Do I need this?

Welcome to afitnewyou!  This week I want you to ask yourself the question “Do I need this?”  I want you to ask yourself this question when you are faced with food choice.  Following a proper diet is essential to achieving any fitness goal, but we often waver from making a healthy food choice due to pure temptation.  Think about it…could you ever imagine reaching your fitness goals by making poor food choices?  But “falling off” a diet is one of the biggest gridlocks to reaching those goals.  We don’t plan on making poor food choices, but sometimes what is in front of us is too tempting to avoid.  Maybe it isn’t even your fault, for example a coworker brings in pastries to work that day.  But the decision to partake in something that you shouldn’t is your fault.  So before you do, and in order to stay on the right path, ask yourself first “Do I need this?”

Preparation is always essential to reach any goal, especially fitness goals.  And this is particularly true with nutritional goals.  It is much easier to maintain a healthy diet if you plan ahead and shop for and buy only things that will lead you to make healthy food choices.  But this is an ideal, and quite often even in what we purchase ahead of time can be compromised by unhealthy items.  I know with my own shopping experience that there will be distinctly different items in the cart depending on whether I went shopping alone, or had brought my kids with me to the store.  Not only will the bill increase, but the number of snacks will increase as well.  I can’t put all of the blame on them, because even I will be tempted by some things that aren’t on my list.   However, if I ask myself “do I really need this?” BEFORE I place the item in the cart, there is a tremendously better chance that I will not choose that item and stick to my goals.

Even when we have done as great a job as we could in preparing to eat healthy, there are times when poor food choices are put in front of you.  At work the other day, as I went into refrigerator to grab milk and I saw an open tray of cookies.  They looked really good and I was about to grab one (or two); but then I was able to keep myself by taking any by answering the question with a “No, I don’t really need cookies.”  Temptations like this happens quite frequently in the work place, but your needs shouldn’t change, so the answer shouldn’t change.  If you feel obligated to join in a celebration or fundraiser, you can without making a poor food choice.  You can sing Happy Birthday to your coworker without having a piece of cake afterwards.  And you can donate money without actually ordering a box of cookies from your coworker’s daughter.  There are programs where you can send cookies to troops overseas.  

Ask yourself the same question when you go out to eat.  When you are ordering off of a menu you are forced to think about what you are going to eat.  As you’re debating your choice, ask yourself “Do I really need this?”  You still might be limited in your selection, but at least you are thinking about what you are choosing.  And, you can modify the question if you have made a choice that wasn’t the healthiest by then asking yourself “Do I really need to finish this?”  Portion control is another big factor in reaching your nutritional goals.

Asking yourself whether or not you need something when making a food choice force you to be mindful of what you are going to put into your body.  Being mindful is the first step to taking action over your health.  Whether asking what you need when planning out your shopping list, when faced with an unplanned temptation or even portion size will return your focus to your fitness goals and how to meet them.  Understanding and acknowledging what you need to attain your nutritional goals will help you along the path to achieve a fit new you!