You’ve thought it haven’t you? I totally have. It is something that I’m actually really trying to work on with myself in regards to exercise. I sincerely believe it is the root of sabotage for many women who are desperately trying to lose weight.
Here is the scenario. See if you can relate, my guess is you probably can.
You have an awesome morning workout session. You put in a good 60 minutes of cardio, and even stay for 30 mins to do some weights afterwords. You feel like you’ve really worked hard. Way to go you!! (For real…way to go!)
Total Calorie Burn: 750 calories
You go home to eat lunch and make your normal turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread packed with veggies. While you’re making up your lunch you see a plate of cookies a neighbor dropped off last night looking uber fresh and delicious. You grab one…well yeah…(enter inner monologue: I just worked my tail off. I TOTALLY deserve this. I burned like a million calories.)
Total Cookie Calories: 150
You continue on your day…laundry, work, whatever it is that you do…You make a trip to the store where they are handing out samples galore. Cheese ravioli’s, energy bars, cereal, and of course some tasty crackers, (enter inner monologue: these are small bites, I might want to buy this and I have to know if it’s good, and duh. I worked so hard at the gym this morning. This basically doesn’t even count.)
Sample Calorie Count: 200
Dinner time comes around and you’ve made a delightful meal for the fam. We’re talking grilled chicken and veggies, fresh fruit, and some brown rice. You’ve also grabbed some fresh whole wheat rolls from the store earlier. (enter inner monologue: this meal is so healthy, and i’ll take two rolls since I freaking owned the gym this morning.)
Extra roll: 150 calories
You get dinner cleaned up, and it’s time for some Tivo action. The biggest loser is on and you’re pretty much one and the same as these fools. You own the gym together…(uh oh…inner monologue is back… Yep, I did that exercise today. I worked DANG hard. In fact…i think i can get by with a lil’ scoop of some frozen yogurt since i worked so hard.)
Frozen Yogurt: 200 calories
Ok, so maybe that was a bit excessive, but I hope you’re seeing my point. We do this inner rationalization over and OVER and over. Remember that 750 calories you burned this morning when you “worked your tail off?” Well, you just made that null and void, because you “Deserved it.” Now, let me get a couple of things straight.
– Rewards for exercise are GREAT. But they shouldn’t be food rewards. Set a goal for a total number of days you workout and then get yourself a new song on Itunes, or a new workout tank you’ve really been wanting. Your reward will be in how awesome you feel and look. Your reward will be accomplishing your goals!
– I firmly believe in moderation. Treats every now and then aren’t bad. Having dessert can be fine. BUT you can’t expect the pounds to be falling off if you do. Try to only have dessert on the weekends, or a couple times a week. Better yet, make your dessert some fresh fruit, or a fat free popsicle.
– Don’t waste your time. Now, maybe there are some of you that really workout strictly so you can eat whatever you want. That is fine if that is your goal. BUT, for those of you who are really sincerely trying to make some changes and you aren’t seeing them. I can almost guarantee you your mistake is in your munching. If you eat an extra 150 calories every day for 23 days you are eating the equivalent of a pound. Scary huh?
Make your workouts worth it. Watch those extra “I deserve this,” calories, and allow yourself to see some progress. If you are feeling extra hungry from your increased workouts fill your fridge with fresh fruits and veggies and eat foods high in fiber and protein to keep you full. I have found this idea of “I deserve this,” to be what is holding a lot of my clients back from reaching their goals.
One of my favorite quotes is “Nothing changes if nothing changes.” If you keep your old habits you’ll keep your old waistline. Just saying…
**Lab Rats** I hope the working out is going well. There are a few more of you that I need to email the program out to and I will do that today! Let me know if you have any questions or feed back. Repeat the workouts from segment one again this week, and try to step it up a notch. Make your intervals harder, increase your weights, etc. I am testing out segment two right now, and so far so good! My legs are sore 🙂
Am I too late to get in on your workouts? I’d love to try them out, anything new is awesome! I love your blog, btw, and I totally miss you! Hope you’re doing good. email: ktgivens@gmail(dot)com
Try speaking out against “I deserve this” when it comes to pregnancy. No one will like you then 🙂
Great post Megs! A good reminder for me today.
This blog post is speaking my name. It is so hard to resist some of those temptations out there! It makes the process so much slower and harder to see a difference when we “deserve everything!” I am trying to develop more will power. I think it the only way! You are my example of what will power can do for you! You are awesome!