It was 10:30 on a Thursday night.
I'd cleaned out my house, any food that wasn't part of my new plan had been thrown away.
For me, this really meant Chocolate Chip Cookies.
For the last 10 days, I had been eating strictly caveman food, and I was doing it in the Zone Diet ratios of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat.
Things had been going really well. I couldn't believe how good I felt. And I felt really good about myself, eating protein, fruit, veggies, and lots of fish oil caps.
Sure sometimes after meals I felt like I was missing something… Like sugar. But mostly I was fine.
Until that Thursday night.
That's when I flipped.
Honestly, I must have looked like a full on crack addict.
I drove to the store at 90 miles per hour.
I think I ran seven red lights, and cut through someone's backyard.
I don't even remember what happened in the store. I think I was eating the cookies as I was paying.
I just remember waking up in my car with cookie crumbs everywhere, and that familiar sugar rush crash…
January is Almost Over, Have You Dropped The Ball Yet?
Everyone has had enough time to fail on their New Years Resolutions at least once.
I had that same chocolate chip cookie meltdown happen two more times before I locked into a rhythm of eating clean.
Here's the ultimate magic secret – when you mess up you've got to keep going.
The smartest thing I did was not turn one chocolate chip cookie explosion night into a weekend.
I went right back to how I was supposed to eat.
Most people have an incident like that, and figured they blew it. Then they give up until next year.
Bad plan.
Good plan: If you've gotten off track on your New Years workout or meal plan, get right back to it.
Just get back to it, get back to it, get back to it.
It's not a matter of being perfect all the time.
The people who win are the ones who get back on their program the fastest.
How'd My Story End?
I ended up doing the caveman/Zone Diet for about four months before I went to Brazil.
After three weeks, I gave myself a free Saturday night, and a free meal on Wednesday.
I made good enough tasting meals that I liked within the plan, that by the end sometimes I forgot to have my free meals.
I got wicked lean, and at the time, the strongest I'd ever been in my life.
While it was cool to be lean and "skinny strong", really I dropped too much weight (I was 20lbs lighter than I am now).
I know, everyone hates me when I say stuff like that.
"Oh, must be terrible being too skinny."
Seriously, when I was eating super clean, I just couldn't manage to eat enough to keep the weight on.
Ever try to plow through two pounds of fruit, after eating 6 oz of beef with steamed broccoli?
I know it's possible to over-eat really caveman stuff, but I'm telling you it's waaaaaaaaay harder.
BTW: I'm six feet tall. Jeff, who's like 6'4", just makes me look short in this picture.
But at 155lbs, I felt too skinny.
Like Rocky Balboa Said, Life Ain't All Sunshine and Rainbows
If you're trying something new, their are going to be some hiccups.
If you expect perfect straight out of the gate, you are going to be disappointed.
Allow yourself to be new.
We used to always say "The first three weeks are training." In other words, don't beat yourself up, just practice for the first three weeks. After three weeks, then it's really go time.
Don't beat yourself up for dropping the ball on your diet every once in a while – Just get back on track as fast as possible.
Don't get stuck on individual meals, either good or bad.
It's what you eat most of the time that makes the most difference.
I get totally pumped every time I hear that =)
Rocky 6 was totally underrated.
Every bit as good as the first Rocky, and lets get real, the first Rocky won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Plus you gotta give it up that Rocky was lifting kettlebells during the training montage.
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Josh News: Ate at Jax!
My wife and I were totally stoked, we ate at Jax, a resturaunt owned by Top Chef competitor Hosea Rosenburg.
'Course that was before Hosea cheated on his girlfriend on the last episode. So while the pork tenderloin was awesome, respect for the chef is now zero.
Anyway, so I'm totally addicted to watching Top Chef. I like it a lot more than say… The Biggest Loser. While I find the people's transformations on The Biggest Loser totally inspiring, the whole concept is such a fitness train wreck I almost can't stand it.
If there are any Top Chef fans reading this, post to comments who you're pulling for to win!
If you dig the Josh News, you've totally got to follow me on Twitter. It's pretty much the coolest way to keep track of what your friends are up to, let your friends know what you are up to, and track what other people you barely know are up to =) It's also the world's coolest networking tool.
I admit, it took me a minute to "get" Twitter. But once I started following a bunch of cool people, it became totally addictive. You can "follow" me and get up to the minute Josh News at http://twitter.com/joshhillis
You can also give me some feedback on Twitter. I used Twitter to poll people "Am I selling out if I do machine chest press on a local TV news show?"
Josh is author of The Stubborn Seven Pounds, the ultimate fat loss handbook.
By Josh Hillis
"I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis
Josh has been featured in USA Today and The Denver Post.
Josh is the head coach at www.Denver-Kettlebell-Bootcamp.com
