Ok, we love Tim Tams, right? If you said no, we probably can’t be friends, it’s not me, it’s you…. Just kidding, we can still be friends, but i’m going to use Tim Tams as an example in this post.
We’re always told that eating the bad stuff is ok “in moderation”, right? I agree, to a point. If you binge drink or eat the high sugar or fat stuff every day, you are going to put on weight. It’s calories in vs calories out after all, and if you are scarfing booze or Tim Tams everyday, thats a lot of empty calories in. Very hard (read: impossible) to exercise off all those calories.
We justify having one Tim Tam or 1-2 glasses of wine as being moderate, therefore ok for our healthy lifestyle.
I again agree, to a point.
Let me explain. It’s all really just down to the numbers.
Let’s say that you eat one (1) Tim Tam everyday with a cup of tea, it’s your one little treat for the day, and you deserve it (yeah you do). The My Fitness Pal app tells us that Tim Tam is 95 calories, i’m going to assume that’s correct for the purpose of this post, because if I have to look at a packet, i’m gonna buy those bad boys!
Over two weeks, you eat 14 Tim Tams – 14 x 95 = 1330 Calories – That means despite eating your treat in moderation, you’ve ingested nearly a whole day’s extra, empty calories over that 2 week period. Depending on your Basal Metabolic Rate, that’s roughly 1.5 -3 hours of intense aerobic activity.
It also depends on you having ONLY ONE TIM TAM!??!! Yeah, I don’t know about you, but when that packet’s open, i’m having 2-3……
What if instead, you had 2-3 Tim Tams when you had the urge, just not every day?
Let’s change it up and say you have 3 Tim Tams in one sitting, BUT you only did it once per week. That’s 6 Tim Tams over two weeks – 6 x 95 = 570 Calories – That means despite overdoing your treat a little, you’ve ingested roughly HALF the amount of extra, empty calories over 14 days.
What if it is wine? Assuming a 250 ml glass of wine is roughly 200 calories.
1 glass per night over two weeks – 14 x 200 = 2800 calories.
4 glasses once a week over two weeks – 8 x 200 = 1600 calories.
Does this mean i’m giving you permission to go nuts once a week on all the crap you feel you are missing out on……?
NOPE!
I’m just trying to point out a different way of looking at things. If your goal is weight loss, then it’s more than likely you are going to have to limit some things you currently enjoy, however going cold turkey is really , really tough, and potentially sets you up for failure. I often tell my clients, “If you want the Tim Tam, have the Tim Tam! Just be aware of what that means to your goals, and ensure it fits into your overall plan.”
Allow for some of the treats some of the time, a life without Tim Tams or wine is……*shudder*…. not worth contemplating! Just understand that your weight is simply determined by calories in vs calories out. If you ingest more calories then you expend, you will gain weight, if you ingest less calories than you expend, you will lose weight. Also understand that small daily variances in calorie intake / expenditure are largely irrelevant. If instead you are sticking to your targets over 10-14 days, you will still get results.
Ok, I feel like a Tim Tam or three now……