A Day of Fasting & Beverages

 

Consider a "day of fasting" where you significantly cut back your caloric intake one day each week.  It makes the most sense to do this on the day you don't workout or the day with the lightest workout.  One strategy to use on that day is a liquid diet, where you can do a 1-day juice cleanse (as they call it), or use some meal replacement shakes.  If you don't own any such products then make a mental note for the next time you visit the grocery store (tons of options these days).  You can also ask yourself in general about which food items you can eliminate from your list.  As a quick aside, and you've heard this from multiple sources before: go to the grocery store on a full stomach, not an empty stomach. 

Another side note: Don't mistake the feeling of hunger as a sign you need to eat, as hunger is often a symptom of dehydration.  Drink more water in order to curb your appetite.  Drink water exclusively as your way to hydrate (zero calories).  Unless you're using another beverage as a meal replacement, try to limit yourself to just water, even if it's zero/low-calorie vitamin-mineral water of some type (just keep an eye on the sugar content). 

Everything in moderation, right?  I slug down a cherry Coke when I go to the movies because it tastes great with popcorn.  I don't lose any sleep over drinking a soda at the movies once per month, nor should you be guilt tripping yourself each time you stray from your diet plan.  If you find that you're unable to stick with your diet plan and feelings of guilt are too frequent and/or intense, then maybe it's your diet plan that needs to change.  This is no different from the Goal Setting 101 lessons that are applied to your training program, your career goals, your daily to-do list, and you name it.  Make your goals realistic.  Will power certainly helps you stick with your goals, but make sure you have a specific, actionable component to your goals/diet because that'll make it easier to monitor and adhere to a plan. 

I encourage you to reflect upon your diet plan, your grocery list, ways you can reduce your caloric intake, ways you can lead by example around co-workers in this regard, and whether your diet is even being monitored at all.  As humans, we have highly adaptive mental skills to rationalize everything we do, including what we put into you bodies.  If you have ambitious running goals, then what you put into your body (how you fuel the machine) should receive attention.  Zooming out into a broader viewpoint, think about how much your diet is contributing to your injuries, your sleep, your energy levels and your mood.  "There ain't no wealth but your health."