If you’ve been following my prep this year (2020) on Instagram & YouTube, you’ve probably heard how I haven’t been nearly as hungry this year & my food focus is the lowest its EVER been. Ever.
So I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about WHY.
Why I’m not falling asleep dreaming of cookies.
Why I’m not constantly glued to MyFitnessPal, trying to create new recipes for my cravings.
Why I’m not having cravings at all really…
Because I still follow the stuffed cookie accounts on Instagram, still follow the junk food accounts that keep me updated on new Poptart/Oreo/cereal flavors.
I’m even a FOOD blogger & recipe creator—so why the heck am I not even CLOSE to the level of food focused that I was last year?
Well to start…
I’ve eaten the same breakfast and dessert every single day this prep since at least early March. (With flavor variations)
And the dessert I’ve had every single night since before Christmas? Protein Fluff:
This means less time *thinking* about what food to eat.
I’m not trying to say that YOU need to eat the same exact foods every day, but when you’re dieting long term, your hunger signals start to really rise & typically your food focus does too!
When I pre-plan what I’m eating for the next day in MyFitnessPal all I have to do is pick the variation of cauli oats + American Dream Nut Butter I put on top (discount code: emyogifit) & then pick the variation of protein fluff + American Dream Nut Butter I want for fluff!
That’s half of my meals for the day already. Almost zero thinking involved!
Other important things I’ve noticed I DON’T do this Prep:
I don’t mindlessly scroll through & watch Tasty cooking videos before falling asleep.
I don’t browse Pinterest dessert recipes.
I’m not googling Donut companies in the area.
I’m not making a list of foods I need to eat after my competition.
It’s only recently that I realized I haven’t been doing that.
And it’s also only now that I’ve realized that doing all of those things… just puts me in the mental headspace to both binge & fail my reverse diet.
Seriously, last year I had a list a mile long in my phone of restaurants, bakeries that had French pastries, a whole PLAN for the day after my competition. (I was back on macros the Monday after, but geez… that level of planning was NOT healthy)
Of course sure, I’ll probably ask my parents to bring me a donut or two for post-show victory bite shots with (hopefully) a trophy in hand!
But I think I’ll save the donut shop research for maybe the car ride TO the city my show is in. No need to go down a rabbit hole of food porn yet.
So I gotta admit something…
On my HARDEST day of prep this year back in MAY (watch this Q&A YouTube where I go over in detail what it was like)
I ordered a full box of World’s Best Cookie Dough.
The act of buying them felt like a satisfying cheat tbh even though I haven’t touched them/truly barely think about them. 🤣
It’s honestly really nice knowing I don’t have to think about treats. I’m good. I don’t need any more!!
And you know, I don’t think I’ll look up restaurants in the Dallas area until show day itself. It’s not like many will be open anyways… or that I should even go with how bad Covid-19 is in Texas. My parents & I might end up getting takeout, who knows!
Post-show celebrations are bound to be completely different “with everything going on.”
I think I’ll handle my reverse the same way. I’ll keep eating cauli oats and fluff until the worst of the reverse hunger has gone away & I’m definitely not going to go out of my way to make myself crave foods I don’t even think about usually!
I’d love to hear in the comments if any of this resonates with you! Have you gone through periods of intense cravings & food focus? What changed for you?
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