Saying goodbye to my dear friend, the cheat meal.

Hello blogger world!

Well you know what it's finally happened.  My cheat meals will be going bye bye.  I'm 11 weeks out from my first ever competition.  I'll be honest, I have fully enjoyed my cheat meal each week.  I get dressed up, do my make-up, have a date night with my husband and I've eaten some gourmet burgers and fries, gourmet pizza, fabulous steaks, some mac and cheese sides, some 4th of July cook outs, banana honey peanut butter wraps, and ice cream, cookies and the occasional candy for dessert.  (of course not all at once people, this is several weeks of cheat meals....but they were all good! :)  So it's 11 weeks out and Sunday will be my last cheat meal and my trainer said to make it a good one!  It's my husband's birthday this Sunday so I am glad I can enjoy some good food and celebrate with him!

Now I'll be honest about what went through my mind when she said this was my final cheat meal- "I don't know if I can do this" "What am I going to do" "I won't be able to go out and be social very much" These are all the first thoughts that came to my mind, they aren't positive and they aren't useful.  I mean you would have thought she was telling me I wouldn't be able to eat for 11 weeks!  It's not like I'm going without food, or that my body won't have enough nutrients.  I definitely have enough food in my diet plan and it's good food too.  And so here were my second thoughts "It's only 11 weeks" "That food will always be there" "Thank goodness I like my meal plan" "Thank goodness I have my husband to help me stay strong" "I can't wait to enjoy this last cheat meal!"  All positive thoughts, all realistic thoughts.  Can you imagine that some of the world is struggling to have food and my first thought is "oh no, I won't get to have ice cream!" Once I put my crazy in check I realized that I can do this.  It's nice when you can really recognize what control foods can have over your goals, then you know how to overcome them.

So I'll be enjoying my cheat meal come Sunday and I'll be enjoying the changes that happen from feeding my body consistent goodness long after that!  So here's to another 11 weeks and all the positive new changes to come!  (I can't really "cheers" with a drink so I will raise my gallon of water and my green tea to this!)

Cheers!
Ash