Splurge, Metabolic Boost, Cheat...What's It Called Again?

A few months ago we renamed the cheat meal to splurge meal. We then went a step further to call it the "MB" which means metabolic boost meal. Why you may ask? Several good reasons, but the main one being...

Women get hung up on the word "cheat" and "splurge" when they are dieting.
Not a huge surprise, but I still have clients who don't want to feel "happy" when they are changing their lifestyle. If they enjoy the foods, feel full, and take an MB once a week it just doesn't "feel right." Why? Because we are taught all of our lives to lose weight you gotta be butt-ass miserable through the process.

Wrong. I don't encourage my girls to feel miserable. I want those bellies filled with good foods. They might not get chips and dip every meal but they get more than enough food to feel satisfied. In fact, some of them can't believe I can feed them less cals but make them feel full because they eat so much.

Here's the clincher; when they stick to plan all week THEY MUST TAKE AN MB MEAL! No arguments. Their bodies need the stimulus of carbs and fats, their minds need the vacation, and they need a chance to enjoy a meal like the rest of the world does.

In my own diet I take one every week because I am like stink on poo with my diet plan. I take a HUGE MB at that. In fact, I usually eat Mexican and then a jar of peanut butter. Yes, a jar. I eat until I pass out.

You know what? The next day I hop on that scale and I BETTER SEE A FAT WEIGHT GAIN! Ideally I like to gain about 3-5lbs. That gain shows I have restored my muscles to full working capacity, holding some water to repair my muscles I've tortured all week, and probably still digesting a few spoonfuls of the good stuff. :)- Next weigh in I am either back to normal or down if I'm in the process of dieting. (At the time of this post I am.)

So, rules for the MB!

1. You stick to your plan all week you take a honking MB. I mean diet, exercise, water, vitamins..all diealed in and in check. If you didn't stick to your plan and missed workouts, sorry. You don't get one. You earn an MB...it is not a given.

2. If you can't stop yourself then set a time limit. Some people do best with one meal, others with 60 min.

I love to do mine this way. Starting at 6:30 pm or so on Friday or Saturday night begins the cheat. I start with some almonds or an extra protein shake before we go out to dinner so that I am not ready to kill something when we walk in the door. I have whatever I want during the meal and most of the time I skip the stupid stuff I could care less about: croutons, full fat dressing, sweetened drinks, sour cream, etc. You know what you love and you know what you eat just because it appears on the plate. If it DOESN'T MEAN SOMETHING TO YOU DON'T WASTE YOUR CALORIES ON IT.

If I have dessert the MB stops for the night. Most of the time I save my dessert for later. When I get home I eat my PB or cereal (these are my personal favorites) starting 30 min. prior to going to bed. Then I hit the sheets. When I wake up it's go time on the diet. It just makes a natural end to the meal.

Now, if it's a party night I do it differently. PNP girls! I have exciting news. For those of us who like to party, are young, or just young at heart we are going to have a workshop next week led by me and Trish on how to party on your MB without killing the week's worth of work.

Don't look for magic. Look for what drinks to choose, the best exercise to do that week, water consumption, how to plan your 2am eats, etc. I'm not green-lighting you to be an alcoholic, but come on. We have to be realistic and a lot of you are still at the age where you are going to be very social on the weekends. Since I have never grown out of it I am going to pass on my knowledge to you.

Now, if you were a good girl all week go out enjoy your MB. You deserve it!