Cheat Meal

We had a client ask us an interesting question recently, and we wanted to share it, as the topic seems particularly relevant on a long weekend when we all tend to relax a little more.

And also, how we botched up our response!

“Could I consider every meal I eat out to be a cheat meal?”

Now, let’s preface the response by saying she caught us off-guard by asking during a training session.

Our focus is on the training at this point and we like to do nutritional consults on separate sessions, principally because we like to include a body scan, and when you are training you won’t necessarily take in some points important points that may be made.

The off-the-cuff response was, “…suppose that depends on how many times a week you eat out.”

“Let’s say two,” she said.

Two cheat meals a week seems excessive. But the reply was something to the effect of, “If it’s a post-workout meal, you have more room for error … and can indulge a bit more.”

“So, earn it?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Mistake.

Can you see where we went wrong here?

As we know, our actions and behaviour are determined by our thoughts, which create feelings. And a lot of what we think and feel is directed by the language we use.

Concepts like “earning” food with exercise can be problematic, because this type of thinking assigns values to the two things involved.

Exercise = good

Food = bad

That’s not the best way to look at it.

Similarly, referring to a meal as a “cheat meal” assigns a negative connotation to it. If it’s cheating, it must be bad.

And maybe worse, in order for the meal to live up to the meaning we’ve assigned to it … well, then it’s going to have to be extra bad 😈.

Pun intended … this kind of thinking is a recipe for disaster 😁.

Rest assured, we’ve since had a do-over conversation with the client to express what we are about to express to you here.

Don’t demonise food. Any food.

Instead, make choices that are in alignment with your goals. And if you’re going to indulge, do it intentionally … but don’t assign a value or emotion to it. 

And don’t treat exercise as a punishment for making poor food choices … or an excuse for doing the same.

Be Switzerland. Remain neutral 🤣.

Live on the continuum, instead of at the extremes. And stop feeling guilt over your food choices.

Rewarding yourself with food is a bad idea. So remove the term “cheat meal” from your vocabulary.

We’ve never really liked the term.

Once you’ve got that cleared up, you will see how liberating that feels, and enjoy how much better your nutritional decision-making becomes when you remove guilt from the equation.

Dedicated to your success,

Tribe.