“Isn’t everyone counting down until their next meal?”
“Being sore is a sign I’m doing something right! No pain no gain!”
“I just have a big appetite – if I’m not careful, I’ll eat the entire contents of the pantry.”
“Wait, you don’t feel like napping after working out? That’s odd!”
Are you ignoring your body’s signs and signals that it needs more fuel?
>> hunger – like can’t be trusted with XYZ in the house
>> cravings – intense, predictable, need a fix after dinner cravings
>> recovery – need an afternoon nap, generally tired
>> soreness – takes me a while to loosen up, tender to the touch sore
>> agitation – snap at the kids grouchy, need a snack grumpy
>> constipation – need coffee + water + lots of vegetables + a workout (and nothing less!) to be regular
>> gym plateaus – don’t know what 100% feels like anymore, going through motions
>> sleep – annoyingly can’t fall asleep or stay asleep
>> problematic periods – don’t know what you’re gonna get each cycle
>> cold – sweaters, space heaters, oh my!
And you might feel like:
you’re not training hard enough.
you’re not a “real athlete”.
you’re eating enough already.
you’re just different than everyone else.
LIES. all lies.
Chica, your body will let you know you need to eat more but you gotta be paying attention.
Ask yourself: are you enduring all those symptoms (and more!) because you fear an arbitrary calorie goal? Would you rather tank your thyroid hormone, shut down your sex hormones, raise your adrenal stress hormones like cortisol because XXXX recommended calories “feels like” too much for you?
Sometimes all that’s standing in the way of you resolving all those issues AND making for a leaner, stronger you is a matter of 200-500 calories more per day. So basically you could say that a sandwich is holding you back. Off to make myself a PB&J, how bout you?