I'm sure most of you are familiar with Rock's epic cheat days. But is he really cheating on his diet?
Many people, when embarking on a weight loss plan, find some sort of way to restrict foods we would classify as "bad". Then on the weekend add in free days.
We call these people the "weekend dieters".
Definition "weekend dieter": Abstaining all week for "bad foods", living in dietary hell leading to overeating debauchery on the weekends.
Is what you are overeating on the weekend really free though?
It most definitely is not.
Let's do some math.
If you are regularly consuming 1500 calories daily Monday through Friday, then on your cheat day or days, Saturday and Sunday you are consuming 3000 calories daily. Your total weekly calorie consumption would be 13500.
Your cheat days are becoming part of your habitual way of eating and sum up your total weekly calories.
Unfortunately your body can't tell the difference between what day it is, and won't magically evaporate cheat day calories.
Just like the Rock, his cheat days become part of his regular eating patterns and therefore part of his diet and also part of the reason he has the body and health that he does.
We are the sum of our habitual eating patterns, not from a monday to friday, but what we repeat, week after week, month after month, year after year.
If the Rock consumes 5000 calories Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday 10000.
His weekly caloric consumption is 40 000.
40 000 calories is the amount of energy he is consuming regularly to maintain his weight.
The macronutrients those calories are coming maintain his body composition. (protein, carbs, fats, not to mention the type of exercise he does)
And what micronutrients those foods contain determine his health.
So be mindful when adding in a cheat day, and do the math first, you might find the reason you aren't seeing results at all is because of those cheat days.
Let's get mathy again.
For a hypothetical person to maintain their weight they would need to consume 2000 calories daily, or 14000 calories a week. (7 x 2000 = 14 000)
If this same hypothetical person wanted to lose 1lb a week, they would need to consume 1500 calories daily or 10500 weekly. (1lbs of body fat is = -3500 calories, so 14000 - 3500 = 10500 divided into 7 days)
If this hypothetical person is consuming his 1500 daily calories Monday through Friday but on the weekend with cheat days adds 6500 extra calories, he is consuming 14000 and won't lose any weight at all.
This person might even gain weight because of how deprived they felt and how much they ended up overeating.
So cheat days can be helpful to some people if their total weekly calories are in check, but for others over abstaining during the week can lead to over consuming on the weekend and be the exact reason they aren't losing weight, plus looking forward to cheat days makes every other day hell.
And life is too short to live this way. The alternative would be to just add in some foods you enjoy everyday in moderation, no matter if it's monday, wednesday or Sunday.
If you want to learn how to include all of the foods you enjoy and see the results you want send me a dm.
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