Be A Rule Breaker

I hate rules! Ask my mom, I have been a rule breaker for some time. 

When it comes to food I think it’s important to have guidelines…not RULES.

When Ben and I opened KDR Fitness, we wanted to create a simple to use, easy to follow set of nutrition rules everyone could use to be healthier, lose weight, feel better and reduce inflammation.  But, some people…like me…don’t like rules.  In fact, I hate them!  Give me a “rule” and I am sure to break it just because it’s a rule!  Maybe your like me?!  Do you hate rules? 

Ben has rules he follows.  I don’t.  I tried using his rules, but, they never worked for me (see above…rule breaker!) and I realized I do so much better when I set guidelines for myself.  So far my guildelines work for me!  

But…it wasn’t always like this.

I read a lot of books, articles, etc. and with so much information out there it was hard for me not to put nutrition rules on myself, like:

Eating within 30 minutes of waking up

Eating all organic fruits and veggies

Making sure I ate every 3 hours even if I wasn’t hungry

Buy local

Not eating out because it was too difficult to manage calories and portions.  

I found myself fighting every single rule put in front of me.

Those were rules I was imposing on myself. When presented with a obstacle like eating out, a family function, or an “I can’t afford to eat all organic” scenario I wasn’t sure what to do, which usually resulted in not eating anything or saying “fuck it, let’s eat everything.”  Both of which were not great decisions.

I recently overheard a couple at the grocery store having a similar conversation. He was talking her out of buying non-organic berries from Peru but then proceeded to by a box of 25 cookies that were cheaper.  

The rules that we impose on ourselves, sometimes, may actually hold us back. When I took the rules away I was finally able to explore, learn what worked for me, and actually understand what my body needed. Taking away rules meant that I could eat ground beef, rice, non-organic veggies and skip breakfast if I wanted to do so. 

Guidelines are helpful, but RULES can be really harmful, especially when you become to set in your ways and punish your self when you break your rules.  I learned that the hard way.  Some people THRIVE off of rules, but, not me.  

Guidelines are suggestions, such as: “try to eat vegetables and lean protein at every meal” or “try to keep most of your carbs to fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.”

Rules are statements such as, “you have to have 2 servings of vegetables and 20 grams of protein at every meal” or, “no carbs after 6pm.”

Rules don’t leave any room for life obstacles, where as guidelines can be more flexible. Rules make you feel like you either succeeded or failed, whereas guidelines help you to make the best decisions for you in that moment. 

Stay tuned for the next article, where I will tell you the guidelines that I use to eat, live and work out.

What rules do have on yourself? Let me help you break them! 

Do you need some help breaking free from your nutrition and fitness rules? We can help!