I have an addictive personality. When I give up one vice, I usually pick up another. One habit I’m lucky to have is that I love to exercise! I rarely do it longer than 90 minutes, and usually for only 45 minutes a day. But I didn’t always find it easy to get out the door.
I read somewhere that in order to form a habit, you need to do it for at least 10 days. I’ve also read that 28 days is required to form a habit. So which is it? It doesn’t matter to be honest. Start with 10 days and go from there. For 10 days, go for a walk every day. I used to run but if you are a beginner, walking is a good first step. Feeling sluggish? Just go for a walk, but do something! You will find that one day 11, your body craves movement.
Now, eating clean 100% of the time is much hard for me. I tend to crave sugary treats after dinner. I’m trying to form a habit of not eating once I’m finished dinner. Many people binge eat after dinner if they have not eaten enough calories during the day. Others eat out of boredom or loneliness. I’ll often snack after dinner for a combination of these reasons. It has become a habit as well to have something sweet at the end of a meal. I’m determined to break this habit. Sugary treats should be just that, a treat!
To break this habit, I’m writing down everything I eat to see if certain meals cause me to crave sugar more nights than others. Yesterday was a success avoiding empty calories. I started my day with a TIU booty call. When I got back, I had a protein pancake with a few berries. I admit, I woke up kind late so this wasn’t until 10 AM. 
As a snack before my strength training routine I had 1/4 cup of steel cut oatmeal, 1/2 scoop of protein powder with 1/4 cup of So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk and 1/4 of a large cantaloupe. I didn’t eat lunch until until 3 pm because of my strength training and I still felt full! For lunch I had a spring mix with grape tomatoes, vidalia onion, cucumber and sliced turkey. I dressed the salad with dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar. For “dessert” I had 8 raw unsalted almonds.
For dinner, I made salmon on the grill with some Soyaki sauce from Trader Joe’s, paired with a side salad and fresh corn on the cobb. I ate at 8 pm and was in bed at 10:30 pm. No sweets were needed, but that was day 1. Today is day 2 and let’s see how I do. Whenever I eat really well for one day, I always find the next I’m super hungry all day. Just 9 more days to go!
Do you notice you eat more the day after successfully eating clean eating?
