Go a ahead treat yourself.
The ‘treat’ mentality is something you might want to think about if you are struggling with keeping you diet clean.
I see this alot with my personal training clients, people feeling that if they are good or have done something well, that they should reward themselves with some unhealthy food.
As a personal trainer this is a bug bear of mine and here is my take on it. When you were little your parents would often reward you with a food treat of some sort when you were good or achieved something. These treats were generally unhealthy things, sweets, chocolates, crisps etc, that your parents knew you shouldn’t really be eating so you weren’t allowed them all the time thus making them all the more special in your mind. The scarecity of the treats makes them all the more important to you you as a child. Your parents had control of your diet when you were young, therefore they had control of the treats.
Fast forward 20+ years when you are an adult and you are in charge of your own diet and in charge of the treats. You also now have money to spend. Some people think ‘I’m going to treat myself all the time!’ and fill their diet with bad food, going on the rebound from their childhood diet, treating themselves for every little thing they do, still stuck in the mindset that treat foods are ‘special’ and now that I’m in charge I’ll eat ‘special’ foods all the time.
So what do you do?
Once I explain this to my personal training clients, the simple fact of knowing and understanding this concept tends to trigger a shift in mentality to food. Remember that you are an adult know and in charge of your diet, treats are used for kids and dogs to promote good and obedient behaviour. Set up another reward system for yourself and make it a healthy reward, a massage, a spa day, something in line with you health and fitness goals.
Go a ahead treat yourself, to something healthy!
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