Cheat days

by Megan on Sun, 11/23/2014 - 5:59pm | 0 comments

Recently I was reading a great blog written by my weight lifting coach Bret Contreras, and it got me thinking about the subject of cheat days.  So many times, when I'm eating especially clean and healthy for a photoshoot or competition, I look forward to having a day (or a meal) where I can have whatever I want.  When I was younger I used to tell myself that it was ok to take the weekends off.  I found myself going out to breakfast for chocolate chip pancakes, with a sub for lunch, followed by pizza and maybe dessert.  

 

A few different things came out of this, none of which were pretty.  I felt terrible.  After eating clean all week, it actually doesn't feel that good to eat low quality, sugary, greasy foods.  My body runs better on whole foods.  My skin was also not exactly glowing...... You really are what you eat, and I was eating a lot of terrible things. I found myself wearing more and more makeup to create the illusion of beautiful skin, because I no longer had smooth, healthy skin.   My everyday relationship with food became a little less healthy and normal overall.  You know how everyone is always talking about "balance"?  It's actually true what they say....moderation is a good thing.  For me, cheat days turned more into "binge days" and let's face it, that's not really about enjoyment.

 

Lastly, cheat days stalled my progress, and I actually found myself losing ground.  If you find yourself eating whatever you want for the entire weekend, you will most likely gain instead of losing unless you have a small appetite, or an extremely fast metabolism.  I'm much more moderate now, and a little less rigid during the wekk.  If I'm getting ready for a photo shoot, I just keep ordering dessert while out to dinner to once a week.  It gives me something to look forward to, without erasing all of the progress I made during the week!

 

Stay healthy and beautiful!

 

Megan

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