Treat vs. Cheat

 

Before Landon and I were introduced to the CrossFit lifestyle aka paleo/primal way of eating, cheat meals where something of a spectacle for us. We would ALWAYS have 1 "clean" cheat a week (at least what we thought was clean) and 1 "dirty"cheat. Our clean cheat was usually Fire Bowl with chicken veggies and RICE NOODLES covered in a creamy white wine sauce. Our good ole "dirty cheat" would most likely be pizza and ice cream....and lots of it. This was a weekly thing for us and our personal life was controlled by this. We would never make plans or go out. So crazy to think back and realize that CHEAT night's controlled our lives. I would work my ass off all week and couldn't wait to eat up all of this junk. These CHEAT's were like my crack. I would get so excited my heart would race, you would think I was about to win the lottery or something. So not the case!!! After I plowed through all that crap I would feel guilty, puffy (nice word for fat ass F) and worthless. The worst part? I felt l like I cheated myself. I wouldn't eat much the next few days so I felt better about myself, the guilt would subside and then I would start the cycle all over again. Horrible way to live? Hell yes. NEVER AGAIN!

Now things are the complete opposite. The word CHEAT is out of my vocabulary and I now TREAT myself once a week to something I really want. It's like when you attach the word CHEAT to something you make yourself think it has to be the worst absolute thing for you. Something that you makes your stomach hurt for days. Why is that? Think back to when you were a child and your class mate or you (in my case ha ha) got caught cheating. Worst.Thing.Ever. Consuming food that isn't ideal shouldn't be compared to cheating. Not at all. That's just going to set us up for failure, and as humans we don't respond well to failure.We aren't perfect and we do make mistakes. It's just part of life.

Landon and I now have a TREATS once a week. This is not to congratulate ourselves for eating perfect all week, but because we want to dammit! Eating Paleo/Primal is by choice so we don't feel the need to pat ourselves on the back for "keeping it clean". We love the way we eat and we love the way we feel.  It's our LIFESTYLE. TREATS don't have to be the worst thing in the world every single week, and we definitely don't need to binge on it. Some weeks I will pick a night and eat tons of fruit with dinner and 2 tablespoons of chocolate hazulnut butter for dessert. The following week I might have 3-4 glasses of wine (I know I could have just said bottle) and cheese with a nice steak dinner. Both are things that I choose to not do 90% of the time but I am OK with it when it happens. I am not waiting all week to go out of control and binge on foods I don't even want and certainly don't need. I AM in control for once and  food no longer controls me. Dieting is apart of the past and My LIFESTYLE is by choice. I don't punish myself anymore.....I feel better, look better and finally feel comfortable with imperfection.....food is my fuel now.....NOT MY LIFE....and its a pretty damn good feeling:)