Tempted by Boredom

The hardest thing for me in terms of leading a healthy lifestyle has been related to my issues with food. I feel like I’ve experimented with so many different ‘diets’ as well as eating/working out combinations – eating hardly anything/exercising a lot; eating whatever I wanted/exercising a lot; eating a little/exercising a little … None of those combinations were long-term solutions for me.

In the end, it was about eating clean (and proper portions which varied depending on the type and intensity of my workout) and being efficient with my training (i.e. when I worked out, I put my all into it, so a 20 minute CrossFit WOD was more efficient than a 1½ hour moderate cardio session).

Yes, that was definitely the winning combination.

It all started when I got more involved with CrossFit and I did the Whole Life Challenge last September. I have to say, the dietary changes I made have been really good. It was tough at first, but I managed to sustain them over the following months. However, I did relax a little. I found that I had to be really, really careful when I ‘relaxed’ my eating habits. I also realized that whatever I ‘relaxed’ my regime for ended up never really being worth it.

Practicing this type of eating habit for several months has helped me get to a much better place in terms of my relationship with food. I still have a lot of work to do, but I’m going forward with a much more eager and positive attitude versus one of dread and fears of deprivation (more on that tomorrow).

I think I managed my food intake – quality and quantity – quite well. The ONE thing that got me was when I was bored and around something to munch on. In particular, there was one night when I was on my own, I couldn’t sleep, and there was some chocolate in the room. I was watching TV and I mindlessly ate the chocolate. It’s not the calories or the (lack of) nutritional value of the chocolate that bothered me; it’s the fact that I ate it when I didn’t need to or even really want to. I was bored. It was there. I gave in.

This is something that I’m not proud of and definitely something that I want to keep track of in the future. I need to have more control over this silly mindlessness because really, I am stronger than that. I am more disciplined than that. At this point in my life, after all I’ve been through and tried, I really should know better. I do know better. I’m going to do my very best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.