DONUTS
Now that Halloween is officially out of the way with its candy craze, let’s discuss the principle of moderation. Growing up, Halloween was a day of splurging on my favorite candy. I remember my mother scolding me to not eat so much of it. This applies to when we discuss nutrition with clients. “Hey, you shouldn’t eat too much chips/cookies/Starbucks Crappucino/cake.”
Next to our gym is a donut shop. Every so often, I will pay a visit and get me a chocolate sprinkle (yes, it is true. I eat donuts). When I say every so often, I’m talking maybe once or twice a month at the most. “Donuts are so bad for you.” Wow, tell me something I didn’t know. Of course it’s bad for you. If you eat a DOZEN of them! But, is it really that BAD if you eat one donut a MONTH?
“No” is the answer to the previous sentence in my mind. I don’t believe in cheat days, where you have one day to splurge in your “bad” foods. I’ve always believed in moderation. If you want something, go for it, but don’t overdo it. We are all adults and can make decisions for ourselves. The problem is, we eat TOO much of the bad. And even worse, there’s NOBODY that’s telling us to STOP! Personal trainers cannot control what you eat when you leave the gym and it’s really up to the client to make good decisions. We all know how that goes, right? Hah. I get it.
The real struggle happens when clients are at home relaxing with their favorite beverage usually water (right?), and that temptation (candy/cookie/chip) staring right at us. It’s hard to fight the urge and we usually succumb. We don’t feel guilty until we are exposed, and its usually through the scale. If that number is telling you gained 3 pounds in the past 24 hours, then chances are, its because of that splurge.
If you only ate 1 or 2 pieces of candy, that’s not going to change the scale. However, if you ate a whole box of candy, then yes the scale would increase. Moderation is the name of the game and we MUST control our guilty pleasures because we have the ability to indulge in A LOT of it. Think about it. It’s really easy to eat a lot of the bad foods. Give me a pint of my favorite ice cream and I will eat at least half of it, if not, in one setting. But, why is it hard for us to eat a lot of “good” foods? That’s a topic for another week, but its ironic.
To sum it all up, anything that’s considered “bad” isn’t if you add it all up. Just like in anything in life, everything in moderation. Yup, that’s how I am ending this week’s blog. Don’t judge me. Hope you liked this week’s blog, stay tuned for more………….Kei