Portion Control

One of the easiest ways to stay in check with your eating is to set a budget for it. Either a daily budget or a weekly budget. A daily budget is what works best for me.

It’s actually quite hard to blow your diet when you limit what you have access to. If you have no limit on your discretionary spending for food, then of course you’re eating is always going to feel a little out of control.

Think about how you currently interact with food. Do you have access to or use a vending machine? If yes, then let’s set a budget for that. Do you utilize fast food drive-thrus? If yes, then let’s set a budget for that. Do you go to the gas station every morning for a drink or perhaps stop by a Starbucks? How about meal delivery services like Grub Hub or Uber Eats? OK you get the idea…

When it comes to grocery shopping really try and spend most of your money on fruits vegetables. If you have an abundance of those then you’re going to eat those first (because they expire!). So now we are crowding out the bad stuff from the get go. Couple the “crowding out” strategy with setting a budget that you can maintain and you’ll immediately start seeing the positive changes pile up.

The reality is that as much as people spend on food (average: 300 - 400 a month!) a lot of us still go to bed feeling hungry. Do you feel like you fall into that category? Then it’s time to change what you’re eating and where you’re spending your money.

In my opinion, creating a sustainable budget for your fitness and food goals should be STEP ONE. A lot of people miss this step though. They end up committing themselves to online training programs and meal kits that they just have to cancel in a few months time. Trying out new things, is fun and that’s a lot of why many of us are always in some sort of transition mode. However if you do some initial prep work and create a prioritization of your needs, then you’re more likely to land on the right fit for you the first time and not lose a bunch of money on services that you don’t stick with.