Food Friday 14.02.2014 + a new nutrition plan

On Food Fridays I will tell you about everything I ate that day. No matter if it is a good day or not: you will see it all. 

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Happy Valentine’s day! Whether you spend it with a special someone, friends, at work, in the gym or whereever: make the most of it! And don’t feel bad for indulging a little 🙂 Just get back to your healthy lifestyle from tomorrow and you’re fine.

 

1st meal: 10.30 AM

  

  • 3 eggs

  • 2 slices of bacon

  • 2 slices of cheese

  • 10 grams of flax seeds

  • 100 grams of sauerkraut

 

2nd meal: 6 PM

 

  • 130 grams of frozen carrot-cauliflower-broccoli mix

  • 165 grams of minced meat

  • 35 grams of plain yogurt

  • 30 grams of grated cheese

 

Post-workout meal: 9.15 PM

My instructor Maris often emphasizes the importance of eating some protein and carbs after BodyPump. Today we had all new Valentine’s Day special tracks and one extra squat track so I must have lost a serious amount of energy. I had a late dinner at 6 PM but was still actually kind of hungry after my workout. So I ate 🙂 Reasonably.

  • about 200 grams of cauliflower

  • 50 grams of cheese

  • 100 grams of 17% Russian yogurt

  • a dash of cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon of dark cocoa

  • 1 teaspoon of flax seeds

 

Nutritional information

 

In total just under 1800 kcal and normal macros. But there is a but… My eating habits are messed up! Food Friday helps me stay on track and portion control myself because I don’t want make a blog post about failing. But I don’t feel it’s right to only show you my good days aka Food Fridays. I have to be honest. This week has been all low carb, no cheats or semi-cheats at all BUT: I’m just eating too much. I have no problem sitting down and eating a small head of cauliflower (like… 600 grams?!) in one go. Too much food! This is messed up and not healthy. Somehow I’m lacking control. I acknowledge it’s a problem. 

In the beginning of this year I wanted to stop keeping a food diary, stress and obsess less about food, stay healthy and lose weight. I’m beginning to see that I can’t do it all at once. So this is my plan.

Nutrition:

  • not over 2000 kcal a day

  • about 10% carbs, 20–30% protein and 60–70% fat

  • 5 days with food tracking from Monday to Friday

  • 2 days without tracking my food but still sticking to 2000 kcal and the macros above

  • if need be, track my food 7 days a week

  • no binge-eating

I also bought another weighing scale so that I can still weigh myself every Saturday even when I’m here in Tartu. I didn’t have a scale in my dorm before so sometimes I went weeks without weighing myself. Now I have one just to help me stay on track. 

I’ve been “playing” with my nutrition a lot since Christmas: cheating and overeating during the holidays, then low-carbing and calorie restricting for a couple of weeks, then eating lots of carbs and lots of calories in Thailand, then having a horrible chaos-overeat-cheat week, now going back to LCHF but failing with portion control… My body must be so confused with my decisions. 

So now I’m going to stick to this plan for atleast 3 months. After 12 weeks – on the 10th of May – I’m going to analyze my results and see if my plan works. If it does: good, continue on; if it doesn’t, then think about what needs to be changed and keep going. No matter what happens: I’m not going to switch everything up again after one weight-gain week (for example). A similar plan has worked for me before (last year when I started) and it should work again. 

Keep your fingers crossed for me! 🙂

 

Oh, and what did you eat today?

How to cheat successfully on any diet

Say what? Cheating on your diet successfully? Is it possible? Am I crazy?

Maybe a little bit…

But I honestly believe that you can cheat successfully! 🙂

Here’s how.

Rule #1. Learn to cheat small.

That’s the most important point I have to emphasize. I fail with this one all the time but I’m learning and improving! Cheat small: eat only a small portion of your cheat food. Don’t stuff your face with it! Don’t binge! If cheating happens unplanned, don’t freak out. Don’t think: “I messed up today, so let’s get crazy and eat everything bad.” This has been my thought more than once and it’s bad thinking! If you mess up a little, that’s OK. You are human. Bad decisions sometimes happen. You slipped a little, let it go. Continue your day as usual. You probably won’t even gain weight (long term!) because of that! Chill.

 

 

Rule #2. Don’t beat yourself up.

I do this all the time. Mess up and beat myself up about it. Don’t! Just don’t. Again: you are human. Remember that. Try not to mess up often but if it happens… well, it has happened to everyone trying to lose weight. Trust me.

 

Rule #3. Don’t starve yourself after cheating.

One day you give your body something it’s not used eating anymore. The next day you give your body nothing but water or only a little food. What is your body supposed to think? It’s going to get confused. You cheated? Continue your week or day as you would normally. No overexercising or starving yourself. Your body shouldn’t be shocked.

 

 

Rule #4. Not a cheat day but a cheat meal.

If you’re one of those people who have regular cheat days, turn them into cheat meals. Why indulge for a whole day? Have your cheat meal in the morning time so that your body has time to burn it up successfully. This is a personal preference thing but I would suggest only one special meal instead of one day. Less damage.

 

Rule #5. Don’t cheat too often.

If you rarely cheat, it’s probably not going to affect your weightloss. But cheating is a slippery road! You need to find out how many cheat meals your body can handle. It’s very personal and different with every person. No thumb rule or mathematical equation. Sorry to dissappoint you.

 

Rule #6. Don’t “live” only for your cheat meals.

You should be happy with your everyday diet. If you hate every other meal than cheat meal and “live” for only those cheat meals… Then your diet isn’t sustainable. Find a diet / nutrition plan that works for you, that you enjoy and can practise for the rest of your life. If you don’t enjoy your nutrition plan, you will eventually gain the weight back. Trust me, I’ve been there more than once.

 

Rule #7. Don’t let a cheat meal become a cheat day, cheat week or the end of your weightloss journey.

This point turns back to rule #1: learn to cheat small! If you cheat, it doesn’t mean that this day is lost. It isn’t! The moment you stop eating your cheat food, you win. If you can stop your cheat eating, no matter if you have been cheating for one meal, day or week: you are winner! Always go back on your normal track. Don’t feel like a failure and keep cheating. Move on.

 

 

That’s pretty much about it. My seven rules how to cheat successfully on any diet. And if everything fails, hey: feeling too full and heavy will remind you why it’s so great to eat healthy. Find a positive in every negative! 🙂

 

Do you have any tips or thoughts about cheat eating? Let me know in the comments! 🙂