"Eating clean" may possibly help you look better, but it might be making you an emotional wreck and ruining your relationship with food.
When I think of eating disorders I think of high school health class and watching one of those terrible “after school special” videos talking about the dangers of anorexia, bulimia, etc.
I also have images in my head of extremely small, skin and bone females hunched over a toilet.
The image I don’t have is one of a fit, health conscious individual, who is a regular member of the fitfam.
The question is, should I?
I also have images in my head of extremely small, skin and bone females hunched over a toilet.
The image I don’t have is one of a fit, health conscious individual, who is a regular member of the fitfam.
The question is, should I?
What are Cheat Meals
How many times have you heard, “I am going to eat clean all week, then have a HUGE cheat meal on the weekend”?
I know if you follow fitness people on social media you have heard it a lot!
Every time I hear someone talk about how hard they are going to go on their weekly “cheat meal” I cringe
I can almost feel the eating disorder coming on.
How many times have you heard, “I am going to eat clean all week, then have a HUGE cheat meal on the weekend”?
I know if you follow fitness people on social media you have heard it a lot!
Every time I hear someone talk about how hard they are going to go on their weekly “cheat meal” I cringe
I can almost feel the eating disorder coming on.
The bottom line about cheat meals is this – there is no need to ever have a cheat meal.
The people I work with and train eat WHATEVER they want as long as they hit their macronutrient (protein, carbohydrate, fat) and fiber requirements.
I hardly ever hear one of my clients complaining about their diet or complaining about food cravings
. It’s not very common to want a cheat meal when you get to eat foods of your choice every day.
here's my definition of a cheat meal.
The people I work with and train eat WHATEVER they want as long as they hit their macronutrient (protein, carbohydrate, fat) and fiber requirements.
I hardly ever hear one of my clients complaining about their diet or complaining about food cravings
. It’s not very common to want a cheat meal when you get to eat foods of your choice every day.
here's my definition of a cheat meal.
- Cheat Meal – planned or unplanned binge eating episode where upwards of a full days caloric intake, sometimes more, is consumed within a short period of time.
Clean Eating / Binge Cycle
I’m not here to bash clean eating but cheat meals are much more common with clean eaters then people who are more flexible with their nutrition.
Here’s the deal, flexible dieting creates a structure that is sustainable, easy to follow, and lessens food cravings.
On the other hand, following a structured clean eating meal plan is not sustainable. I do not care who you are, it is impossible to eat chicken and broccoli six times a day for the rest of your life, believe me, I've tried that.
I know I am exaggerating but the point is, its only a matter of time before you must eat off of the plan and there is where the problem lies.
Once you eat off from the plan things get messy.You go for your weekly cheat meal and binge on over 10,000 calories.
Following that episode you feel terrible, worthless, like you are a failure. A mild depression sets in. The next day you jump back on the meal plan and go at it again for another week, making sure to eat as clean as ever this week because you know you went over board on your cheat.
Then here comes the weekend cheat meal again and the same thing happens. This goes on for weeks and weeks and before you even realize it, you are at the beginning stages of an eating disorder. According to the Mayo Clinic the definition of binge eating is:
“Binge-eating disorder is a serious eating disorder in which you frequently consume unusually large amounts of food. Almost everyone overeats on occasion, such as having seconds or thirds of a holiday meal. But for some people, overeating crosses the line to binge-eating disorder and it becomes a regular occurrence, usually done in secret.When you have binge-eating disorder, you may be deeply embarrassed about gorging and vow to stop. But you feel such a compulsion that you can’t resist the urges and continue binge eating.”
Not everyone who follows clean eating meal plans has this problem so I don’t want to make it seem like I am putting everyone in the same group.
I also realize that people can have cheat meals and be completely fine there after. I am just trying to point out this is a serious situation and it is more common than you think!
Aside from the mental implications of this situation, there is also negative side effects to your physique as well.
The human body has an unlimited ability to store body fat. What I mean by that is simple. There is no cut off point where your body will stop absorbing nutrients and accumulating body fat.
The weight gain following an epic binge like we are talking about here is not all water, there definitely is some fat accumulation associated as well.
The human body likes to store body fat, that is one reason as a society there is such a huge obesity problem.
I’m not here to bash clean eating but cheat meals are much more common with clean eaters then people who are more flexible with their nutrition.
Here’s the deal, flexible dieting creates a structure that is sustainable, easy to follow, and lessens food cravings.
On the other hand, following a structured clean eating meal plan is not sustainable. I do not care who you are, it is impossible to eat chicken and broccoli six times a day for the rest of your life, believe me, I've tried that.
I know I am exaggerating but the point is, its only a matter of time before you must eat off of the plan and there is where the problem lies.
Once you eat off from the plan things get messy.You go for your weekly cheat meal and binge on over 10,000 calories.
Following that episode you feel terrible, worthless, like you are a failure. A mild depression sets in. The next day you jump back on the meal plan and go at it again for another week, making sure to eat as clean as ever this week because you know you went over board on your cheat.
Then here comes the weekend cheat meal again and the same thing happens. This goes on for weeks and weeks and before you even realize it, you are at the beginning stages of an eating disorder. According to the Mayo Clinic the definition of binge eating is:
“Binge-eating disorder is a serious eating disorder in which you frequently consume unusually large amounts of food. Almost everyone overeats on occasion, such as having seconds or thirds of a holiday meal. But for some people, overeating crosses the line to binge-eating disorder and it becomes a regular occurrence, usually done in secret.When you have binge-eating disorder, you may be deeply embarrassed about gorging and vow to stop. But you feel such a compulsion that you can’t resist the urges and continue binge eating.”
Not everyone who follows clean eating meal plans has this problem so I don’t want to make it seem like I am putting everyone in the same group.
I also realize that people can have cheat meals and be completely fine there after. I am just trying to point out this is a serious situation and it is more common than you think!
Aside from the mental implications of this situation, there is also negative side effects to your physique as well.
The human body has an unlimited ability to store body fat. What I mean by that is simple. There is no cut off point where your body will stop absorbing nutrients and accumulating body fat.
The weight gain following an epic binge like we are talking about here is not all water, there definitely is some fat accumulation associated as well.
The human body likes to store body fat, that is one reason as a society there is such a huge obesity problem.
The Solution
Stop defining food items as “good” or “bad”, “clean” or “dirty “.
Lets start defining foods by their macronutrient composition.
A Pop Tart is no longer a dirty food, it is now 200 calories, 5g fat, 37g carbohydrate and 2g of protein.
Again, my intention is not to bash clean eating or meal plans, its just to point out, that way of thinking can create an unhealthy relationship with food. With that comes eliminating the need for cheat meals.
You no longer have cheat meals you now just fit whatever foods you want into your macronutrient numbers for the day.
I hope this article shed some light on a topic that I don’t see get nearly enough attention.
Stop defining food items as “good” or “bad”, “clean” or “dirty “.
Lets start defining foods by their macronutrient composition.
A Pop Tart is no longer a dirty food, it is now 200 calories, 5g fat, 37g carbohydrate and 2g of protein.
Again, my intention is not to bash clean eating or meal plans, its just to point out, that way of thinking can create an unhealthy relationship with food. With that comes eliminating the need for cheat meals.
You no longer have cheat meals you now just fit whatever foods you want into your macronutrient numbers for the day.
I hope this article shed some light on a topic that I don’t see get nearly enough attention.
