Stop Starting Over: How to Reset Without Quitting

John Midas was 10 years old when he opened a mysterious box of chocolates.

The night before, he had lain in his bed, fantasizing about candy:

“I wish that everything I ate turned into chocolate,” he whispered.

Then, the magical box of chocolates changed everything. His orange juice, his toast, even his toothpaste turned to sweet, creamy chocolate the moment it touched his lips.

And so, this childhood story continues, until John eats himself sick on chocolate and deeply regrets his wish.

John Midas is my warning signal…

Sometime around February, most of us start thinking just like John.

We fantasize about all the foods we swore off for the year. We dream of chocolate. We hunger for Hawaiian rolls. We stare longingly into the bowl of tortilla chips at the Mexican restaurant.

It’s the make-or-break moment when most of us think, “There’s no way I can keep this up,” and quit.

But there’s another option.

And this option keeps you from starting over, and over, and over again. There’s a way to reset without quitting. Below, I’ll teach you exactly how to do it.

Eat a Mega (Macro-Balanced) Meal

There’s a moment when our bodies take over. When we deprive it of nutrition and calories for a long time, it will override any willpower we have. And that’s a good thing! It forces us to eat when our bodies are depleted.

In this state, we can’t make good decisions. We devour an entire bag of chips, swallow a whole carton of ice cream, and gobble up our kids’ Pop-Tarts.

So, the first step is to calm your body and give it a big dose of nutrient-dense food. In this meal, you want to satiate your body with all three macronutrients (carbs, fat, and protein). Then, pack it with micronutrients too (think “eat the rainbow”).

Enjoy something like a big Moroccan Chicken Quinoa Salad or a tall Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie (or both!).

When you’re on the edge of giving up, stop and eat something good. Forget calories. Just fill your belly with healthy food. Then, you’ll be ready to move on to the next step.

Decode Your Cravings

But what about cravings? Shouldn’t we be shushing them?

These powerful feelings have been given a bad name. We often think we have to get rid of our cravings. But the key to easier weight loss and maintenance longterm is to listen to and train our cravings.

Here’s what I mean…

Cravings are requests from our bodies. They are ringing a food bell, asking for a certain nutrient that serves a specific and important purpose.

Our bodies have memory. In a way, it keeps an inventory of the foods we have eaten and what nutrients it can get from those foods (energy from bread, magnesium from chocolate, etc.).

When we feed our bodies with whole foods, our bodies start to build a healthier inventory. Have you ever had a day when the food that sounds the most delicious is a big bowl of fresh garden vegetables, or soup made with bone broth, or a wild blueberry smoothie?

Listening to, learning about, and training our cravings helps us desire healthier foods. These will satisfy our bodies much more than the junky cravings we used to have.

Stop Snacking

All this time, your mom was right! You will ruin your appetite for dinner with that snack.

But snacking doesn’t just sabotage your meals. It steals from them.

Snacks are frequently higher in calories, especially when they’re the grab-and-go packaged kind. Those calories are what we need, though, to make sure each meal is big and nutrient-dense enough to fill us up and satisfy our bodies.

Let me give you two examples:

Day 1 (with snacks)

1600 caloires, 125g protein

Breakfast: ½ dry oats, cooked with water
Snack: 1 protein granola bar
Lunch: Mixed greens salad with 4oz chicken breast, 1 tbsp dressing
Snack: Quest protein chips, Orgain protein shake
Dinner: 5oz baked cod, ¾ cup cooked rice, 1 cup green beans, 1 tbsp olive oil for cooking

Day 2 (without snacks)

1600 calories, 140g protein

2 eggs plus ½ cup egg whites with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, and avocado on sourdough, and a bowl of blueberries
Arugula salad with pumpkin seeds, roasted carrots, ½ cup quinoa, a whole grilled chicken breast, and 2 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette
5oz of salmon with a roasted sweet potato, sauteed green beans, drizzled in tahini
8 chocolate covered strawberries

The meals on day two are solid. They’ll fill your body with nutrients, even in a season of calorie deficit.

Increase Your Calories

Speaking of caloric deficit, let’s talk numbers. Gone are the days of the 1200-calorie diet. If you’re still on that train, it’s time to jump off.

Scared to add calories back in? Here’s your inspiration:

“I was diagnosed with Hashimotos at the end of January. For a long time, I had a bad relationship with food, always fearful-Is this good/bad? Will it make me bloat?

I was overweight, had thin hair, no menstrual cycle, and didn’t know where to start. Then, I decided to give LEAN a go…

I’m amazed at my results!! LEAN helped me detach from old thinking about food, body image, and nutrition. I went from eating less than 900 calories a day to eating over 1500 calories a day.

I’m down 6lb and 10 inches, my cycles are back, my skin and sleep are better, and I feel confident fueling my body and planning meals. LEAN has been one of the most rewarding investments for myself!”

How is this possible? In LEAN, we teach you exactly how to increase your calories without gaining weight. It’s a crucial step for most of us who grew up skimping calories in an attempt to get skinny. And it’s about time we throw that theory out and start eating again!