Healthy Happy Just Uplevel with Me

Step One: Finding Peace with Food and Upleveling your current diet

This will be the hardest thing you've ever done. All those rules you've created over the last several years about food including the biggest (terrible) rule that their are good foods and bad foods. They all need to go. We will no longer refer to foods as good and bad. Food is food.
Ok but chocolate isn't good for... shhh chocolate is delicious it's not nutritious but it is good for your mind and your soul. It gives enjoyment and satisfaction. It's good.
Ok but ice cream? Fries? Burgers? Candy? Carbs? Deep fried foods? The list goes on. Yes they all have their purpose and guess what? You can lose weight while eating each and every one of those foods... we will get to this later.
How many times have you decided to go on a diet? But you said you'd start tomorrow, or Monday or January first. How many times have you said you can never eat chocolate again but one last time you'll have it. How many times have you eaten that chocolate and decided welp, I already screwed up, may as well do all the "bad" thing today or this weekend and start the diet again later, tomorrow next week or next month.
We seem to have this all or nothing mentality when it comes to food and exercise. We either do it all well or not at all. But isn't it much better to plan these foods in your diet, in your life instead of making your body think it's never going to be had again. The answer is yes.
You see you've put these so called bad foods on a high pedestal for your whole life. You lose control when you eat them because everyone loves what's forbidden. But the truth is, you may learn that food is not as enjoyable as your brain has made you think all these years
It's time to uplevel your brain.
Ok so the hard part is about to start. And you're going to have to trust the process. It's time to teach your body, your brain that foods are not bad. To teach your body that you will not put it into starvation mode again like have 20+ other times. Which is what you have done every time you've gone on one of those fad diets. You've shocked your body into losing weight. That's why it worked because you shocked the system. Right when your 6 week diet, or "x" pounds were lost you started eating normal again. Your body eats all the things, binges on the "bad" and starts storing fat to get ready for the next shock to the system. It's a habit now. Your body has learned it needs fat because soon I will stare. Soon I'll need fat because so many times I've starved and gone weeks, months or years deprived. And bam, all that weight is back. Your body is ready. You see instinctually our bodies are meant to survive, our innate human behaviour does not know your fridge is full and that McDonalds is just down the street. Our bodies are hardwired like this. It's good but now we need to teach our bodies that it's safe. We will not deprive ever again. We will plan for all foods, we will uplevel our diets but not restrict. We do not need to binge to store energy for later. We will survive, we have food accessible whenever. Our body and our brain needs to learn this. It's going to be hard. You aren't going to like this process, you may gain a few pounds ( so please throw away that scale, because if you trust the process you don't need the scale and your set point weight is coming).
So step one: finally. Let's start. Eat all the bad foods, eat it often, eat it until you no longer think it's bad. Eat ice cream every day, it's not bad, this is not the last time you'll eat it.
The first food I did this with was donuts. I thought I loved donuts but it turned out I loved the idea of donuts I loved that it was forbidden and bad. I was being naughty. I ate donuts a lot, sometimes 6 a day. Until one day I realized I don't even like donuts. Even when they look amazing and buy one because it looks amazing I really do not like donuts. Try telling Jaclyn that 3 years ago. I'd for sure say I was crazy. Holy crap, a donut is just food. There's nothing special about it, I don't need to binge it, I can eat it whenever I want. Tim Hortons is just down the street. But. I really don't want one.
Not every food item is going to be like this. I did this process with all my forbidden foods and broke all my food rules this way too (you should too) I still really love chocolate . But the difference is I no longer give it the power, I plan to eat chocolate and I don't over eat it. I eat it, I taste it, I enjoy it and when I'm full I stop. I can eat the rest tomorrow, or next week when I want chocolate again. I don't have to eat it in fear I'll never be allowed to have it again. Chocolate has lost its power over me. Which bring me to upleveling.
How do we uplevel. So I mentioned earlier there's no such thing as good and bad foods. And I'm still sticking to it. There is however foods with more nutrients and less. There are foods that will make you feel physically good or physically sick. There are foods that will make you feel mentally or emotionally good or sick. Upleveling is to find a balance. Ok that's hard.
No it's not. Because Upleveling is Upleveling where you are at now. Adding nutrition and balance to where you're at now. Planning foods you love that fit with your life style and your own taste buds.
Example time. Lasagna .
OH EM GEE lasagna is so bad for you. No diet I've ever done has allowed lasagna but it's sooo freaking good and I eat it anyways.
So instead of saying we can't have this we will but we will uplevel it. Small steps. Let's add some nutrition to that lasagna.
My go to is adding riced cauliflower to the ground beef and some chopped spinach to the sauce. Both are flavourless in the lasagna but really truly uplevel the the meal. We have all our food groups now. We are more balanced.
Do you get what I'm saying? You can eat all the tastes foods. By Upleveling you are dieting. You are being a better you and when you do this, your body is getting the nutrients and guess what, probably losing weight.

So, have you thrown away that scale yet? If you haven't that's ok. Please stick with me. Our next chapter will be on losing weight by not over eating and learning your hunger and fullness cues.