Weight Maven

Thank you Martin Berkhan! I have tested your Cheat Day Strategies For A Hedonist during two vacations, one conference, and Thanksgiving, and I am giving it two big thumbs up!

My Thanksgiving indulgences included two small glasses of wine, some homemade cranberry sauce (my mom’s recipe), a tiny slice of apple pie, and a date bar. The rest of the plate was pretty paleo: turkey, broccoli, carrots, and some salad for which I had brought my own apple cider vinaigrette.

Yesterday I was right back on track with my regular way of eating, and gosh, today I just feel fab! I felt pretty darn good yesterday too actually. Did I do a little damage as far as my weight loss goes? Perhaps … won’t know for a while as I’ve only been weighing myself at the doc’s. But in the spirit of Yoni Freedhoff’s philosophy of “living the healthiest life that you can enjoy, not the healthiest life that you can tolerate” I am really pleased with this balance AND that I’ve figured out a way to indulge that doesn’t derail me for weeks or months.

Christmas here I come!

A plan for going off plan

My plan for going off plan has definitely been enhanced by Martin’s cheat day strategies. He writes:

Can you avoid fat gain during cheat days and holiday feasts like Thanksgiving and Christmas? Sure, you can. But if you’re a big eater that loves food, like me, it’s more a question of minimizing fat storage than attempting to avoid it. And trust me, there’s a few nifty strategies that can be used for damage control while still enjoying holiday hedonism, cheesecake mastery and spontaneous feasts of all sorts.

The key to damage control during ad libitum (“at one’s pleasure”) eating sprees lies not only in how much you eat but also with the choice of macronutrients. Food combination voodoo? No, just pure facts based on nutrient metabolism and science.

The question is also how to quickly get back on track for there is no doubt that big eaters can eat thousands of surplus calories that do lead to fat gain and post-holiday bloat. One of the “secrets” to maintaining low body fat while still being able to enjoy wild excess from time to time is therefore to make a quick turnaround in the days after.

Go read the entire article for lots of context and background. But here are the highlights of the strategy (with my two cents):

1. Don’t stress it. Martin’s advice is to avoid overcompensating by working out like crazy and/or over-fasting before your splurge. I agree with those, but I think the other part is to not wind yourself up with the “should I/shouldn’t I” debate. Yes, Bob & Jillian would likely have you sit there with your turkey and steamed green beans for Thanksgiving, but one day is not going to derail weight loss efforts unless it turns into a WTF that doesn’t end until after New Year’s (if then).

   [Yes, I realize that there are those who feel that trigger foods are just non-starters for them. If that's you, that's fine ... you need to do what works for you.]

   Also in the “don’t stress it” category for weight loss folks is avoiding the scale for at a week or so afterwards. If you step on the scale the day after, you may freak yourself out when it reads a few pounds heavier, but the majority of that is water weight from the extra carbs and salt. Give yourself some time to let go of that before you step on the scale!

2. Create a calorie buffer. Martin suggests fasting up until your “feast” meal. This may work fine if you’re used to fasting, but I think it’s a little tricky for those who are in weight loss mode — especially if they aren’t fat-adapted (i.e., need to eat every few hours).

   I can easily fast, so what I have been doing is skipping breakfast and having a smallish lunch that is high in protein and has a little fat for satiety. What this does for me is make it so that I don’t arrive at dinner starving, and can make intentional choices about what to eat.

   Note: the calorie buffer is NOT a license to binge. It means that a piece of pie is not going to derail efforts; it does not mean that you can eat several day’s worth of calories at your meal! Sure, if it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas or some other holiday you may overeat for the day, but try to avoid triggering any guilt trips or major food reward/brain issues by keeping your intake reasonable.

   The way I look at it is I want this to work for me for a lifetime, so it makes sense (to me) to moderate indulgences, not treat it as a free pass to binge.

3. Protein priority. Martin’s rationale for making protein a priority in your “feast” meal is complex, but basically boils down to increasing satiety and reducing calorie intake. Given the importance of including protein in meals, I figure this one is a given.
4. Limit choices, not amounts. The more variety, the more you overeat. As Martin says “Stick to that which you truly enjoy eating and skip the rest.”

   For me, this meant skipping the yams out of a can and the mashed potatoes and stuffing out of a box … it’s definitely a quality, not quantity thing.

Curiously enough, Martin does not have a step 5, but I think that’s the most important part. It’s that ‘quick turnaround’ he talked about at the beginning of the article. The reason that many folks talk about avoiding going off-plan is that it is a slippery slope for folks with any disordered eating issues.

Your mileage may vary, but I have found that it is the pattern than screws me up, not the single taste. Eating indulgences in the course of a single meal is very different from going non-stop at the cookie tray between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So I think that it’s critical to avoid indulging frequently, and when you do, you get immediately back on plan!

In other words, preserve the specialness when you indulge. Eating nutrient-dense healthy foods most of the time helps me keep cravings at bay; I don’t bring them back by avoiding stoking the processed food fire too much.

Photo credit: Bryan Costin