Yep. I said it.

When you’re trying to lose weight, I see restriction as a GOOD thing.

You may not agree with me, and that’s fine. A lot of people don’t. They see food and calorie restriction as these horrific tortures that you “shouldn’t have to endure” just because you wanna lose weight.

But let’s take a closer look at these so-called “tortures” of calorie restriction and food restriction.

First of all, if you’ve got a weight problem, you’re eating too much food, eating too much of the wrong foods, or both. You’re probably consuming more volume than your body needs, and the food you’re consuming may have screwed up your hormones.

Either way, if you’re eating too much, or you’re eating the wrong foods, restricting which foods you eat, and how much you eat, is gonna be necessary to lose that weight.

(If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t have a weight problem.)

Most people love the idea of no rules, no boundaries, no discipline, and being able to just do what they want, when they want.

This is ESPECIALLY true when it comes food.

“Cristy, there’s so much of my life I can’t control! I should at LEAST be able to eat what I want, when I want!”

I get it, but let me ask you this.

You probably feel like doing things that, long-term, it would be horrible to do, right?

There’s that person who thoughtlessly cuts you off in traffic, and maybe part of you wants to rear-end them to teach them a lesson.

There’s that supervisor who’s a total jerk, and part of you wants to tell them off, or crucify them on social media.

And if you’re trying to lose weight now, and your partner is deliberately trying to sabotage you because you losing weight and getting healthy is inconvenient to THEM, maybe you’d like nothing better than to wipe that smug look off their face as they watch you wrestle with temptation.

Not everything we feel like doing is good for us, and boy is that the truth when it comes to eating our “favorite foods”…

…which, if we’re being honest, are foods that make us fat and sick. If eating our favorite foods only meant foods like steak, asparagus, and butter, it wouldn’t be a problem!

Second, boundaries and restrictions help us be safe and civilized.

While it’s true they can be taken too far, that doesn’t mean the answer is to have none at all. Think what chaos would ensue if there were no boundaries, laws, or restrictions!

If the word restriction bothers you, then stop using it…because the truth is, no one’s forcing you to manage your eating.

It is 100% a choice.

You CHOOSE to eat differently.

You CHOOSE to reduce food volume.

You CHOOSE to exercise impulse control.

As a result of those CHOICES, you get to break the restrictions you’re currently enduring when it comes to your weight and health…

Because for me, having a body that’s too fat and sick to work right is a lot more restrictive than saying no to Domino’s and Diet Coke (and yes to real food, water, and sleep).

Bottom line: Stop seeing restriction as a negative thing.

I’m not saying we should overcorrect and starve ourselves. Please don’t go from one extreme to the other.

What I’m saying is, in the right circumstances, restricting what you eat, and/or how much you eat (which is really just managing your eating, instead of pigging out whenever you feel like it) is beneficial. It’s how you get the weight off, and frankly, part of how you keep it off.

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