We just had our annual family beach trip and I learned all kinds of cool things about food, drugs, Prince, and the pretty piggyback. Here are 4 takeaways from my vacation that will help you change your body and the way you eat.

1) Drug-Induced Eating

We all tend to be so worried about what we eat, when in reality how we eat might be just as important. How tells us much more than what.

For example, have you ever noticed how eating tends to speed up – especially when we’re consuming salty or sugary foods? It’s like we rev our engine with the first couple bites – vroom, vroom – then it’s off to the races! In the blink of an eye, we’re doing our best impersonation of the lovechild between a Hoover and garbage disposal. Watch your fingers and toes kiddos, they just might get sucked up into the salt-sugar vortex!

So, how do we combat this drug-induced eating? By knowing that it happens. Simply awareness goes a long way. Eat mindfully and you’ve got a great chance of reducing your speed and enjoying those delicious foods even more.

2) Prince Quit Food and Sex

In one of his last interviews, musical artist Prince talked about how he had been fasting from food and sex for extended periods of time. For most, this sounds like a nightmare that would result in an all-out binge of naked bodies covered in chocolate syrup and cereal (which ironically kind of sounds like a Prince song).
Interestingly, that’s not the case. Prince simply said . . .

“The hunger turns into something else … After four days, you don’t want food anymore. … It’s like this thing that says, ‘Feed me, feed me.’ When it realizes it’s not going to get fed, it goes away.”

When it doesn’t get fed, it goes away.
Really? Hmm. Interesting.

When Ally and I go on vacation, we certainly indulge in all kinds of treats. Some folks might say we “get it out of our system” so that we can eat healthy when we’re back home. In actuality, the opposite is true. It’s going to be even more challenging to reduce or eliminate those decadent goodies once vacation is over. Prince stumbled onto the same truth that I realized during vacation.
Andy Stanley says it like this …

“An appetite is never fully satisfied. Feeding it doesn’t make it go away. It makes it grow.”

Translation – the more you eat crappy foods, the more you’ll want crappy foods. The more you starve your appetite for crappy food, the less it will nag you.

Does this mean you should never have a cheat meal or eat dessert? No way Jose! It does mean, however, that we shouldn’t fall victim to the “get it out of your system” mentality. Eat awesome 90% of the time and you’ll be amazed at how starving those unhealthy cravings reduces their intensity over time.

3) Extra Milk is Bad News

 UH OH.
UH OH.

Speaking of eating unhealthy while on vacation, Ally and I love us some dessert! For us, no dessert is complete without a cold glass of 1% milk. There’s no better pairing! There’s also no worse temptation than when we’ve finished our cake, pie, or cookie and still have some milk in our glass.

Do we quickly finish off the milk and be done?
No! We must get a little more dessert to pair with the milk. But then . . . the dessert is back in front of us, so why not pour a little more milk, and suddenly that nice little slice of cake or pie has multiplied into a regretful belly-swelling, oh-I-shouldn’t-have-done-that dessert moment.

The point is – we all have our triggers, things that prompt us to overeat. So, pay attention! Notice how you eat and what makes you go back for more when you really don’t need it. Once you find it, you have the power to change it.

4) Changing Your Body is like Climbing 25 Flights of Stairs

We don’t workout on every vacation, but it is part of our Florida routine. To spice things up this year, we decided to challenge ourselves by running the stairs at the high-rise where we were staying. For some ungodly reason, I wanted to really up the ante and declared I would carry Ally on my back to the 25th floor. Crazy, I know.

I did it in just under 10 minutes. (but that’s not what’s important)  IMG_2184

Typically before any tough workout or event, it’s common to give yourself a pep talk, get all fired up, and then charge into it like a medieval warrior sprinting to battle. Thank God this is not how I approached climbing to the 25th floor with the prettiest piggyback ever. It was tempting however.

I knew I was facing a tremendous challenge and honestly didn’t know if I would make it. I had butterflies in my stomach and everything in me wanted to crank my headphones to 11, scream, and rip into that first set of stairs like a scalded dog.

Instead, I took a few deep breaths, calmed my excited heart rate, chose some mellow music, and slowly began climbing stairs. I knew I was beginning a marathon, not a sprint.

Changing your body is just like climbing 25 flights of stairs.

Motivation and intensity are great, but only consistency day-in, day-out, month-in, month-out, will deliver results. Don’t burn yourself out on the first floor. Instead, take a few deep breaths and begin to change your nutrition (and your body!) step-by-step. Before you know it, you’ll be impressed with how far you’ve come, and glad you took the approach you did.

This is exactly what I do – teach people how to change their body step-by-step. If you’re interested in hearing more about how I do it, just shoot me an email CoreyLittleCoaching [at] gmail.com. Or, if you’re not quite ready for that, but you enjoy my blog and you’re tired of all the bullcrap and dishonesty in the weight-loss industry, I encourage you to become part of my Food and Fitness Family (100% free!) by clicking HERE.

I do not bomb your inbox with all sorts of advertising junk. Just one or two emails per month with free info like recipes, workout tips, motivational strategies, nutrition challenges, and the occasional special discounted offer for a service or product.  Now, before we wrap up, just one more thing..

The Fat Chick That Amazed Me

This blog was part 1 of what I learned at the beach. Be on the lookout for part 2 where I’ll tell you all about the fat lady that amazed me. What did she do? How’d she do it? Don’t miss out!