Chask Personal Trainer Answers, "Will One Day of Bad Eating Hurt My Weight Loss Goals?"

I've been asked this question so many times this summer.

"Hey Justin, I have a question for you..... I am going to the city fair this weekend, so would it be horrible to have some of that yummy, but very bad for you fair food..... if it is only one day of it? How do you control the urge to not eat there..... its not like they have a healthy section;-)"

Great question. Here's the harsh answer - I'm really good at that by the way :-) - YES, it's horrible!

If you're kid asked you if it would be horrible if they smoked crack just once in a while what would you say?

Now, that may seem a little over the top, but hear me out for a minute.

Look, I'm just gonna come right out and say it. People are fat and/or unhealthy (you don't have to be fat to be unhealthy) in this country for a reason - because they're addicted to crap food like it's a drug...BECAUSE IT IS!

The reason those foods are "so good" is because of the sugars, fats, and additives that cause the addiction. Remember the movie Super Size Me - Morgan Spurlock went through major withdrawals after the 30 days of McDonald's experiment.

Now, let's address the "will the one day hurt my weight loss program?" part of it.

While there are multiple factors that go into weight loss nutrition including your bodies reaction to certain types of foods and chemicals, at the end of the day the biggest factor is going to be The Energy Balance Equation - how many calories you consume vs. how many calories you burn.

So, without going too deep, if you're not going to burn off the thousands (yes thousands) of extra calories you'll be consuming at the fair, then every calorie beyond what your body needs WILL BE STORED AS FAT. What makes it even worse, one of these days can literally destroy and entire weeks worth of exercise!!

There's no two ways about it. That's the science and there's no getting around it.

OK, now the question is, how do you deal with all the temptations?

The same way you teach and pray your kids will when they've got that crack pipe put in front of them (which statistics show will more than likely happen) - YOU JUST SAY NO!

The good news is there a some very simple things you can do to avoid or at least lessen the urge to eat the crappy food.

1. Eat before you go to the fair, party, family reunion or whatever event we're dealing with. By the way, that's the other issue - there's ALWAYS an event to go to. Before you know it, you're smoking that "crack" 2, 3, 4 times a month. You can forget about your weight loss goals and start looking for a bigger wardrobe!

2. If it's a long event (greater than 3 hours) you need to pack your food. You will never find any good choices at these events. You don't have to go overboard with making a meal or being rude to your friends. Just eat whatever is a good choice (not the best of the worst) and supplement with a nutrition bar like Prograde Cravers. They're great tasting, easy to carry and conceal (if you must), and nobody will even notice.

Now, I can't tell you how many times I've had someone respond to these suggestions by saying something to the effect of, "Well that's just too much? I'm not going be rude, or not fit in, or deprive myself."

My response - OK, then just stay fat and keep killing yourself from the inside out. The choice is yours.

Have Faith & Take Action!

Justin Yule, B.S., CPT