Punish Me!
How Reps To Burn This Food?
There was a trend a few years ago where you could see how many reps of something you would have to do to burn off the calories you ate. Big Macs were worth a lot of burpees. An ice cream sundae? Even more burpees. Lots of miles to run if you wanted to have a ribeye steak and a baked potato with all the toppings. While that may have motivated some not to eat those items or to accept the amount of exercise it may take to burn those items, it really isn’t useful for anyone on any type of fitness journey.
Exercise Is Not Punishment
I have had clients in the past, I have been this client in the past, who have demanded to be punished for having enjoyed a night out with friends or family. “Hey, I ate like an asshole this weekend, I need to be punished.” And I sometimes took part in that, and I’m sure I can find texts that show I demanded it too. But really what those requests and posts about 500 burpees for a Big Mac or whatever were doing was tying food and exercise into a punitive relationship.
Food isn’t good or bad. I have said this before, and I will continue to say it. Food just is. Your enjoying yourself with friends or family or hell just wanting to devour a tub of ice cream on your own doesn’t mean you need to work it all off the next exercise session. Sometimes Ben and Jerry know what’s best for you, and that’s totally ok. If you are frequently seeking their counsel, then that’s a different bag to unpack, but trying to create a zero sum with exercise and food is a fool’s errand.
Plan Ahead (When Possible)
I encourage my clients to plan ahead when possible. If you’re on a fat loss journey, and you know there’s a big shindig coming up and you want to be able to enjoy without overthinking it, then plan ahead. Have a good snack before going out with some protein and carbs in it so you’re not as hungry. Decide how many alcoholic beverages you might drink while out, and drink a glass of water for every alcoholic drink you have. If going out to dinner, look at the menu beforehand and make your choices based on that.
But also, if the plan goes south as soon as the plate of carnitas covered nachos shows up, then that’s ok, too. And you absolutely shouldn’t seek to punish yourself with exercise the next day either. Just get back on track with your eating plan and focus on the next step of your journey. And if you have a coach or trainer who does make you feel guilty or punish you with exercise, burn off those nachos by running away and finding yourself a new coach.