolate at bay. On the days that I considered 'moderate' I ramped up my exercise to try to combat the extra calories I may have consumed. I must say that it did work pretty well. In fact, since I am just starting to get back in the swing of dieting and exercising I have been using this method. I find that if you are just starting or trying to get back into good habits, its better to be gradual in the changes you make. I think gradually removing the bad habits and inserting good habits makes it easier to keep the changes around. If you start cold turkey, you might be more apt to crash and burn when cravings hit.

Another thing that I do is journal what I eat. There are a couple of ways I do this. One way is I keep a little notebook handy. And when I eat something I write it down. It's one way to keep yourself on the right path. If you can see what you have eaten, you might be less likely to eat a cookie, donut or bag of chips. Another way is to use a website. The website I am preferring at this time is www.sparkpeople.com This website is awesome and it is completely free. They have a spot where you can track your goals. There are several community boards you can join. You can even create your own blog on there. But the tool I find the most helpful is the Nutrition Tracker. You simply enter in the foods you eat and it calculates the calories, protein, fat and carbs for you. It gives you a daily goal to try to reach and will even tell you how many of each you have left. So, if you like to use websites, that's a good one. I could go on and on about all that they offer, but maybe you should just check it out for yourself and see if its something that will help you in your journey.