Ask Anne Marie: Your Questions Answered! Part One
health·@annemariemay·
0.000 HBDAsk Anne Marie: Your Questions Answered! Part One
 **Guys!!** First of all, thank you so much for your replies to my last post! You all asked so many wonderful questions already, and I’m very grateful for all of you that took the time to comment! Please keep them coming, either via the comments section or email :) I’m super excited to start this as a little “series,” if you will - I’ll do my best to tackle your questions, and I hope to give you the answers you’re looking for! So, the first question I’m going after is from @bezean, who asked: **from a weight loss standpoint is it worse to consume five chocolate bars in one day, or one chocolate bar a day for five days?** This is a great question! Frankly, I chose to answer this question first because it’s about chocolate, and I LOVE chocolate. I could easily eat one chocolate bar a day, or five chocolate bars in one day, or five chocolate bars EVERY day, so this question jumped right out at me and seemed like a great place to start! I have also gotten this question many times from clients, especially if they are looking to transition out of a strict or rigid nutritional approach and are hoping to maintain their hard-earned gains (or losses)! So I have to say that, although it’s not quite as satisfying as a black and white answer, it kind of depends on the person. Every body is different, both physiologically and psychologically, and both factors come into play here. I will try to talk a little bit about each in hopes of answering this as comprehensively as possible! Let’s first talk about the all-out chocolate feast in one day. For the sake of an accurate answer, I will assume this is not a regular occurrence, but rather a rare deviation from an otherwise healthy lifestyle… Our bodies have this amazing capability called adaptive thermogenesis - which means, in this case, that when we take in a ton of calories all at the same time, we experience an increase in metabolism. Basically, the more you eat at once, the more your body will fire up the ol’ metabolism in response. My immediate thought? WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!! But wait, don’t get too excited! Does that mean you should go eat as much as you can possibly fit in your face and it’ll make you lose weight? No, unfortunately not! I know. Damn. You still absorb all the calories from the chocolate you’re consuming, but eating it all at once might mean that you’ll experience a greater increase in metabolism that could offset that occasional binge by a little bit. However, it’s not going to undo a week (or even a day) full of nutritional transgressions by any means. Think of it as a little bonus, like not having to pay tax on a purchase. It’s not much, but it helps! Also important to note is that your body is reeaaaalllyyyy good at adapting, so relying on this mechanism regularly will not work to your advantage as your body will catch on and the party will come to a screeching halt… This should really only serve to provide you with a little extra peace of mind if you fall off the wagon and go nuts on a pan of brownies, and should NOT be a concept that gives you carte blanche to throw your portion control and smart nutrition out the window on the daily. But, it’s nice to know that if you’re usually practicing pretty intelligent nutrition and occasionally can’t resist the urge to have some treats, that your body will have your back at least a little bit :)  However, binges like this can have different effects on different people. For some, it’s a one time thing that reminds them how yucky they feel when they overindulge and just serves to kickstart their routine and refuel their motivation. For others though, one binge leads to another and creates a downward spiral, pushing them even farther off the path that leads to their goals. You probably know which way you trend already, but if you don’t, it doesn’t take much to figure it out - and it’s worth doing! So what about eating one bar of chocolate every day for five days? This depends also. Can you have some chocolate each day without losing control and eating five bars? We’ll assume you can, and keep going from here… Taking the approach of eating some chocolate every day, you won’t likely experience the bonus effect of the increased metabolic rate due to adaptive thermogenesis (no extreme excess ingestion of calories). Also, if you’re consistently maintaining your weight and you eat everything you normally do, and then ADD a whole bar of chocolate to that on top of it all, I can’t promise your waistline will respond favorably! Assuming you’re not in a caloric surplus or deficit already, adding the extra calories from the single bar of chocolate (again, without the extra help from adaptive thermogenesis) would most likely push you past the amount of calories you need for the day and cause you to gain weight. My advice? If it’s not a binge trigger for you, make room in your nutritional approach for a small piece of chocolate (not a whole bar) every day amidst an otherwise balanced diet full of healthy foods. This concept can be helpful for those who love to have treats but are in control enough to keep portions in check. By planning for your indulgences and keeping them small, there isn’t any real reason why you would gain extra weight. Long answer for a short question, I know! But I hope this was helpful :) Everyone’s body is different, and everyone’s mind is different. Yes there are some rules, but also plenty of exceptions! We can rely on science and theory in fitness all we want, but it’s important to acknowledge our own tendencies and personalities as we make plans and strategies to stay healthy - that’s the only real way to ensure we implement the right strategies for ourselves! So think of me when you eat chocolate… Chances are I’m eating it too! :) Stay healthy, friends! .jpg)