Fat Girl Goes Fit: Okay to do CHEAT DAYS

Hello all!

Today I bring you a photo from a food adventure rather than a fitness adventure. However, this is related to my fitness journey.

This photo was during a lunch with my mother, considering Mother's Day is coming around the corner. Now, if you know my diet, I used to be on a low carb diet and have changed to a diabetic diet influenced by the low carb diet (if that makes sense). Essentially, I eat a low of low carb foods, but I will eat brown rice or other whole wheat/grain foods. Now, the restaurant my Mother and I went to is an all-you-can-eat sushi place in Sonoma County. It was definitely tasty and lots of fresh fish (considering this is Sonoma County and not the Peninsula. We ate do much that I couldn't even log my calories that day haha.

I say all this because I've learned something about balance when it comes to adjusting your diet for your fitness journey. You meet a lot of people who become miserable on their diets and I was once one of those people. I was on a pretty intense low carb diet for almost 2 years when I was dating one of my exes. Sure, I lost weight and my blood work showed I was healthy, but that wasn't "living" for me. Ya'gurl is a foodie. I love food! I'm sure if you follow me or know me, you are probably a bit of a foodie too. The problem is cheat days used to be my death sentence. It was extremely hard to recover from a cheat day because it grants you so much happiness in the moment that you say, "oh, I'll go back on my diet tomorrow." Gurl, let's be honest. That "tomorrow" lasted for days. Not to mention the guilt I would feel after eating all that food on the cheat day. Oh, and trust me when I say you feel even shittier when you try to add extra intense workouts to try and cancel out your cheat day. Listen to these words: IT DOES NOT WORK! Maybe it may work for you, but it was no way to live for me.

Now, I say all this because I've learned balance. Do I have a cheat day every week? No. I know for a fact that doing so does not work for me and my body. I know some people can do it, you just have to know your body. The purpose for my post today is that it's okay to have a cheat day. You do not have to feel guilty or sprint a few miles to burn off the food. Enjoy yourself, stick to your fitness, and get back on the wagon tomorrow (LEGIT tomorrow). As I approach closer to the age of 30, obviously friends and/or family want to hang out and not everyone follows the same diet or fitness regiment as you. But that's okay. Enjoy that cheat meal with your loved ones. Obviously, try to be mindful of not going overboard. Example: I love to have a beer or two with my family, but alcohol is liquid calories. I do my best to not overstuff myself and I have managed to stick to my workouts (all approx 18-20 mins) everyday. Set backs happen, but I've learned that cheat days are okay if it's a day with your loved ones. It's not practical to stay keto, low carb, etc during holidays here in America (trust me, it's a pain in the ass to be low carb at Thanksgiving).

My advice is to keep going. Don't feel guilty, don't give up, but life is short. I think if you know your body well enough, then you will reach your fitness goals once you find that balance. I am no expert but that is my personal takeaway.

Until next time!

Much love,

Leena Ravenwood