How I Helped Christian Go from Restricting to Food Freedom

It’s hard to break old habits, especially when it comes to food and eating. That’s something that my client Christian and I worked on during this past holiday season.

We’d already been working together for a few months and I was checking in with all of my clients to see what support I could offer for Thanksgiving weekend. Christian responded that he was planning on doing an aggressive cardio workout and skipping breakfast that day to gorge on Thanksgiving food later that afternoon. If you didn’t hear my hand slap my forehead, know that it happened.

I kindly pointed out that he’d be way more likely to binge on goodies that day and feel guilty the next day if he went that route. Christian, willing to admit that this was an old way of thinking, accepted the challenge of trying things a new way. So we created a plan: he could still do his workout (nothing wrong with being active UNLESS you’re doing it to earn your calories. That is unhealthy behavior,") but he would eat a nourishing breakfast. We focused on getting protein in to help him stay full, as well as a balance of carbs and fats to fuel his workout.

When we checked in the Monday after, Christian said that he didn’t go HAM on Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, he had his portions, enjoyed them, and moved on with life. That’s exactly how it should be! We can mindfully indulge in foods, enjoy them, and move on. You don’t have to be held prisoner to the restrict, binge, and feel-guilty cycle.

Awesome work from Christian!