So far on your trip on this blog I hope that you have started to find motivation and learned some important things about working out. However, an even more important part of fitness is how you fuel your body.

I have never really been an advocate for dieting. I tend to believe that trendy diets or strict nutritional plans are hard to maintain and end up only lasting for a short time. Instead, I prefer conscious eating and am a believed in the typical “everything in moderation” mindset.

Alright. Now let’s break this down a little bit.

Conscious eating means knowing what you are putting into your body and not just grazing or simply following your cravings. Instead of waking up and immediately thinking, “wow, I really want a waffle right now” and then going to the freezer and pulling out your favorite blueberry Eggo waffles, think about it a little bit. Take a second and think, “why do I want the waffle?” Do you really want the waffle or are you looking for some fruit? Is your body really just need carbs. If thats the case then you can slow down and maybe choose a better alternative such as multigrain toast with low sugar fruit preserves.

There are also ways to find alternatives for the things in your diet that you feel you might be giving up. While you can’t necessarily be healthy eating if you have a chocolate milkshake every week, there is a healthier way to fulfill your weekly chocolate craving. For example, dark chocolate has found to actually have a lot of health benefits. Of course, its not good to eat an entire Ghirardelli bar of dark chocolate, just a couple bites can fill your craving but still be healthy.

Secondly, everything in moderation is always important. This concept does not always have to apply to “junk food” either. It’s always possible to eat too much of anything, even healthy things. For example, although considerably healthy and definitely delicious, some smoothie or açaí bowls can even be considered unhealthy. Depending on the size of the bowl, you typically are eating more than double the serving size of fruit in one bowl. Also the toppings such as more fruit, granola, and sometimes even coconut or chocolate can be a hefty meal that is full of sugar. It’s important to recognize how much you are eating and what is going in to your food.

Eating in moderation also of course has to do with being able to treat yourself. Eating healthy makes you feel great and its obviously good for you, but everyone gets cravings sometimes. We are all human and you have to accept that one chocolate bar or an occasional trip to the ice cream shop with your friends isn’t going to break the scale. In fact, I find that if I have a craving and don’t fulfill it then I am actually more likely to begrudgingly eat healthy and it often leads to a certain break down point and I end up eating more junk food then I usually would had I just had the chocolate bar in the first place.

See you on the next stop!