Eating is Not Just About Willpower, Self-Control, and Discipline; Why we Need to STOP Thinking this Way

​Eating isn’t always about how much self-discipline or control you do or don’t have
 
Sometimes it’s about taking steps to mend your relationship with all food and remove the rules and labels
 
Sometimes it’s about enjoying it because you want it and truly know that one thing isn’t going to ruin your progress or life
 
Sometimes it’s about learning how to make more conscious choices for your body
 
I notice a lot of people in the bodybuilding community want to pass off their decisions to how much ‘self-discipline, willpower and control’ they have
 
I can’t help but think this is an ignorant approach to food and eating
 
Eating something off plan or outside of your macros doesn’t always have to do with willpower or discipline
 
I work with competitors
 
Women who go months without even thinking of taking a lick of food off their plan
 
Women with so much willpower that you couldn’t even tempt them with extra peanut butter
 
Women with so much self-control that they eat what’s measured and move on despite tummy growls
 
Only to come out of a prep and suddenly “lose all control”

You want to tell me “they (or maybe even you) just don’t have the discipline”? Lol, that’s not the problem
 
I mean, it can be in some cases, but with a competitor like that, it’s probably not

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Fixation mindset with new found ‘freedom’ mixing with the commitment to be ‘on point’ with their reverse?
 
Long term deficit & restrictions?
 
No more ‘tangible goal’ like a show in mind?
 
Feeling a sense of identity loss being off prep?
 
Having stressors or negative patterns of their life & within themselves revealed to them now that the distraction of prep has been taken away?
 
YES, all of this is MUCH more likely to be the reason for these “out of character” behaviors
 
But lack of willpower, discipline, and self-control...ehhhh probably not

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The feeling of lacking those three things is usually just because that’s how it appears on surface level and how we are conditioned to define our behaviors
 
“She can’t say no to food so she has no self-control”
 
“Stuffing your face for weeks post show is just being irresponsible and shows a lack of willpower”
 
“Falling off your reverse diet shows how little discipline someone has, they have no respect for their coach”
 
MEANWHILE the competitor struggling with this is thinking;
 
“Why can’t I stop thinking about food?...How come I keep eating and can’t stop myself even when I followed macros all day?...I am so ashamed that I let my coach down too...”
 
This is why I believe Passing off VERY serious problems as a lack of discipline is just ignorant
 
Not to mention some women only follow their diet to the letter because they are so filled with fear of any fat gain, are craving freedom so badly but are too afraid to give it to themselves, have no control over anything else in their life and this is there only sense of it, would rather use a diet as an excuse for unhealthy beliefs about food than actually address what’s happening beyond surface level
 
WE JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON IN SOMEONE’S HEAD BASED ON HOW THEY EAT
 
SHAMING OTHER PEOPLE FOR THEIR CHOICES WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GOING THROUGH OR NEED IS PART OF THE BIGGER PROBLEM
 
I am NOT saying competing doesn’t require discipline because it absolute does
 
But I AM saying that its not the only thing that gets tested or brought to the surface in this sport

Build More than Just a Body

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