"Tom, how can you say you're a nutritionist if you eat cheesecake late at night? That's not healthy"
I received this message in my Instagram inbox after a rather tongue in cheek post of a cheesecake which serves 6 people and I captioned it
"Challenge accepted"
Social media messages don’t have tone just words so it might have been a genuine question.
Or it might have been a Karen about to lecture me on healthy clean eating and then following up the one-two with a sales pitch for her weight loss tea.
Either way, the question deserves an answer and clarification
Healthy eating does not equal CLEAN eating
People often confuse HEALTHY eating with CLEAN eating.
They are not the same.
CLEAN eating is what I used to do 6 days of the week when dieting for bodybuilding shows.....
……and then have an epic cheat day on day 7 where I face planted donuts and ice cream.
I lost weight and got into great shape but felt like total rubbish 4-5 days of the week and craved sweet, tasty food.
I worked out my calories per day and you’d see me measure out rice to the last gram to make sure I was hitting it spot in
HEALTHY eating is what I do now.
I eat a good selection of
- lean protein
- fruits
- veg
- complex carbs
- and some unsaturated fats.
Then add in some ‘junk’ food occasionally when I want some, providing it’s within my calories.
I work out my calorie averages over the week, not the day and this allows me to have more food one day and less another, as it fits my lifestyle.
I keep in great shape and don’t crave foods. Moreover I don’t have epic cheat days where I binge and feel sick after.
Because I don’t need to
Because I have all the foods I like during the week.
This is why people get confused when they see me eating cheesecake at night.
Surely it's all going to get stored as fat when you eat that late?
Not really
- Fat storage happens throughout the day
- As does fat burning
Our bodies are in a constant state of flux,
It’s the average outcome of this flux that determines if we store fat as a compounding element.
If you overeat for one day you don’t just put on a ton of fat, same if you diet for one day you don’t lose inches off your waist.
I don't snack in the day really,
I’m pretty busy and work long hours……
….creating memes
Sometimes I write emails and record Youtube videos
The rest of the time is devoted to working with people so they too can eat cheesecake late at night and not gain fat long term.
I save up my snack calories for the evening so I can eat more then.
This way I can eat 400-500 calories in the evening and still be within my daily average calorie amount.
Now my calorie amounts may be different from yours, I have a fair bit of muscle and I exercise a fair bit meaning I burn more calories so I can eat more.
The premise is the same
Manage your calories around your life. Not your life around your calories
You can see my full video on this below. To listen to the podcast click on the audio player below the video
I go into the mechanisms more deeply and go over some extra tips you can employ yourself.
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