If you do what you've always done...

"It's time for change."

We've heard a lot of that in the past year. Usually it comes from the political arena, but it also comes from many other venues. Granted not all change results in success.

But change for the sake of change is far too short sighted. If something is successful, why would you change it?

Most of us are unsuccessful with our current eating habits. In the case of most of our eating habits, change is something that needs to occur.  It is not change for the sake of change. Instead it is change for the sake of eating healthier and altering the way we look and feel. There is good change and bad change though. But most of us know the difference.

Let me give you a quick example of bad change. I usually eat pretty well - 4-6 meals per day, shredded wheat for breakfast, granola-blueberry parfait for snack, tuna salad for lunch, chicken-risotto-asparagus for dinner.

But Sunday night my wife and her friends husband decided to have a pizza cook off. All 4 pizza's were winners. But I was a big loser. I changed my eating habit and managed to put away 9 or 10 slices of pizza. What happened? I paid dearly. My stomach hurt for the next 36 hours, Monday was rough day for me as  I walked around nauseated, constantly feeling as if I were one bad scent away from having to rush to the bathroom.

What would good change have looked like? 1 slice of each pizza and a large salad that we also brought.

But here is my final point:

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got. 

Your diet is the perfect example. If you keep eating the way you've always eaten, you'll continue to look the way you've always looked. You have to change things up. Your body is the way it is, because you do the things you do. 

So change things. If you "aren't a breakfast person," try to become a breakfast person. If you eat breakfast at 7 then don't eat again until dinner, mix in a couple of snacks. If your dinner plate is usually 1/2 covered with grains/pasta and only 25% green, switch it to 50% green and 25% grains/pasta. Take small steps, branch out from the norm and see how your body responds. 

We are at the start of a new Hi-5 FitCamp. Make a change for the next 4 weeks. Stop eating bread/grains/pasta at dinner, eat an apple each workday, cut out all soda/latte's/energy drinks for the next month. These are changes that will have a positive outcome. Your body will respond favorably to them


But I wouldn't recommend eating 10 slices of pizza... Your body will NOT respond favorably to that.