The time before Christmas is a calorie-full sinning time. You go to the Christmas markets and you just can’t get by without drinking a mulled wine or a punch. Not only that but there’s more than enough sweets that you can find there. Does an endurance athlete have to resist these urges or is a little bit of sinning allowed?
There is no forbidden food
According to a study from the US from New Yorker Skidmore College, that took place over a 12-week timespan, the eating habits and weight changes were observed. The participants should eat only low fat and protein rich products, they also were allowed to eat what they wanted on the last day of the week and how much they wanted to eat. On the average, the participants lost 5 kilos of their starting weight. Psychologically, the “Cheat Day”, a day in which you can eat what you like, does have positive effects. Because while the participants ate at the beginning of the period still quite unrestrained, most were satisfied a few weeks already after additional portion or seconds. Towards the end many used “Cheat Day” only now and then or even left it out completely.
The negative side of this diet strategy
Even this type of dieting has its dangers. Take a look at the list of the eating disorders, if you do this type of strategy, you’ll might stay by “Binge Eating Disorder”. This is the eating disorder, in which the person has periodically the need to eat massive amounts of food with the loss of the control about how much one is eating. On the opposite side to Bulimia, there is no solution this to problem. By having a so-called, “Cheat Day”, is the way to binge eating no so far and can lead to even more bad eating habits.
Facts:
Whoever takes the occasional time out of his or her day to eat healthy and an low-calorie dieting, doesn’t need to worry about gaining weight. Feasting by the Christmas season in full-throttle can be enjoyed and eating the delicious foods and sinning without having a conscious is also okay, just as long as it doesn’t become a habit. Whoever actively wants to make it through the Christmas season with a nutritional strategie such as the so-called, “Cheat Days”, should stay away from the eating orgies, because the way to an eating disorder is not so far away.
