Basic to Bikini: Week five and six - sugar cravings and the perfect balance

Let's get straight into this one, shall we? Week five was not a great one for me – actually, I’m going to say it was the toughest week of my prep thus far (yes, I’m very well aware it’s going to get harder – this is what I signed up for after all). It wasn’t horrendous, it was just tough, physically and mentally tough. My body was tired, I’d come down a bit ill, my motivation levels were low, I could feel my discipline hanging on by a thread – I think it’s safe to say the previous four weeks were catching up to me and my body was just going through a little adjustment period, which I was expecting; I’ve never eaten or trained like this in my life so I knew my body would rebel. The way I got through it? I put myself – in particular my mental health – first: rested when I could and just rode the wave, so to speak. My advice to you if you’re going through a change and feel like it’s getting too hard: remember your why. Change is like climbing a mountain. There is a very good chance you are inches away from experiencing that change at its peak (reaching the very top of the mountain and just as it all feels like it’s becoming too much, you reach the top and it gets easier from there. Hang in there – it can’t last forever. Use this challenge to strengthen your willpower and discipline.

Taking care of mental health led me to podcasts which I had been neglecting a little. I always say you should do the things that make you happy, or make you feel at peace, and for me, listening to podcasts is one of those things so in an attempt to get myself in a better headspace, I found some fitness based podcasts and made an effort to listen to them - this all acts as a source of motivation for me so it’s a win-win. Now, while listening to one particular podcast, it occurred to me how important it is to not let one aspect of your life consume your whole life. I’m a very passionate person; whether it’s relationships, career or hobbies, when I have an interest in something, I put my whole heart into it. I think about it constantly and spend all my free time working on it; this can lead to a lot of effort being put into it but it also means that I neglect other areas of my life such as self-care and my social life. This is something I won’t allow to happen with competing. I think the issue with letting something consume your whole life is that it tends to burn out, the excitement wears off and slowly you find yourself thinking about it less, caring less.. it’s not sustainable.

Sacrifices need to be made when competing, but it’s important to find a way to make it a part of my life, not my whole life. This applies to so many different passions and goals.

We’re all busy people, competing is just one part of our lives. I have a job, family, friends, a passion project, hobbies and other interests. How do you learn to balance your passions with all the other aspects of your life?

My number one tip: never, ever, ever forget about the things you love doing. If you’re like me and got caught up in life and have forgotten what you love to do, sit down and write 30 things that you enjoy spending your time doing. It can be things that make you happy, fuel your creativity, help with your mental health, bring you peace - literally anything. Make sure you write 30 things. Whenever you get free time (or make some if you have a busy day), do at least one thing on your list; it doesn’t have to be something that takes an hour, if 5 minutes is all you have, make it count. Competing is not just about the physical, if you’re not happy, it’ll show.

So after the week that was my toughest, I came up against some serious sugar cravings in week 6. But thank goodness for my coach (if you haven’t got one, get one!). Now I’d like to point out here that it’s not that I can’t eat anything with sugar in it (I haven’t cut anything out of my diet) it’s just that I can’t always fit it into my calories while still hitting my macros (at least not without giving up something else and that something else is generally more nutrient dense). So I told my coach and we discussed how I can combat those cravings. It is so important for you be honest with your coach; they are there to help you. Had I not told him, I would probably still be fighting the urge to cave in and I'd blow my macros by eating things that don’t fit in my goals. Eventually, this probably would have gotten the better of me, or it would leave me to believe that competing is making me give up too much and maybe I would’ve quit - who knows. But I’m not real keen on taking that risk - I love this too much. My coach helped me make some changes to my meals to curb those sugar cravings; I have most of my carbs at breakfast and lunch to help me get through that mid-afternoon slump, and I factor in a ‘treat’ for the afternoon or after dinner. This treat is usually low calorie ice cream, diet jelly or rice cakes. This isn’t just helping with the sugar cravings, it’s helping me mentally. I don’t want to create a restrictive diet because that creates an unhealthy relationship with food. We’re keeping this healthy guys - competition prep doesn’t have to be torturous.