Cheeky Monkey
Well-known member
For those of you who are new to cutting or dieting, just wanted to share some experiences of what it feels like when you first start to curb those calories and make better food choices:
-the first day or two you feel like a boss; you have your food scale ready, notebook handy, you've bought all the "right" food and perhaps even protein powders or supplements, ready to go and you're doing great making sure you eat a small breakfast, some healthy snacks, maybe some nuts or fruit, coffee/tea on standby and perhaps salmon or lean meat for dinner with veggies. You're feeling good and you've got this!
- day 3-5..you start to feel something is missing. Despite having a lot of food options, you just don't feel like having them. You look at loved ones eating pancakes with maple syrup or burgers and fries or pizza as you down a protein shake. There's a feeling of emptiness inside creeping up. The same enthusiasm and zeal you started your diet seems to fizzle. You start to wonder maybe eating one piece of brownie won't hurt...or maybe that one Ferrero Rocher chocolate.....but you hold on and refuse to give in.
-day 5-7: weighing your food on the scale feels like a chore, calculating calories feels like doing homework. But you push yourself to do it; suddenly every single calorie matters. If you drop a pea on the floor, you start hunting for it like a wild animal. You don't care if there's fluff on it....it's your pea you earned it! I'll be damned if I go one pea or one calorie short of what I deserve. Needless to say, you get angry and irate easily. Taste and textures are also heightened...when you drink plain old water, you miss the sugary sweet delight of Coca-Cola or the cheesy salty goodness of pepperoni pizza or the velvet chocolatey yumminess of a fudge brownie or chocolate bar or chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream etc.
day 7 onwards: you wake up and all you can think about is getting your carefully weighed meals on time; you look forward to training as a means of escape; you look forward to the hours to just go by so that you can get to your next meal; you wish for night to come soon so you can just go to bed and stop thinking about food. The hours in between these activities are the worst; you try to keep yourself busy but your mind wanders and constantly thinks about next meal time or grabbing a snack. You feel a lack of vigor in life; you start to alienate yourself from family; you feel like just locking yourself up in seclusion away from anything that distracts you from food or training. The sickening sweet protein shake is starting to make you gag...the steamed broccoli smells like sewage...your spouse or significant other starts to get upset that you don't want to have pizza night or eat tortilla chips and salsa together...your friends (if you have any) ridicule you for eating healthy while they indulge in alcoholic drinks and savory snacks, your child or children (if you have any) harangue you to give them something yummy to eat or get take out or eat snacks, junk food right in front of you etc...you feel alone and you want to be alone.
By the second week though, you'll manage to get out of the slump and feel like the diet, training etc as something natural and normal. So hang in there!!
-the first day or two you feel like a boss; you have your food scale ready, notebook handy, you've bought all the "right" food and perhaps even protein powders or supplements, ready to go and you're doing great making sure you eat a small breakfast, some healthy snacks, maybe some nuts or fruit, coffee/tea on standby and perhaps salmon or lean meat for dinner with veggies. You're feeling good and you've got this!
- day 3-5..you start to feel something is missing. Despite having a lot of food options, you just don't feel like having them. You look at loved ones eating pancakes with maple syrup or burgers and fries or pizza as you down a protein shake. There's a feeling of emptiness inside creeping up. The same enthusiasm and zeal you started your diet seems to fizzle. You start to wonder maybe eating one piece of brownie won't hurt...or maybe that one Ferrero Rocher chocolate.....but you hold on and refuse to give in.
-day 5-7: weighing your food on the scale feels like a chore, calculating calories feels like doing homework. But you push yourself to do it; suddenly every single calorie matters. If you drop a pea on the floor, you start hunting for it like a wild animal. You don't care if there's fluff on it....it's your pea you earned it! I'll be damned if I go one pea or one calorie short of what I deserve. Needless to say, you get angry and irate easily. Taste and textures are also heightened...when you drink plain old water, you miss the sugary sweet delight of Coca-Cola or the cheesy salty goodness of pepperoni pizza or the velvet chocolatey yumminess of a fudge brownie or chocolate bar or chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream etc.
day 7 onwards: you wake up and all you can think about is getting your carefully weighed meals on time; you look forward to training as a means of escape; you look forward to the hours to just go by so that you can get to your next meal; you wish for night to come soon so you can just go to bed and stop thinking about food. The hours in between these activities are the worst; you try to keep yourself busy but your mind wanders and constantly thinks about next meal time or grabbing a snack. You feel a lack of vigor in life; you start to alienate yourself from family; you feel like just locking yourself up in seclusion away from anything that distracts you from food or training. The sickening sweet protein shake is starting to make you gag...the steamed broccoli smells like sewage...your spouse or significant other starts to get upset that you don't want to have pizza night or eat tortilla chips and salsa together...your friends (if you have any) ridicule you for eating healthy while they indulge in alcoholic drinks and savory snacks, your child or children (if you have any) harangue you to give them something yummy to eat or get take out or eat snacks, junk food right in front of you etc...you feel alone and you want to be alone.
By the second week though, you'll manage to get out of the slump and feel like the diet, training etc as something natural and normal. So hang in there!!
