A
lot of diets on the market include cheat meals or cheat days. The main problem that I have with “cheat”
meals is the negative connotation that the word has. Can you think of a time when cheating was a
good thing? “He cheated on his wife”, “She
cheated on her math test”, “and He cheated on his college entrance exam”. When you put negative words in your daily
life you are not building a strong, healthy relationship with food.
No
one should have to “earn” their food nor should they feel like a failure when
they splurge and have an additional serving or desert. Food is fuel for the body, without food your
body would lack the nutrients that it needs in order to grow new cells and
repair old ones. Food should never be a
reward. If you spouse receives a promotion
or your niece receives a full college scholarship, then yes it is awesome to
get together over dinner. However, the
reward is spending time with your family and sharing in their happiness and excitement,
it should not be over the food itself. Remember,
food is fuel and the higher the quality of food that you feed your body the
better that you will feel! A great reward for sticking to a diet and
fitness routine would be spending time with a great friend, buying a special
necklace that will remind you of how hard you worked and the great results that
you achieved, or maybe new workout clothes that accent your hard work and
efforts! Now those are real rewards.
Instead
of having a “cheat” meal I have a “high fuel” meal. On days that I have an extra long work-out
(run 12 miles) or completed an intense work-out, then my body will need
additional fuel and these would be the days that I would eat my high fuel meals. After a hard workout your body is at its peak
for fat burning and would be better equip to handle these additional calories. It is also important to realize what foods
your body likes and dislikes. I recommend
that you do a food journal for 30days.
You do not have to count calories, just log what you ate, approximate
portion size and time that you ate eat item.
Then during the day make notes in the food journal as to how you are
feeling: tired, stomach hurts, depressed, heart burn etc. After the month is over, read over your food
journal and see if anything jumps out at you, like: heart burn every time I eat
onion rings, bloated and depressed after I eat a pint of ice cream. Then you need to remove those offending foods
and see how better you feel. Personally,
my body does not like food fried in a batter, it causes my stomach to bloat, I
get heart burn, and feel like I am going to get sick. Therefore, when I see those types of food I “choose”
not to eat them because they make me feel so bad that the cost of feeling bad
is not worth the 15 minutes of good tasting food.
You
are in control! Do not deprive
yourself! You do not have to earn your
food! Your food is your medicine and
good food will allow your body to function more effectively!
A
great book on nutrition is “Eat to Live” by Joel Fuhrman.
