'Tis the Season to Eat

Eating healthy is challenging year-round, however during the holiday season it's 100x harder. You're surrounded by temptation no matter where you look! It's almost as if people want to open your mouth and shove their favorite Christmas cookie down your throat.

I'm trying to come up with tactics that will not only remind me to eat healthy, but actually stop me from making bad choices. I hate feeling guilty after I've eaten something, so how can I avoid this? Up until any meal that I know is going to be test in willpower, I remind myself of my goals, and run this over and over in my head. Sounds like it'd work in theory, but put into practice and this approach absolutely does not work for me.

The most important piece of advice that my trainer told me when I just couldn't understand why I wasn't losing weight, was that "in order to lose weight, you must make sacrifices". The realization of that strong, truthful statement was crucial to my success, and I still need to remind myself daily that in order to reach my goals, there are some things that I will have to give up temporarily, or maybe even long-term. And aren't those things worth giving up in order to reach my potential and be happy? Of course.

Also, you know the saying, 'think before you speak'? What if we all were to 'think before we eat'? Are we really hungry for that, or are we just trying to satisfy a craving? Will eating/drinking that bring me closer, or further, from my goals? Am I going to regret this?

Another important point is before going into a situation where I'll be tempted, I need to eat beforehand. This one is easy! It's nearly impossible to stay away from whatever your eyes land on first if you walk into a situation starving. If you do that, you're just setting yourself up for failure, and why do that to yourself, your body, and your goals?

If I have all these tactics in my back pocket, then I have no other choice than to be successful. What sort of things do you do to help you stay focused?

NUTRITION (Today, Mon)
Meal 1: 1/4c rolled oats, 1/2 banana, coffee + 1/4 equal packet, water
Meal 2: 10 almonds, 2p Canadian bacon , tea
Meal 3: (From Safeway) Chicken noodle soup, salad: lettuce + chinese chicken salad, water
Meal 4: Second half of lunch, water, tea
Meal 5: 1 chicken satay + peanut sauce, chicken Thai basil + veggies, tea, water
Meal 6: 1/2 apple, natural pb, water

Workout Schedule:
Sat: 20min Stairs, Chest/Triceps, 15min Stairs, Shoulders/Abs
Sun: 40min run (treadmill)
Mon:
Tues: PLAN Chest/Triceps + cardio
Wed: PLAN Legs + cardio
Thurs: PLAN Shoulders + cardio
Fri: PLAN Rest Day

NUTRITION (Sun)
Meal 1: Leftover Chicken Thai Basil + veggies, brown rice, water
Meal 2: Subway 6"- wheat, ham, veggies, mustard, chips, water
Meal 3: (@ Cheesecake Factory) Bread, Chicken Chipotle Pasta & veggies, water (lots of leftovers)
Meal 4: Chocolate