How Important is Diet Anyway?
Have you ever found yourself justifying those little treats throughout the day? Ever say to yourself, "I worked out this morning, so I can have this ice cream." Then an hour later, "well I worked out this morning, so these few fries are not going to hurt...after all...I worked out!" Are you making excuses and justifications like these and not seeing the results that you want? Be honest with yourself. You are pushing yourself so hard each morning and wasting all of that effort on one treat. It has been proven over and over again...YOU CANNOT OUTTRAIN A POOR DIET. We burn about 350 calories each morning in class. You can over eat by 350 calories in about 3 minutes. How long did it take you to eat that burger or brat and those chips? Did you enjoy the Blizzard? How about the 200 calories of salad dressing that you just poured all over your SALAD? How is that healthy? Why do you want to do that to your body? Consistency in your diet is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT thing in weight loss and changing your body. You can lose "weight" by eating healthy and sitting on your butt. As long as you are eating less calories than what you are burning, you will lose weight. There are major draw backs to losing weight this way. 1. You are not losing fat, you are losing mostly muscle and other lean tissue, like bone mass when you don't complement that healthy diet with exercise. 2. You are sabotaging your metabolism. As you lose muscle, you burn fewer and fewer calories each day. This leads to a vicious cycle of having to eat less so you are still losing, which causes you to lose more muscle, which makes your metabolism slower, so you have to eat less... 3. You feel lethargic, depressed, and unhappy. You wonder why you are feeling like this and how you can get out of it, but you never seem to be able to perk up. GET MOVING! Exercise and a healthy diet is the way to go! Exercise makes you feel good. Exercise builds muscle, so now you are burning more calories all day so you can actually eat food (healthy food) and feel good about it. Working out with me is causing your body to burn through the body fat, and gain lean strong, smooth muscle. Ladies, you want muscle. You want to be strong and empowered. You don't need anyone to carry your bags for you. You can do it! EAT HEALTHY! Get your diet UNDER CONTROL! You want to lose weight, then STOP WITH THE TREATS. Remember the two kinds of pain. The pain of discipline (what I am going through right now) and the pain of regret. I totally understand what you are going through! If I give in to my cravings and hunger now, and I don't win my competition, then I will have REGRET. I will look back and know that it was the extra meal or treat that I allowed myself to have. If I allow myself to eat more, another competitor is being more strict and will come in looking better than me, and I will not reach my goal. I am stronger than that! I HAVE GOALS and I am not going to let ANYTHING stop me! What are your goals? What is more important to you? The candy bar you are eating right now (instant gratification) or fitting in that bikini by July (delayed gratification...)? Looking and feeling sexy by your anniversary or eating cheesecake? Make the decision and go after it. I know it is hard. I am living it right now with you, but you set goals and make a commitment to yourself, no matter what to achieve them...when you get there, it is going to feel amazing. It will be worth all of the little treats that you resisted! Don't think about it as sacrificing your favorite foods. Start thinking about what those foods are doing to your body and how you are sacrificing looking and feeling amazing by eating them. Ladies, the secret is out. A healthy, CLEAN diet is the way to go. Look at our weight loss stars! They have changed their diets and been VERY consistent. They are losing weight each week. You can too. Make up your mind to do it, and DO IT! You are in control of what goes into your body, and you will not lose weight and reach your goals by eating sugar and processed foods and junk. Give your body what it needs. To get the body of your dreams, you have to work hard for it. I know that you are working hard for me in class, but are you following through and working hard for you? Junk food is not the answer. Sugar is NOT the answer. Grains are what they use to fatten cows to get them up to slaughter weight faster. There is a reason that our society is over weight. It is the amount of processed foods that we eat. DO NOT continue this cycle. Take responsibility for your actions. DO NOT ask me why you are not losing weight if you have more than 4 x's on your food journal each week. YOUR DIET IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN WHAT YOUR BODY LOOKS LIKE. Unless you have 8 hours to devote to exercise like the contestants of the Biggest Loser, you HAVE to watch what you eat. I will say it again. Without a proper diet, you will not reach your goals. My contest diet is THE most strict regimented thing that I have ever followed in my life. I am not good at being on a diet. I am not good at being hungry. I am both right now! I will not give in. I have made the commitment to you that I am going to be in a figure competition. I am in it to win it. I want to KNOW that I did everything possible to be the most prepared woman in that show. Are you doing the same for our class competition? Yes, some of the ladies pulled out really big numbers for our first weigh in, but they don't have it in the bag...how badly do you want it? Remember, food journals are a part of winning as well. Changes in food journals and hard work to follow the guidelines is part of winning. Weight loss is a part of winning. Effort in class is a part of winning. Give me your all, both in class and throughout the day and you will see results. If you want a muffin in the afternoon, think about how that muffin will affect your body. Think about if you really want to eat all that sugar. Think about if you want to blow all of that effort you gave me in class! Eat some cottage cheese and tomatoes with a handful of almonds. That is a really good snack, and it will satisfy you so much better than that muffin, which will give you a quick burst of energy from the sugar, but will leave you down lower than when you started. You can do it. Your goals and that body of your dreams is within reach. You can do so much more than you believe. Set your mind to it, and don't give up! Make the most of your body. Make the most of your health. Do it for you! Make food choices that you can be proud of. Show me what you are made of, both in class and out! Thank you for listening to me vent! :) I want this so badly for each and every one of you. Every pound is a success. Treat it that way! Anything that I can do to help you, just ask and I am there! Have a great afternoon - start today and make your dreams a reality! Love, Emily | 
