If you’ve ever dieted … you know that cheat meals are normally the highlight of the week.
You get to dig in to that pizza, sushi, or whatever you’ve been waiting for all week.
Well this weekend, we have a holiday coming up that is known for treats … Halloween!
Halloween was one of my favorite holidays growing up, and as a parent, I truly enjoy the traditions I have with my kids now.
We’ve posted articles about staying on track during a holiday weekend before… However, today we’re going to cover something else entirely.
The main message? Enjoy this Halloween, but don’t let that one night of treats ruin 3-4 days of work!
Let me break this down a little more:
If you are dieting, 3,500 calories consumed is roughly one pound of weight on your body.
So to lose 1 pound, it’s a good rule of thumb that you need to eat 3,500 less calories than you need.
Let's say you diet all week and eat 700 calories a day less than you needed … and when you wake up Saturday you are in a 3,500 calorie deficit.
Now you eat a normal days worth of dieting, but then have some treats on Halloween Night.
One Twix has 286 calories …
One Snickers has about 220 calories …
And two Reese’s for 170 calories …
That’s a total of 676 calories, which is almost the same amount of calories that you would burn with one day of dieting.
Now you start grazing on the “fun” size candy or the “snack” size throughout the night and it trickles into the next day.
That’s when it REALLY starts to add up. 80 calories here. 100 calories here and then you’ve lost another day or two of work!
We see this all the time … and it is one of the biggest problems people face when dieting.
Cheat meals, re-feeds, or whatever you want to call them … they are a great tool to keep your metabolism going and also to give yourself a mental break on your diet.
And let’s face it, we’re all human and enjoy food.
This blog post isn’t to scare you … it’s to simply educate you and make sure that you don’t overdo it.
Make sure you enjoy your Halloween and celebrate with your friends and family, but just keep it in moderation … and don’t let that Halloween Cheat Meal trickle over and ruin your week’s worth of progress.
*This post was written by Wes Osburn, who is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and NASM Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist.
