Hate it when that happens.
You go to a party or a barbecue, you intend to eat on point and have a drink or two………..
……..but you crack.
It happens to EVERYONE. It’s easy to stay away from the nonsense at home when you control what’s in your pantry and fridge.
It’s a bit more difficult when you arrive at a social gathering and delicious appetizers and tasty drinks with salted brims are staring you in the face…….
Sure, there’s strategies when a planned feast is on the horizon. If you need one, click here.
But what about those other times? The times when you don’t plan to screw up, get caught up in the moment, aaaaaaand.
Crap. Now what do I do?
I’ll tell you what NOT to do: Go sweat it out.
DON’T go run, use the elliptical, work out for 2+ hours every day for the next week, etc.
You’re smarter than that.
And you count your macros.
So, let’s do this the most efficient way possible:
A small, dietary adjustment to get us back on track.
Strategy #1:
This strategy is for small mess-ups. You went over in calories, but you didn’t go overboard. You just threw some caution to the wind and enjoyed yourself, perhaps a bit more than you should.
On your rest days for the following week, cut your fat consumption in half.
You should have four rest days, assuming you’re training 3x/week.
For each of those four rest days, halve your fat macros and you’ll be right back where you need to be.
It’s as simple as picking chicken over beef or ham over bacon. You’ll barely even notice the difference.
And there’s a good chance when you gauge progress a week later, you’re good to go.
We don’t want to mess with our protein or our carbs. They’re in place for proper recovery after workouts.
Our fat provides satiety and optimizes hormones.
But hormonal optimization won’t be affected if you do this for a week and then get right back to your normal macros.
To mess up your hormones, your eating has to be out of whack for a substantial amount of time.
It might mean less bacon. Which sucks. But it’ll be over soon enough.
Strategy #2:
This is for when you REALLY screwed up.
You ate a whole half gallon of ice cream.
You devoured a large pizza.
You took a weekend trip and ate yourself stupid.
That sort of a thing.
Implement the same strategy as #1, halve your fat on all your rest days.
But on top of that, the day after your feast/trip, fast until dinner, and only eat your DINNER protein allotment with lots of veggies.
This isn’t optimal if the day after your feast/trip is a training day, but it can be done in a pinch.
This is optimal if you’re travelling on the last day and you can simply fast as you drive home.
Besides, the excess calories from your gorge will likely affect your training positively anyways.
This will give you an additional caloric chunk to work with and will easily get you back on track.
Keep in mind the purpose of strategies like this –>
They are meant to help you if you break your diet in a social situation.
They are NOT meant to make up the damage you did in a planned gorging situation.
That’s called an “eating disorder”.
We all have our vices. And we all like to eat.
But purposely binging and subsequently fasting to make up for it is a nasty, vicious cycle.
Don’t become part of it.
If you find yourself binging, some mindfullness can go a long way.
Ask yourself some questions.
“Why am I binging?”
“What is triggering this action?”
“What was I doing right before I started cheating?”
“Was alcohol involved?”
“How many drinks did I have?”
See if you can find the psychological events leading up to the binge.
And in the future, if you start to feel a binge coming on, do something about it.
An easy fix?
Grab a buddy and take a walk. Or do it alone if you can’t find one.
If the weather is nice, physically separating yourself from the environment causing the temptation is a WONDERFUL way of getting your mind back in the right place.
If the weather isn’t nice? Jump in the car, drive to the nearest store, buy a diet pop, and get your mind right.
Call it a “reset button”.
Personally? I throw either a piece of gum or a toothpick into my mouth after my meal.
It’s a physical reminder that I’m done eating and I’m satisfied.
No more snacking and no more crap food.
And always remember:
When your mess-up is done, don’t sweat it, and keep on swimming.
The ability to brush off the mess-ups
is what separates those who give up
from those who accomplish their dreams.
I hope you found this information useful!
Happy IFing!
Jason