Gym Pshycology: Balance?

So, after my last post, I got a lot of questions about healthy eating habits. Let me be the first to say the following: I LOVE FOOD. Bread, sugar-loaded cereal, brownies, cake, bread, bread, bread and more bread. These are some of my favourite things. Unfortunately, these would not be considered "healthy choices" so, I don't allow myself any of these on a regular basis. They fall under the "treat" category. 

Here's the thing, my eating habits are a result of 5 years of perfecting and finding what works for me. As I said before, I love food, and this is something I'm not willing to give up (for whatever reason). If your looking for meal ideas, I have a previous post that you can check out called "3 Healthy Breakfast Ideas". But on todays post, I'm not going to tell you what to eat or how to eat, I'm going to explain the relevance of balance.

I'm not a model or a professional athlete, but my job does come with specific physical requirements. I have come to terms with this. 80% of looking and feeling good is directly related to our diets (unfortunately). I try to keep my daily calorie intake between 1500 and 1800. I can't express how hard this is for me. I can literally eat everything off my plate and go for two more rounds. HOW TO CONTROL YOURSELF?: I hang a bikini on my wall to remind myself that I'll eventually want to wear it and I check how many calories are in what I'm eating. It's been proven that women who check the nutritional information on the back of the products they're buying at the grocery store, are more likely to have a more controlled calorie intake, and therefore, a healthier diet. It's happened to me many times that I look at something I think doesn't have that many calories, only to find out that it contains the amount I should be having in one whole meal. So, DON'T BE LAZY, AND READ THE BACK OF THE STUFF YOUR EATING.

I don't know why this happens to me, but whenever I'm in Chile, I will always order tea when I go out for caffeine. But when I'm in Toronto, the yummyness in all the unhealthy-sugar packed options is irresistible. If there is anything in my diet I will never say no to, it's coffee. In Toronto I will give into the craving of the Double Mocha Latte, but instead of going for the whip cream and 10% milk, I will opt for the "skinny" version by going for the skimmed milk/no cream option. See? Balance.

As a conclusion, everyone is different. You only live once. The idea is to live a happy AND healthy life. Balance is key guys!

V