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Banking
Calories - Eat Less Now To Pig Out Later?
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Suppose
you’re on a diet and you have a banquet or a holiday party coming
up. You’re expecting a big meal to be served for dinner, and there
will be open bar with lots and lots of “party snacks.” You’re
not sure if there will be any healthy food there, but you are sure that
you’re going to be in a festive, partying mood! What should you
do? Should you cut back on your food earlier in the day to make room
for the big feast?
What
I’ve just described is commonly known as "banking calories,"
which is analogous to saving calories like money because you're going
to consume more later, and it’s a very common practice among dieters.
If you’re really serious about your diet and fitness goals however,
then the answer is no, you should NOT “bank calories! Here's why
and here's what you should do instead:
First
of all, if you're being really honest with yourself, you have to agree
that there's almost always something healthy to eat at any gathering.
You know those tables you see at holiday parties that are covered with
yards of chips, dips, pretzels, cookies, salami, candies, cheese, punch,
liquor, and a seemingly endless assortment of other goodies? Well, did
you also notice that there's usually a tray full of carrot sticks, cauliflower,
celery, fruit, turkey breast and other healthy snacks too?
No
matter where you are, you always have options, so make the best choice
you can based on whatever your options are. If nothing else, you can
choose to eat a small portion of "party foods" rather than
a huge portion, thereby obeying the law of calorie balance.
If
you skip meals or eat less earlier in the day to bank calories for a
big feast at night, you are thinking only in terms of calories, but
you’re depriving yourself of the valuable nutrition you need all
day long in terms of protein (amino acids), carbohydrates, essential
fats, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that come from healthy
food, as well as the small frequent meals required to stoke the furnace
of your metabolism.
Not
only that, but eating less early in the day in anticipation for overeating
later is more likely to increase your appetite, causing you to binge
or eat much more than you thought you would at night when the banquet
does arrive.
Eating
healthy food earlier in the day is likely to fill you up and you'll
be less likely to overeat in the evening. High fiber foods, healthy
fats and especially lean protein, tend to suppress your appetite the
most.
I don’t
like the concept of "banking calories." Your body just doesn't
work that way - it tends to seek equilibrium by adjusting your appetite
to the point where you consume the same total amount of calories in
the end anyway.
Even
if it worked the way you wanted it to, why would you eat less (starve)
in an attempt to burn more fat, then overeat (binge) and put the fat
right back on? Why allow yourself to put on fat in the first place?
A starving
and bingeing pattern will almost certainly cause more damage than an
occasional oversize meal. Some dieticians might even say that this kind
of behavior borders on disordered eating.
A
better approach is to stay on your regular menu of healthy foods and
small meals through the entire day - business as usual - and then go
ahead and treat yourself to a "cheat meal," but sure to keep
your portions small.
It
should be a big relief to know that on special occasions, whether it's
a party, restaurant meal, banquet or holiday dinner, you can eat whatever
you want with little or no ill effect on body composition, as long as
you respect the law of calorie balance. However, you CANNOT starve and
binge and expect not to reap negative consequences.
To
burn fat and be healthy, you don't have to be a "party pooper"
or completely deny yourself of foods you enjoy, but you do need to have
the discipline to stick with your regular meal plan most of the time
and control your portion sizes all of the time.
About
the Author:
|
Tom Venuto
is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal
trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist
(CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written hundreds of
articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN,
Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development,
Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds
of websites worldwide. For information on Tom's Fat Loss program,
click
here.
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Articles By Tom Venuto
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