Elite athletes often become so obsessed with perfection that they demonize food and develop unhealthy relationships with eating. The fix: schedule one treat a week as homework. It loosens the grip of perfectionism and makes it easier to stick to a solid nutrition plan the other six days.
Athletes, once a week I need you to go get some cookies, get some ice cream, go hang out with your friends at In-N-Out, go get a treat. High-level athletes are very good at being perfectionists, and sometimes you take it even too far. At points in my career, I began to believe that any treat was going to sabotage me. I began to fear food. I began to demonize it, and that's just not the case. Food is fun. Food is your friend. And so I am giving you guys the homework assignment to go and have a treat and loosen up a little bit because it is not gonna sabotage your performance and it's gonna actually help you with your relationship with food and help you stick to your fueling plan. The rest of the week so much better.
