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Cheat Sheet

A few months ago Stella Juarez, IOL regular and the author of our forthcoming athlete's cookbook, called upon the IOL email discussion group to send her their best tips for maintaining their clean-eating integrity. She compiled the material, and here are the results.

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As I reach for the forbidden bodybuilding fruit (ie candybars, cookies, cake, junk) I find myself stopping for just a moment and visualizing the way I would like to look in front of all of my IOL friends and then I think about how this item will NOT contribute to that at all - in fact actually take away from it or prevent it and more often than not I will pull away and say no - not today. It doesn't always work but it does sometimes and that's what counts! Art H.

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Sweets sap my energy. I ask myself if I will need my energy in the next few hours or not? Of course I do. Tonia

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Things I do instead of cheat:
1. sugar free gum
2. sugar free jello
3. pull out my "before" picture
4. try on my ity bity posing suit!

~Robin

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I've printed out and posted on my fridge Steve's drawing of the girl with the killer abs and veins snaking up her bis ... if I ever wanna look like that, I need to STEP AWAY FROM THE KITCHEN. - am

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I use a picture of the fattest person I can find, completely nude- that will chase you out of the kitchen even faster :)

I also just get the bad stuff out of the house. Don't buy it,ever. If it's not there you can't eat it, keep that veggie bin full and eat all you want out of it if you feel hungry

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I have no problems sticking to my diet now but my wife has just lost 3 stone of baby weight, so it was real challenge to go from eating anything she wanted to sticking to a healthy low cal, low fat diet. Here’s a few tips we used.

1) Try to avoid the cravings for sugary foods by keeping some naturally sweet things in your diet. We include at least 2 pieces of fruit a day and some protein drinks. That way you feel you're getting a sweet treat.

2) Keep your diet exciting. Nothing breeds craving and cheating like a boring diet. We try never to have the same evening meal twice in a row. And don't always have baked potato; try mashed, rice, cous cous, wholewheat pasta. Use herbs and spices and low fat yogurt to make sauces and dressing.

3) If you feel like cheating remember there’s always a healthy alternative. Keep some low fat protein bars around in case you crack. Try blending frozen strawberries in lowfat yogurt(with a tsp of honey if you need it) instead of ice cream. I have a list of recipes in the house I have modified to make the meals healthy.

4) I told my wife that if she really really, really wanted a chocolate bar to have one but to stand in front of a full-length mirror naked when she ate it. This one really works because you instantly remember why you're doing all your exercise.

Lastly if you give in don't beat yourself up over it. Just use it as motivation to train harder next time you're in the gym.

Al

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I could run off some pat answers easily but the more I think about it the more I realize that it is a discipline of will. Kind of like smoking...one needs to exercise the discipline through one's own inner resources. Ideally....anyway.

Helen

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- Discipline
- Pictures of Dave, Scott, Zane, Arnold, TxShredder, and others to motivate hard work in the gym.
- garbage in, garbage out
- Adventures in Squating #.....
- IOL

I just don't crave junk food. I did when I started but not now. And my house is full of it. My SO eats candy, chocolate and junk food etc.etc. like it's the last supper. I won't even eat most of the things she cooks.

jam

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Eat to survive... don't survive to eat!!

I always try to stop and think before I eat something that is not on my approved list.

I remind myself that this is MY choice.

I chose to eat to nourish my body or damage it.

I chose what kind of person I am.

I remind myself constantly that I am a healthy person who lives a healthy life (still reprogramming my brain).

I remind myself how much better I feel and look now than I did when I ate whatever grabbed my interest and did not exercise.

I know people watch and notice how many people are not healthy, are dragging, and do not look so good. I do not want to become one of them again.

I am full of energy (at least in the mornings) because I eat well, exercise and get enough rest.

I can always change and chose to go back to the other life style which comes with a body I do not want, feeling tired and cranky, depressed, etc.

When I look at food that I know is not good for my body I think hard and make sure I am doing what I chose to do.

As time goes by and I make good choices, it becomes easier for me.

I still choose to try something with processed sugar or other ingredients not so good for me once in awhile but find it usually does not taste as good as I remembered.

I have nothing in my house that is not good for me.

I always carry something I can eat which is good for me.

I have things at home which are quick to fix and good, and I always prepare several meals ahead of time so there is always something ready to eat that is good.

Vicki

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I eat whatever I want, whenever I want but I (by computer) carefully track, monitor and analyze my nutrition and control macronutrients on a daily basis. I set targets for the month and I adhere to these goals. The targets correspond with my desired weight and bodyfat status.

I zig-zag my calories according to workload. If I have an easy day and lift weights but otherwise don't get off my ass, I eat less. If I work hard in the hot sun for 14 hours, I may eat more. As long as I average my goal calories, I remain stable in weight and fat. If I need to add weight, I'll pick up the carbs a little bit. If I need to lose fat, protein goes up. It's a complex system for someone to start up with but after a short period of time it's horribly easy and takes only minutes a day.

I don't have cheat meals or cheat days. I simply eat what I want and what I need to maintain or achieve what I want to accomplish. If I want to eat a quart of ice cream, I do it but trust me, it takes a lot of protein to balance out all the fat and carbs it contains. The sheer amount of bother required to balance it out tempers my desire to do such things.

Don

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Every person has different 'trigger foods' .. stuff that gives them difficulty. For me, there are a few things that if I start, I can't control very well. A few tips that have worked for me:

1) I don't keep those foods in the house. Of course, there are times it can not be avoided .. other people live here too :), but for the most part I get good support.

2) I have found alternates that meet my cravings but fit my lifestyle. For example, low fat, sugar free pudding with some protein is great and can hit my sweet tooth where it counts.

3) In general, protein seems to keep my appetite under control. I keep my protein intake high, and spread it over the day.

4) Yes, I believe for the average person, two 'reasonable' cheat meals per week is a good thing. Knowing that you can have a couple pieces of pizza on Friday night makes Monday to Thursday a little easier to deal with. Now, you can't do enough cardio to make up for going crazy for a whole day, so these free meals, or whatever you call them, have to be reasonable and fit in the bigger picture.

5) Drink LOTS of water .. it really does help.

BTW, I find that having real sound goals helps too. I write my goals every day, and read them while warming up. Keeping focused has been very helpful for me.

It may not work for everyone. Often people don't have a strong enough reason for making a major change in their life .. they just 'feel' like it, or want to 'look good'. That may not be enough to overcome trigger foods, or keep it up for the long haul.

Rick
www.rickcartwright.com

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Ivan talking to himself, "Should I eat this chocolate ice cream sundae? Yikes! My training partner WILL find out. She has her ways. Some kind of precognition! She'll KILL me!!!"

Ivan (the very hungry Barbarian Librarian)

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*Surround yourself with healthy food at work and home. I keep my own stash of dried fruit and protein bars in my desk. Of course, I'm surrounded by donuts, candy and junk, but to me, my desk is my own "space", my territory. Likewise at home. I still live with my family who aren't into nutrition & fitness, so a cupboard shelf or a section in the fridge is MY designated space where if I wanted a healthy "snack" that would be my refuge... everywhere else is off limits!

*Whenever you have a craving coming on, drink a big gulp of water. Usually for me, it staves off the craving.

*This may sound unconventional but, whenever I felt like having a piece of chocolate, I suck on a piece of cough drop which kind of temporarily kills my taste buds enough to let the craving pass. Gum also works too. Main objective is too keep your mouth busy. I was noticing that I was snacking out of boredom and stress, esp at work.

*Cravings and temptations to cheat also stem from impulsive eating. Before I reach for that piece of chocolate I ask myself, "do I really want to eat this? Will I feel better if I do?? If I wait 10 mins, will I still want it?"

Honestly, I think the biggest pitfall of cheating is "social eating" ... We can be good as angels all week if we want but when the weekend rolls around with weddings, family dinners, parties, etc. How can we continue not to sabotage our own clean eating without being social outcasts.. lol.

For me, I tell myself I will do my best and eat as "clean" for the day/evening as possible, skipping the dessert table and eat ONE bite of the wedding & b-day cake. The rest will promptly be stashed in a napkin, LOL.

I know I will definitely skip the alcohol because come Sunday or Monday, I know I will be back in the gym working hard taking advantage of the "carb-up" day/evening I inadvertenly scheduled.

Cheers,
Melayna (mely)

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By George!..I've got it!...and here itizz....

"Make food a hobby." Jim Ganley

I find this one extremely helpful!

I also practice recognizing my emotions when I have a craving for something too rich....or something ordered out...

I think that our EMOTIONS need to be addressed and channeled so that we don't feel like we deserve a treat. We can find other ways to reward ourselves.

This too can be a hobby in itself!

Helen

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-Stay out of the kitchen except when it’s time to eat. After that, it’s clean up and lights off, the kitchen and the immediate surrounding area are CLOSED.

-Prepare as many of my meals as I can in advance and stick to PRE-SET eating times and if it means eating cold chicken & broccoli in the car, so be it.

-Tell myself I will already be eating again in an hour or so. Do I want to negate those good nutrients and eat this junk now?

-Do the math. For some reason, adding up the calories, fats, or carbs of one portion a day for a year always freaks me out. It reminds me that "just a bite" can add up.

-Do something busy and productive. Fold laundry, do the dishes, call a friend you haven’t talked to, send a thank you card, go flex in the mirror and look at your abs, anything but give in.

-Say to yourself "It’s not as is I’ll NEVER eat this again. I already know what it tastes like, so I just won’t eat it at the moment."

Stella

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