The Treat DAY Rule

So after a lean Summer along came Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving, Christmas and now it's the New Year. And at time of writing, in the US, today is Martin Luther King Day and tomorrow America will welcome a new President- Barack Obama. Then in February it's Valentine's Day.

All these are celebration days, a day when a lot of celebration food and much comfort food is on offer. The important thing to remember is that these treat days are just that- a treat DAY. Not a treat week, or a treat weekend despite some holidays lasting that long.

In regards to nutrition, it's perfectly fine to treat yourself every once in a while, even once a week if you wish, however you must remember the Treat DAY rule, and then to keep yourself on track, the next day either consume less calories to make up for it and/or work out harder to make up for it that way. An additional tip is to focus on weight training the day after you've consumed a lot of calories to make the most of the extra protein you've accumulated, providing it's still in your system. I would probably recommend doing it first thing the next day.

Whenever you do have a treat day, there is no need to feel guilty about it. Simply enjoy it and make up for it afterwards. And a great tip I heard just recently and a great motivational point is to think that as long as you're fit and healthy between New Year and Christmas, it's not so bad if you're not between Christmas and New Year.