The Treats

Well actually Micheal wasn't on any strict diet. He pretty much ate anything he wanted. I mean he ate chocolate waffles and got away with it. I remember before I start working out I ate tons of those every morning. But even though he is in the pool 5 hours he isn't doing strength workout and such so he won't burn out. And plus the strength workout he burns a lot of calories. But for Gymnast and/or people using Gymnastics just for fitness do anybody here or know any treating themselves once in a while or maybe more? Like chocolate chips waffles for a week or maybe a month while also training? I don't know about gymnastics and how intense there strength training is and that if they ever do high intensity conditioning drills (ex:sprints). But ever since I started working out I ate a bit of candy and some ice cream with fudge but afterwards I was really determined to get the six pack that I totally scared of treats. And hate them too but I really want one. Maybe when I get really fit I'll have more than one. So what do you go about with the treats? Is it ok?

Treating is mostly a mental thing.

-If it has a beneficial effect on your training and nutrition in that it prevents burnout I wouldn't worry about it.

-If it becomes a handicapped to your progress, cut back dramatically or stop.

It really depends on your personal tastes too. After adopting a paleo-type diet I can't stand a lot of foods I used to enjoy--they just taste nasty when you can discern all the additives.

Arrange a cheat day during the week. I used to do fridays or saturdays ( since that was a night out with my friends typically ). I preferred not to cheat on sundays and I tend to be really light on eating that day as I consider it a rest day for the week.

Sorry for my ignorance but what is this paleo deit everyone keeps talking about? And I don't know how you find some let's say cake or ice cream or even starburst and don't forget skittles to be nasty. I haven't been eating them since I got so caught up in getting a six pack. I am doing a very good job now. Praise God for the help! But now I am wondering if I have to be clean for the rest of my life. Because I can't stand to have a big belly with soft spots. :shock:

Oh by the way do you know how Phelps ate? I mean like did he stuff himself full or he ate small meals every few hours?

Cheat meals/days

In my clinic, over the last 5 years I have discovered that the cheating strategy has failed in 99% of the cases.

It throws you off balance, most of the times one cheat meal will tranform into a full day cheat and one day cheat will transform into 3-4 days uncontroled cheat.

Also, we should understand that most people are addicts. period. we are addicted to large quantities of food/sugar/etc.

Ask yourself if in a rehab clinic would they give an addict a bit of cocaine/alchohol once a week or would they restrict it completely and clean him?!

Most alchohol addicts cannot have another sip of alchohol for the rest of their lives. It is common understanding. Why should sugar addicts be any different? They are not, and this is why most people fail again and again with their diets.

With alcohol is diffrent, beacuse drinking change the receptors in head. And that's why the drinker is always a drinker.

Of course each drug is different and has its own chemical reaction in the body, but researchers are starting to realize that sugar addiction and drug addiction are very similar in many ways.

Refined sugar creates havoc in the human body. The insulin rollercoaster, glycation, aging, you name it.

We are programmed to find calorie dense food and ingest it without limit, because in nature food was never availble in such quantities that overconsumption created a problem.

We should be careful with 'igniting' this urge with sugar, as stopping the binge later on is a direct confrontation with our genes.

I don't know much about controlling insulin release and all because I was told not to worry about it. But I don't think any one can escape the modern world society with sugars every where. I was buying bread that has HFCS in it! Which I didn't know at first and now stop eating bread. I never drank any sodas or anything. I might have something fried one here or there but never sugar product. I am asking this because my birthday is about to come up and I am deciding whether or to have a cake. And last year I didn't went to any of my friend birthday party because mostly I was preoccupied with my workout and then the cakes, drinks and candies and what not.

You might often find that once you get off the wagon, you can only cheat so much compared to what you used to because you will go sick or disoriented. Sometimes too sweet or oversweet substances are just too much.

One of my dumb cheat meals is buttered toast. Fat and of course bread. Our the cinnamon bread if I bother to buy some. Tastes like french toast.

What about cakes for birthdays? Should I be getting one?

Don't compilcate it's only a one day...

I just deleted junk food from my diet (like candy and unnecessary sweets) but now I'm afraid I'll lose more weight because my body was so used to so much junk food... I have a hard time keeping on weight, so maybe if I replace junk food with a protein shake I won't lose too much weight? ( I'm struggling to stay at 135... I was up to 145, but then I started working out so I guess I lost the fat on my stomach)

Well, it depends on how much junk food you cut out per day/week. Replace caloric content a day would be a fairly simple calculation.

... I didn't think of it that way... haha thanks

I think the easiest way to avoid temptation is to physically void yourself of temptations. If you don't have them, you can't sacome to them.

Next, is, what is a treat? For us Paleo Eaters it could be something like some extra nuts or fruit (or a sweeter fruit), one of my favorites is roasted apples (cored and skinned) with sultana's (or currents)stufeed in the middle with some honey and cinnamon, delicious. Think of it as a treat and not a cheat!

Ed

Also

No I don't care how much pounds I might gain. I always do eating natural anyways. It's my abs I am working on. Since there is no such thing as a spot reduction things are a lot harder. I'll take Ed's advice. Thank you for the great help. God bless you guys!