You are only as lean as...

This quote is so true because we are ‘lazy’ people. What I mean is that we all have an energy conservation mechanism. We want to get our calories by expending as little energy as possible. This is an ancient survival mechanism. You are programed to eat as many calories as possible while expending the least amount of energy.

This is why drive thru restaurants, snack foods and heat and serve meals are so popular. It requires very little effort and energy to get them.

So, if you want to be successful at losing weight it is so important to keep your environment ‘clean’. You must remove the calorie dense convenience foods that will derail your success.

When you are shopping, don’t even put these items in your cart. Because once at home, these foods which may not even be intended for you will call to you day and night to eat them.

There are two things you need to do to solve this problem.

You need to keep the fattening processed food out of the house. And you need to make eating healthy foods as ‘convenient’ as possible.

Have your fridge stocked with lots of fruit, vegetables and premade compliant meals. That way when you are hungry and tired, you would have to make a great deal of effort to get a healthy meal or snack. To your ‘lazy’ mind it costs less energy to eat the healthy pre-made food rather than going out to a store or drive-thru.

It also means that bulk cooking is important so that you will always have a meal that you can heat up or prepare in five minutes.

So make it easy on yourself and stay lean by:

• Keeping ‘non-compliant’ food out of the house.
• Keeping your fridge stocked with healthy options like fruit and pre-cut vegetables. Also have pre-made sauces and dressings that are fat free.
• Bulk cooking whole grains, starchy vegetables and legume dishes like soups and stews.

If you plan and prepare, you can work with your natural desire to conserve energy. That’s the way to be lean.