How to develop a balanced eating habit after fitness competitions

If you have contested in a fitness competition and struggle to find your way back to your regular eating habit, this blog is for you. Whether you competed only once or you have contested in several fitness competitions over the past years, you crucially need to learn a new healthy eating pattern that will be different from the strict dieting plan you have been used to when you were building your body for a fitness competition

Many fitness models find it difficult to go back to their usual eating because they are adapted to staying for long hours without food to achieve their fitness goals. Indeed, it’s hard to transition overnight to what you have left for several months or years ago to accept another strange pattern. An athlete can also believe that going back to their former eating habit will make them lose the body they have spent time, money, and energy to build.

However, the truth is, you cannot keep a fitness competition body for a long time – it’s not healthy. So when you have come out of your shed and decide to take the regular body you were carrying around before going fitness chasing, you’ve got work to do.

Why is it such a difficult task for athletes to start a new healthy eating habit after fitness competitions? The answer is simple. Preparing for a fitness competition requires following a set of eating and workout rules and guidelines committedly, which damage contestants physically and mentally after the show. Imagine an athlete who has been in that routine for years; it will be more challenging.

One of the problems you may have as a fitness model after the competition is that you will lose the maximum satisfaction you get from eating nutritious food; since you took food as bodybuilding pills, food became passive. To help you find your way back to the ultimate joy of eating after participating in fitness competitions, here are five tips to bring back your lost appetite.

1. Avoid social media

It’s hard not to respond when you see what triggers. You need to stay off social media to avoid seeing adverts for the next fitness competition, competitor’s pictures different conversations about the latest supplement to get shredded. All that is not good for you while you are in the process of coming back to the real you. They will only serve as a massive distraction for you.

If you know people who might want to get you back on the track you are trying to leave, avoid talking to them either in person or on the phone. You might also need to leave any group or unfollow anybody who has anything to do with fitness competition.

2. Stop following eating rules

At this time, you need to trust yourself and return to intuitive eating; if you want to recover quickly, you must stop depending on some diet rules for eating. You need to start using your innate abilities to know when you are hungry and satisfied. That was how you were before you learned a new eating culture because of your fitness goals.

Sticking to those nutritional plans will make your post fitness competition life complicated. You will learn the habit of listening to yourself again to know when your body needs food, what kind of food it is requesting, and all that. Note that you may want to eat something that is not part of your strict dieting plan, and that’s okay. Don’t fret about it. When you are absolutely in charge of what you eat, you can be sure of a quick recovery.

3. Try mindful eating

Mindful eating will also help you come back to normal eating. If you don’t know about mindful eating, find some books that talk extensively about it. Reading the book may not bring a vivid change, but it has a subtle impact on your mind. Besides, you will learn new eating habits from an experienced nutrition author, which can motivate you to dust the old eating pattern and go back to what it used to be.

4. Exercise regularly

Before you start exercising your way back to normal, you will need to erase all you know about eating to build a shredded body that may want to pop up in your mind at later times. Also, note that you are no more training as a fitness model preparing for a fitness competition. You are just exercising your body for the fun of it.

Now exercising this time does not have to be hard and tiring; it’s just to keep you fit and active. Don’t forget that you are no more following strict rules from a trainer – you are now in charge! If you feel like taking a stroll, you are free. If you want to do some joggings around, you are free. Whatever your instinct tells you to do, do it! This will give gradually erase fitness competition prep ideas from your head.

5. Stop reading the label

Because you were preparing to contest in a competition, you would make sure that you check all the food labels to watch out for the percentage of carbs, fats, and all that. Now, however, you have to do away with that habit. I’m glad to tell you that every food is right for eating after fitness competitions.

The idea is to reprogram your brain to know that you are no more under obligations. This time, saying this is good or this is bad is not helpful. Just eat what every other person is eating and enjoy the taste to the fullest. When you meet with the people, you used to follow the same eating pattern when you were still pursuing your fitness modeling dreams, treat them with respect and make sure you don’t eat whatever they ask you to eat again. You can also hang out with friends and dine with them to learn new eating habits.

Finally

It’s difficult to quit something you have mastered for several months or years, so you will need to be patient and real to yourself to regain your regular eating habit. I hope that these tips will help you have a healthy relationship with foods after participating in fitness competitions. Hanging around with friends, eating out with your family can also be a great help in bringing you back to your regular eating pattern.

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