Elizabeth,
WOW! How amazing and yes, I am beyond proud of you and understand exactly how BIG this really is!
I noticed you mentioned that part of you felt like “I deserve cake too, I worked out” …. I wanted to point something because I honestly didn’t think of it until just now when I read that.
One thing I had to overcome was that battle of the mind (there is a GREAT book by Joyce Meyer called Battlefield of the mind) where I felt I earned something just because I did another thing good.
When you look at it from the perspective of “I deserve” its almost like you allow yourself to feel sorry for the situation you are in (having to resist the cake) OR your mind tricks you into believing that exercise compensates for eating whatever you like. This actually leaves you in what I call the “wash” cycle where you keep spinning around and around without ever really addressing the ROOT cause of the issue. You are looking at it as “punishment” for lack of a better word instead of a REWARD for your body. Make sense?
What I used to help in my journey is the technique of “reminding” myself WHY I would not allow myself to eat the cake, cookies or desserts (remember, I had a SEVERE sugar addiction and binge eating problem)
Reasons such as:
*Wanting to nourish my body the best way possible
*Eliminating unhealthy chemicals and toxins from my body
*Taking care of my temple and fueling my body to reach my goals
Don’t let me fool you, it was a full on WAR in my head at times but once I overcame the food addiction, I found myself feeling BAD for the people who were fueling their bodies with such unhealthy foods. Today, for example, a simple piece of cake isn’t cake… its sugars, GMO’s, toxins, wheat and gluten etc…. I had NO DESIRE to bombard my body with this junk once I held knowledge of how bad it was for me.
You see, its all in how you look at it. When you pass up the cake, you are ACCELERATING your results from the gym and exercise sessions you work so hard at! Like compounded interest you are compounding your HARD WORK! You are choosing to pass on it not out of restriction but out of choice for whats best for YOU, your body and your long term health. Remember, the physical ‘look’ is just the tip of the iceberg. ENERGY, disease prevention, quality of life, more time with family and children…. THIS IS YOUR WHY.
I hope this long reply makes sense and helps! 🙂 Thanks for the prompting and I love you lady and am BLESSED by you!
Ash
