If you’re new here, I’m Cassie! A plant-based holistic nutritionist and body builder. I’ve built my physique over the years using an intuitive approach, so I wanted to share some of my top tips if you’re looking to make the transition and learn to trust yourself again.
Learning How To Feel For What You Need
How do certain foods make you feel? Even though a cheap takeaway pizza might make you feel good in the moment, but shortly after think about whether your body feels good..
That’s the thing people get stumped on. They say “yeah well this crappy food makes me feel good”. But there’s a difference between your brain and your entire body. Look at the whole picture.
And of course we can have treat foods! There’s just a time and place ☺️
Enjoy Treats Without Guilt Or Letting It Turn Into A Binge
We want what we can’t have. That’s why I’m not a fan of dieting, calorie restriction or cutting certain foods out. When you indulge in a treat food, I always recommend taking the time to enjoy every mouthful and being really present in the moment. Taste all of the flavours, feel the pleasure. Don’t just scoff it down then beat yourself up about it.
By truly enjoying it, we can make the cravings go away because we feel satisfied.
Consider Your Bodies Natural Set Point
This is the weight you can easily maintain when you are nourishing yourself, exercising and sticking to a routine that feels good.
We often look up to people online and forget that they may be body builders in peak week who have been through a gruelling dieting process for the last 3 months, are doing an hour of weights a day, an hour of cardio and sometimes up to 20,000 steps…
This is not normal or achievable for the average person who works full-time, looks after kids with no help etc.
Then the photos are edited to bring out the contrast and lines which we then compare ourselves to.
Achieving your bodies ‘natural set-point’ is not an attractive word for most people. We all want to LOSE FAT and BUILD MUSCLE. We want BIG CHANGES. But what about a lifestyle where you’re just content with what you see in the mirror each morning? Everything feels easy and in ‘flow’. THAT’S the lifestyle you should be striving for. A happy medium!
Take The ‘Rules’ Away From Food
I struggled with this a lot during peak week when I was trying to cut carbs for the first time. I failed BADLY! Carbs help you sleep at night as they increase a protein called tryptophan in your brain which is the building block for both serotonin and melatonin.
So I would lye in bed awake for sometimes 5 HOURS, then end up just getting up to eat bread with butter at midnight or sometimes even later! This is worse than just having carbs which supports energy and would help me sleep earlier, reducing cravings for unnecessary food the next day if I had only gotten a few hours of sleep.
Carb cycling on peak week is how they achieve the perfect stage look so next time I’m going to need professional coaching to help guide me through it, but for the every day person, this is just an example of how cutting out something can be worse than just allowing yourself to have it as usual.
Avoid Mindless Eating/Snacking
There can be many reasons people do this. Whether it’s boredom, emotions, needing a quick burst of energy but reaching for the wrong type of food, or because their plate wasn’t balanced enough at meal times.
Try to be present and ask yourself why you’re getting up to have something to eat. I definitely have a snack when necessary. Maybe a muesli bar, smoothie, apple, or crackers with hummus. But just make sure it’s for the right reasons.
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