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I have a problem with the way we celebrate Thanksgiving. Well, it's not really how Thanksgiving is celebrated, but rather how people judge eating habits.
People need to stop freaking out on a day when diet rules seemingly no longer exist.
Every year you'll see people (full disclosure: usually fitness or nutrition professionals) recommend completely cutting out your favorite foods or showing you how many minutes of exercise you need to complete to burn off your 3 batches of pumpkin pie.
Back. Out of.
Vacation is not preparation for a bodybuilding competition. It's a day designed to be with family, relax, give thanks, give back to those who have less, and - if you want - eat a few more calories than you normally do.
People will say we shouldn't use food as a reward. That makes sense.
But that's not it. Sometimes food is part of culture and tradition. That's not a bad thing.
Do you want to know what's really wrong?
Trying to convince people that eating too many calories for a day will make a difference. It doesn't.
What happens if you eat too much? (The Surprising Science of Fat Gain)
You will see many statistics about how the average American will gain between 5 and 10 pounds between now and the end of the year on diet plans that lose all focus.
Guess what? This weight gain doesnotoccur in a day or two.
Here's the truth: If you overeat by 1,000 to 2,000 calories in one meal, you won't gain fat. Even if you extend that to 3,000 calories, you won't addanyreal fat for your body.
You might feel bloated. They could hold water. But that will be sorted. Science shows that a bad meal doesn't cause fat gain. It doesn't happen in a 24 hour cycle.
This is the same flawed mentality that leads so many diet books to pinpoint one factor that causes weight gain or triggers weight loss.
Go ahead and eat to your heart's content on Thanksgiving or Christmas.
If you're still stressed, turn your concern into a math problem for stress relief (and some healthy eating).
To gain weight, you need to eat about 3,500more caloriesthan you normally consume. (It's probably even more than that. And yes, the old 3,500 calories equivalent to a pound isn't accurate, but this example still proves a strong point.)
So let's say you typically eat 2,000 calories per day. If you wanted to make somereal damageon the scale you would probably have to use upat least6,000 calories per day.
That's a ton of calories. Even most polls suggest that Americans have only about hit 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving.
Many factors can lead to weight gain. A bad day of eating – especially on vacation – is not one of these causes.
Do you need more evidence? Take the logic of a gluttonous day of eating and apply it to exercise.
Imagine you've worked out for an entire day, burned calories, and are the human version of the Energizer Bunny (you keep going... and keep going... and keep going). And then you did nothing for the rest of the week (or month).
Would you really expect to look healthy, fit and incredible?
Of course not. That one day of massive calorie burning would not offset the energy imbalance caused by the rest of the time.
When it comes to weight loss and weight gain, you have to look at the bigger picture and understand that nothing happens in a vacuum. You don't gain muscle from a set of curls; It is the accumulation of volume and stress over time. And you don't add fat from the rare binge, no matter how ridiculous the meal might get.
Is this a license to throw caution to the wind, eat whatever you want and give the middle finger to healthy eating? Of course not.
You should still eat with comfort and enjoyment. If you do something until you don't feel good anymore, then you're probably pushing a little too aggressively.
Or if you know from past experience that one big indulgence leads to a month of bad habits, your job is to limit the amount of food you eat to prevent the single day of indulgence from turning into a prolonged period.
What to do after you eat too much?
If you have an off day and eat too much, you don't need to do anything special. You simply need to return to better, normal eating habits.
Restriction and living in fear are not necessary. Life is meant to be enjoyed, and sometimes that means eating foods that aren't healthy, not punishing yourself for those behaviors, and behaving in a way that allows those diet breaks (because they are).
Every day is not a party or a holiday. And you shouldn't eat like that. But when these days occur, food stress shouldn't factor into the equation.
It may not seem healthy, but adding a few days where you have no rules into the mix of many days where you have boundaries is a fair, reasonable trade.
It is sustainable and leads to better results. Because any diet that includes foods you can enjoy with foods you know are good for you is likely to be followed for a long period of time and that's when you see the biggest changes.
It may not sound exciting, but better health, less stress and more good holidays. We can all celebrate memories.