Are you a weekend overeater?

You diligently count macros all week long, prepare meals and snacks the day before and know exactly when and what you will be eating. You go to the gym and follow your training schedule. You do this every week, Monday to Friday.

And then comes it - The WEEKEND. The long awaited two or, god forbid, three days off. And just like that, the fridge and the pantry become an all-you-can-eat buffet, a friend's house turns into an all-inclusive experience and the gym remains a vague memory of the days long gone.

Sounds familiar? If it does - you are, what I call - The Weekend Hulk, or weekend overeater.
Why doest it happen? Why do we sabotage our efforts that we worked so hard at all week in order to take two steps back? There are several reasons for this phenomenon. Some are physical and some are psychological. Let's look at the physical ones first:

1. You are under-eating throughout the week.
While keeping a moderate caloric deficit will aid with weight loss, a wrongly calculated calorie allowance will keep you hungry all week long until you feel like you have been 'good' and finally allow yourself to eat over the weekend. After severely under-eating for five days, you will inevitably overeat once given the chance.

2. You miscalculated your macros or they don't make a good fit.
If you are following your macros (protein, fat, carbohydrates) ratio and keep your calories on track, you could have miscalculated the proportions that fit you. For example, some people thrive and lose weight on a low carb diet, while others feel sad and depressed. If you are constantly unhappy with your diet - you will overeat the moment you feel you can. This is why macros need to be carefully tailored to fit you personally.

This brings us to the psychological issues:

1. You treat the weekend as a cheat time.
Although I believe that everyone should have a cheat meal once a week, the weekend overeaters tend to think of the weekend as one very long cheat meal, which, of course, causes a significant calorie intake. In order to avoid this, it is important to have one planned (!) cheat meal during the weekend and eat as normally as possible during the rest of the time.

2. You only eat 'good' foods.
If you divide foods into 'good' and 'bad' and only allow yourself the good ones throughout the week, come the weekend, you will binge on the bad ones. Why? Because while most people can micromanage their food during the work week, when the weekend comes and they are surrounded by what they consider 'bad' foods, they let themselves cheat a little, which usually turns into a lot. It is important not to think of food as good or bad, rather, than to look at it as highly nutritious or not so nutritious.

3. You feel like you have lost enough.
This is a variation of the famous yo-yoer. You don't have much to lose in the first place and over the course of the week you follow a strict diet and feel like you have reached your elusive goal. As such, during the weekend you allow yourself to fall into old unhealthy eating habits, gaining all of the lost over the week back. And this circle continues, almost always causing more weight gain than was lost in the first place.

If you saw yourself in any of the above, think about why you sabotage your efforts during the weekend and try to make small changes in your lifestyle. After all, we all deserve a cheat meal and we all deserve to succeed on our journeys, and by knowing our weaknesses we can make an effort to change for the better.

With Love,
M

Spiralizing. Or how to pretend you are eating pasta when you are not.

If you are anything like me, you are always trying to eat something that will make you:
a) satisfied
b) happy
c) not gain weight

Unfortunately, white pasta (in large quantities), only satisfies two out of three requirements. That is the biggest reason why I am a big fan of spiralized vegetables, or 'wannabe' pasta. This amazing modern-day creation, makes it possible to make green vegetables look and act like they are carb-loaded spaghetti. Unfortunately, no matter how much you want to, you will not be fooled that you are eating elbows while eating zucchini. BUT, you can either mix your real pasta with the spiralized 'wannabe' pasta, or just get all health-conscious and proud about making better choices. Totally up to you.

Say hello to the Spiralizer. This nifty thing will make any fruit or vegetable (firm enough) into gorgeous spirals that can be cooked, mixed, baked, dressed or eaten as is. A spiralizer can be bought at any major home/hardware store (Walmart, Canadian Tire, Bed Bath & Beyond etc) or ordered online (Ebay, Amazon etc) for as little at $19.99.

In an attempt to make a vegetable traffic light I spiralized zucchini, carrots and radishes. It only took me an hour to realize that I mixed up the colours. But you get the point.

Ideas about what you can make with spiralized vegetables are endless. 'Pasta' dishes, salads, casseroles, snacks and stir-fries. One of my favourite ways of eating spiralized zucchini is:

"Fake Shrimp Scampi"

-Spiralize firm green or yellow zucchini
-Clean and de-vein a portion of large shrimp
-Sautee some garlic in a non-stick pan without oil or butter
-Add shrimp and cook until done
-Add parsley
-Add zucchini
-Warm through and serve

With Love,
M

How to lose 50 pounds in one week!

Caught your attention, didn't I?

Let me guess, you have tried every diet out there: the cabbage soup diet; the apple vinegar and cayenne pepper (holy crap) diet; the liquid diet; the cucumber and apple diet: the Japanese diet... And even if you had the determination to actually follow through with the crazy requirements and lost some weight, did you gain it back quicker than I can type 'told you so'?

Here comes a reality check - you cannot lose a lot of weight fast and keep it off. Unless you are willing to gain it all (and then some) back.
Yes, Im sure.
Absolutely certain.
Unless, of course, you are willing to cut off a leg.

The issue with any diet is the fact that it is a DIET. Plain and simple. You can follow it to the T, but you cannot live your life on a diet. You cannot drink the suicidal concoction of vinegar and pepper until the day you die. Unless you want that day to happen in the nearest future. If your plan is to be healthy, live a long and happy life and be the best you can be - you need to realize that there is no quick fix. Moreover, imagine for a second how incredibly boring a life without cupcakes and wine would be? I don't know about you, but that is not a life I find worth living.

As such, let us forget about fast and simple and choose healthy and worthwhile. Let's start with understanding that food is as much fuel as it is enjoyment. It plays an integral part in our lives: from social gatherings and family meals to romantic evenings and kids parties. Instead of dreading every meal, let us start with understanding what our bodies need and how we can provide it.

By treating ourselves with respect, by understanding nutritional and physical needs and by taking care of our psychological wellbeing, we can establish a healthy lifestyle where food is not something dreadful and pounds are not only something to be lost.

I will write more about calorie and macronutrient counting, about energy in / out and about tips and tricks on how to lose weight and not your mind. But I wanted to start with the simple truth that in order to lose - you need to first gain:
Gain self respect not to starve or binge.
Gain knowledge to know what to do and when to seek help.
Gain Courage to challenge yourself and take the road to a better You.

With Love,

M