Michael Jordan once said “I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.”
Meaning he was putting in all that time to accomplish something. To win a championship!
It’s funny though because most people who work out regularly must do it just to see what it feels like to sweat and be sore because they take all that sweat, “pain” and time and toss it down the drain with their diet!
You see what you eat has such a HUGE impact on if and how quickly you meet your fitness goals that it simply cannot be ignored of minimized. Even on the weekend.
ESPECIALLY on the weekend! And what’s the main culprit? Eating out.
I mean serious wakeup call here, but most restaurant meals are more than 1,200 calories! For ONE meal!
I always preach that you “eat big” meaning no 1,200 calorie diets. In fact I think more women should be up around 1,800 calories per day to really lose pure fat and keep lean muscle but 1,200 calories in ONE probably nutrient light meal is totally out of hand.
But every weekend when we sit down in that restaurant booth we try to convince ourselves that “X” food isn’t THAT bad…..
Take for instance Cobb Salads – loaded with cheese, bacon, egg, and topped with a creamy dressing. That salad contains more calories than a burger!
Or how about Sliders -Sliders are so small, there’s no harm in enjoying a couple of, right? Wrong. Enjoy a couple sliders and you’ll have taken in more than 1,000 calories.
And this is a popular choice: Pasta –Eating a pasta-based dish at a restaurant is weight-loss suicide. The 1,000+ calories found in the noodles will quickly end up stored on your body as fat.
As always I’m not saying you can’t have them but lets try to minimize the damage and keep you on track.
– Consider making lighter versions of the above at home and then going out for dessert or a cocktail.
-You and I both know that 1,200 calories in one meal is pretty decadent. You are stuffed to popping after all that food, its just not necessary or healthy. So why not actually follow the advice you’ve heard 5,673 times and share the entrée with someone or pack up half before you even start eating.
– Oh and as always don’t forget to workout! Even a quick 10 minute intense workout a few hours before you go out to eat will 1). burn extra calories 2). deplete some of the glycogen in your muscles so there’s room for more (carbs) 3). Remind you of what your main goal is; your goal is to look and feel fit, not to eat yourself into oblivion or sweat to just to see what it feels like to sweat.