Are your perceptions about “cheat day” sabotaging your own fitness goals?

November 10, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

I absolutely adore this quote-post:

Doesn’t seem like much, does it?

But what I like best about this message is how it silently rejects another one we always hear:

“Forgive yourself.”

See, forgiving yourself implies that you’ve committed some sort’ve horrible sin. That you always have to be perfect. That some pizza, a second scoop’ve blueberry crumble, or a deferred workout (’cause you just didn’t have it in you after a long night of sitting in traffic) are travesties. And, to be honest, if that were your usual routine, then yeah. That’d be bad. But once in a while? No. That’s called balance. You have the greasy pizza to remember why you don’t make it habitual. You gain that extra pound or five to remember how bad that extra adipose baggage feels – and why you prefer to keep it off once you lose it anew. You skip one too many workouts to realize how much more upbeat and energized you were when you kept sweat sessions part’ve your regular schedule. The human condition is in a sustained state of flux. Some days you’re radiant and bright eyed. Others, you look like you’ve been embalmed with salt ’cause you had too much soy sauce on your sushi last night. (And I don’t mean the green lid one, either.) But you wanna know the one thing we should never do? The thing that’s worse than chocolate covered hot dogs or deep fried, three cheese Dominoes?

It’s that same two-part mistake many of us make. First, is when we sick the psychological cops on ourselves, like we’ve done a crime. Why’s that bad? Because, feeling guilty only makes us A.) get fat from the stress hormones we end up manifesting, and B.) wanna reach for more comfort food. The second bad thing we do after an impromptu cheat day? Subsequently forcing ourselves to serve a sentence of cardio corporal punishment. That’s a biggie. Because if a stable, low weight’s something we want to keep (versus cheat days like these becoming a habit), then exercise needs to be enjoyable. (Otherwise, we’ll find every excuse to avoid it.) And it’s far harder to enjoy exercise when we’ve associated a treadmill with painful penance for excessive pie and the shame for having had it. That’s when you’re destined to go home and repeat this cycle. Because, deep down you believe you can’t be this person. That you’re that other person, destined to be eternally stitched to the sofa.

And I’m here to tell you two things:

1.) That’s a damned lie.

2.) That I realize I can’t tell you you’ve been falling for a faulty thinking without offering an optimal alternative.

So, here’s your alternative reality to begin living in immediately: first, instead of beating yourself up tonight, enjoy it. Revel in that decadence you’ve begun. Enjoy the rest of your evening in hedonistic peace. Then, as you head to bed, set your alarm. And envisage, as you drift off, yourself waking up early, lacing up your kicks, and hitting the gym (or trail… or pavement… or pool). And imagine your best self doing this. The Greek god-bodied one you either intend to become or just wanna maintain. This is who you are. This person you’re watching in your mind’s eye is your identity.

(Protip: this’s easier when you find food and workouts you love doing.
Olympians of all kinds don’t hit the gym to burn off dessert. They do it ’cause they can’t *not* do it. It’s who they are.
All their food’s fuel for that – and the hot body’s just a nice side effect.)

It’s no big deal to get anxious about. It’s just what you do – you do the stuff that keeps yourself looking and feeling your best. And, as soon as you wake up, you’ll re-initiate ingratiating that identity even deeper into yourself with squats and other assorted forms of body movin’. There’s no other option. It’s just who you are. Sometimes, you stray, sure. But that’s alright. Because you know that most’ve the time you’re building your body into an empire of sexy that one instance of nocturnal debauchery won’t make a dent in.

Thus, loves, don’t forgive yourselves for your fitness trespasses. Embrace them.

Embrace them for the ephemeral merriment they bring.

Just as you’ll embrace resuming your usual “you” routine tomorrow.