You’ve heard it before “That cake looks good! I’ll just run an extra 2 miles tonight to make up for it.” The next thing you know your face is nothing but a mess of icing and crumbs. That really is not an uncommon sentiment to have, especially when you are in an environment with a ton of food, work potlucks, buffet restaurants, or the like.
However, that is a faulty thought pattern, because it’s based on the pretense that exercise is the main focus to aid us in fat loss. And quite simply it’s not.
You might say I’m being a bit nitpicky, but there really is value in changing our mindset with respect to that line of thinking. I’ve written about the importance of changing our nutrition to aid fat loss here
. But, increasing your exercise by adding 2 miles to your evening run or tacking on a 30 minute cardio session, shouldn’t be the targeted strategy to support your fat loss goals.
Taking an honest look at the energy expended for a 2 mile run, for a person of average height and weight, it only amounts to about 200 calories burned*. Seriously 200! That just sucks when you look at an average slice of cake clocking in around 370 calories**, that is if your portion size is appropriate, and let’s be honest usually it’s not.
That information just turned your 2 mile run into 4 miles:(. So what to do now? Attempt to avoid cake altogether, stop going to functions that have tons of food? Lock yourself in your bedroom, and decide no to come out until the zombie apocalypse comes and there is no more cake! These aren’t viable options, and I’m not convinced the zombie apocalypse is coming anytime soon either.
It really comes down to three things. 1) Finding balance. 2) Allowing ourselves indulgences from time to time in the appropriate portion or calorie amount that supports our goals. And 3) To enjoy said indulgences without feeling guilty.
Finding balance simply means that we should eat a variety of foods that support our goals and provide us the nutrition to sustain health. We can do that by making sure we have plenty of fruits and veggies, healthy cuts of protein, and healthy fats (in the appropriate amounts), each and every day.
Balance also means not making up ridiculous rules around food, or avoiding certain food groups altogether (that is unless medically you need to). Those rules only serve to get us one step closer to disordered eating, and that does not sustain or promote health, and it is not balanced.
Eat the damn cake. That’s what I’d tell you with respect to the second point listed above. No, not every day, and especially not for breakfast (ok maybe for breakfast sometimes), but when you crave cake have some, knowing you either need to adjust for it later in the day or not worry about it at all, just get back on point the next time you eat.
Lastly, learn how to forgive yourself. There will be times when you take down half the cake and wash it down with a bowl of ice cream. When that happens we need to be patient with ourselves and realize we are human, and at times the cake tastes just that good. Beating yourself up over it for days after and subjecting yourself to insane workouts to make up for it, fall outside the bounds of being balanced.
So I challenge you to the next time you are faced with a food decision instead of thinking you’ll just punish yourself on the treadmill for it, sit down and enjoy.
Now where did that cake go I’m hungry!?
*A rough estimate.
**This 370 calories is based on 1/16th of a piece of red velvet cake from Costco. Man that cake is delicious!!