Do you believe you Can?

So it has been an interesting week.

Lately I have been working with a group of people to help them change their eating habits one at a time, so I have been thinking a lot about what we eat and especially about my own diet.

I am pretty good in the norm and my diet is mainly clean with about 20% room to relax a little.

But then Christmas came and I am a believer that at that time of year it is important to enjoy the festivities so I let myself go a little.

Usually January comes along and I want to get back to ‘normal’ but for various reasons (mainly stress!) it didn’t happen that way this year.

February passed and March set in.

I had a good period through February where I managed to avoid sugar (for a bit!).

But otherwise between you and me I was eating far too much carbs and sugar and oh yes maybe a little too much wine!

Most of you know that I love my work with FastTrack Fitcamp and when a 6 week feel good programme was suggested for the clients we work with I decided I needed to get involved.

I am very aware of two things that make me successful.

The first is that I need support.

The second is that I am way more likely to succeed if I actually believe it is possible.

So I had a good look at my diet. Good amount of protein, veg, fruit, regular meals – check.

Not enough water, too many refined carbs and sugar – oops!

I also noticed something I hadn’t necessarily put my finger on before.

I always kind of avoid this one because I believed that I couldn’t be without it.

It’s coffee.

Now I don’t drink a lot of coffee but I do have to drink it sweetened with a bit of honey.

2 nice black coffees a day with a little honey – not so bad right?

Well no in the grand scheme of things not too bad.

I recognise though that sugar is a needy thing, if you have a little you want more. I know from past experience that if I have none at all then I don’t really want it.

This was it, if I really wanted to give my flagging energy levels a chance I needed to stop the sugar.

To stop the sugar I needed to stop the coffee too.

To me this has an association with the first time I completely cleaned out my diet, many years ago I was overweight, eating a lot of rubbish and a Nutritional Therapist friend suggested I go clean. Two days after stopping caffeine, sugar, dairy, wheat and gluten I was curled up in bed with hot sweats, stomach cramps and the most almighty headache.

Hmmm could I do this again?

I knew that I have a much cleaner diet these days and I now only drink a small amount of caffeine compared to then. I have also stopped caffeine several times in the past and not been anywhere near this bad but I really believed that I would feel ill for a few days if I did it again.

Oh the headaches!

So I had a good word with myself, I made myself re-visit this belief and I did bit of reframing. I know that being without caffeine and sugar helps me feel so much more energised and less sluggish. So I chose to focus on this instead.

I focussed on where I would be a week or two from now rather than on how I might feel immediately.

I chose to believe that being without caffeine and sugar made me feel energised.

And off I went.

Support – check.

Plenty of good food choices around me – check.

Belief that this will make me feel good – check.

It is now day five.

Did I get the headache?

Well day two I woke up with a banger, a couple of paracetamol and 50 burpees later I felt ok.

And that was that!

I didn’t believe that I could so I worked on that belief and this is what happened.

What do you believe you can’t do?