Healthy Cheat Day

 This is part of our Optimum Philosophies segment on why and how a cheat day is healthy. Let me start by what inspired me to write this. Last week after what has been a grueling past couple weeks as far as work goes, I am driving home with food on my lap in the car. It’s almost 3:00pm and the day has gotten away from me and I am just now finding the time to get my lunch in.

I pull up to a stop light and a guy in a truck next to me honks his horn, and with window up, holds a protein bar up to the window. The reason he is doing this is because he read the side of my truck and sees that I’m a trainer and I’m holding on my lap an In n’ Out meal. Now a few things run through my head:

1) He obviously views himself as living a healthy life and I obviously must be a pretender because of what I plan to eat

2) He’s a guy that was probably quite a chunk before finding his new “average” body and now feels compelled to educate the world with his newly discovered knowledge about weight loss.

3) Is one of those guys with very limited knowledge on health and fitness that is bound to his daily workouts “at the gym” and if presented with an amazing opportunity to do a great hike while backpacking or go for a trail run, would probably fight it as he “needs to fit in his spin or P90X video”.

Now what he doesn’t know is that I train very hard and have been religiously for over 20 years now. In addition to ongoing morning strength training workouts, I hold a Blackbelt in American-style Kickboxing and a Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. I am an expert and I certainly practice what I preach.

Today happens to be my cheat day and I give myself one per week. Usually it will be an ice cream or some kind of desert, while I do crave In n’ Out about every 3 months. In addition, it is healthy to allow yourself a cheat day from time to time.You are satisfying a mental craving, and by giving yourself something you desire, you are rewarding yourself for your hard work and dedication. A periodic reward gives a feeling of completion vs. that of depletion.

I’m sure this guy is also no athlete. He would probably be shocked at what most athletes consume. They are usually not the unbalance types that can’t sleep because they ate one french fry and now have to punish themselves by going to they gym two times tomorrow instead of just one.

After going through this in my mind, I decided I should in turn teach him something. So on my way back to work after my late lunch, I made a detour to look for his truck and decided to tell him to put his money where his mouth is and meet me on the mat. I was going to leave a note on his vehicle challenging him to a grappling match where I train in Jiu-jitsu.

Unfortunately, and I guess lucky for him, I couldn’t find his truck and so he was spared the embarassment he would have felt by getting tapped out by a woman and speaking before he has the facts. On the other hand, now he is no more knowledgeable than he was before. I’ve always loved the phrase, “Ignorance is Bliss.” It applies to so many situations.

If you’d like some helpful knowledge about weight loss and I tired of listening to people that don’t actually know what they are talking about, grab my free weight loss guide here.

Your friendly health & fitness expert,