Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Indulgence Plan

I've been helping a friend of mine to lose weight and so far she's been doing good. I put her on a cross training / turbulence training workout routine, and the results have been amazing. I also recommended her a diet program and told her that every 2 weeks, we would make it progressively more difficult. Now its been about 2 months, and she is finally starting to face some problems with keeping up with the diet plan as we have cut out lots of stuff. She is down to 2 sweet drinks a day, very little carbohydrates and lots of fruits & vegetables as well as lean meat.

She says she has strong urges to just indulge every once in awhile in something sinful, but she is afraid she will blow away all her hard work. So i came up with what i call an indulgence plan. This indulgence plan allows you to indulge in your favourite foods with the hopes of keeping the damage to a minimum. So here is how it works.

Tip# 1 - Only indulge 10% to 20% of the time.
Now it depends on how quickly you want to lose weight and also your own body. Some people can indulge more and get away with it, while others may not. Also, she wants to look her best for this reunion she is going for at the end of May. So i told her to keep it to about 10% of the time. So if you are eating about 35 meals a week (i got her to eat 5 times a day), then 3 of those meals can become your indulgent meals, while the rest have to follow the diet plan. Now the key here is to keep note of how many times you are indulging. Most people keep indulging, but comfort themselves by saying its only today and yesterday. Sure you can do that, but you have to ensure that its only today and yesterday and not for the past 3 years. So giving a measurable % lets you know just how much you are allowed to stray away from your plans.


Tip# 2 - Indulge on the days you are going to work out.
Now if she is going to indulge, it would be best to indulge on days where she is going to workout rather than on days when she is resting. On days of her workout, she is going to be more active and is going to use a lot more calories that day than on her normal rest day. She works out 4 times a week, so i told her to try and keep it on those days when she does work out. If its your rest day, make it a point to do some activity after that like a 30 minute walk or something. This helps to reduce the damage of the indulgence. Now that 30 minute walk would of course be an additional workout to the 4 times a week because it was done during her off day. I told her preferably, if she needs to indulge, try her best to do it before her workout (as close as possible) or right after her workout (within 1 hour of working out). This further reduces the impact the food will have on her.

Tip# 3 - Balance it out
Now if your are going to eat at TGIF or something, then go ahead and enjoy yourself. But you have to balance out your other meals to ensure that you don't totally burst your calorie consumption for the day. For example, if she is eating 2,000 calories a day, and her TGIF meal is 1,000 calories, then she needs to do her best and still keep to the remaining 1,000 calories for that day so it all still adds up to 2,000 calories. So it doesn't mean for that day, you consume your usual 2,000 calories and then 1,000 additional calories because today was TGIF day. Its OK to go above a little like 2,200 calories or so for that day, but where possible, cut back on the other meals and try to balance it out and still stay within your plan.

So there you have it. Some simple tips that will allow you to indulge while reducing the effects on your weight loss program. Now if anyone follows these simple tips, i guarantee you that you will see results while leading a pretty normal life. At the end of the day, its almost impossible for anyone to keep strict to their diet 24/7. I know some people have more discipline than others, but for the rest who have to indulge (like me), then these tips help to reduce the damage to your waistline. Remember, you can't indulge all the time and expect this to work. The only way you can indulge all day everyday and lose weight, is if you worked in a construction site where you have to do hard physical labour 8 hours a day. If you are just going to be sitting around the office and working out 1 hour a day (like most people reading this), then this plan comes in handy for you. So try it out and see. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

15 comments:

no one said...
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Nizam said...

Does turbulence training work? I am quite skeptical so I'm looking for some ppl who have firsthand experience with it before i buy.. Any advice rajan?

Rajan said...

Lexis: After reading the "care bare and marine corp post" on your blog, i thought you wouldn't agree to this post. :P. But glad you like it.

Nizam: Good to see you around the neighbourhood again.

To me, Turbulence training is a great way to get lean. But i like to mix it up a little and not follow it 100%. You can download loads of free turbulence training workouts on the net. Why not try it first yourself before investing any money on it.

Rajan said...

Sorry Typo... i meant marine core, not corp. Brain is still asleep this morning.

no one said...
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Nizam said...

Have always been here. Any particular turbulenttraining workout to recommend? Got so many I also pening.

Rajan said...

Kasey: Hmmmmm... OK. I actually use this all the time.

For those who are wondering, Pushups and apples refers to people reiterating common sense information. Eg. Oxygen is vital to stay alive.... or doing pushups and eating apples is good for you... see these are things that goes without saying.

Nizam: Hard to just recommend off head like that. I suggest you look for a beginners program and start with that. It shouldn't be too hard to do, yet challenging enough to workout a sweat.

If i find a link i will post it up here for you. But in the meantime, you can google for a beginners program and choose one which you like or think you can manage.

ian yusof said...

very good guideline. I've been doing it without even noticing it ....

One thing I like about endurance racing is that it allows me to eat plenty of food .... I mean really good food :)

On off-season, I pretty much take care of my intake ... and I've been on a 5-meal thingy for quite some time now.

Great stuff bro ....

Rajan said...

Ian: Great to know you follow this. I really think this will help people if they follow it.

matacoklatbiru said...

hello rajan...
great news for u, i manage to lose weight, 2 kg in a week by...
hahahaha....
thanks for your previous entry bout the calories intake...
so, this indulgence plan? i think i don't want to take risks by eating my favorite foods. i will never stop if i take my indulgence foods. im a food lover, i cant stand the food temptations after all...
hahahaa...
definitely its a good plan, i would love to try this plan once i have a hot bod, and when i can control my desire to eat my favorite foods...
haha...
anyway, good job, i would love to share this with my colleagues.. :)

Rajan said...

mata coklatbiru: Wow, thats really great news. Congratulations.

anyway, you may not feell the indulgence now, but when you do, i hope this plan helps.

matacoklatbiru said...

u know rajan, im having problem with coffee, i mean, i drink around 3 cup of coffee per day...
i can't resist this drink...
well, its my favorite drink, i can't deny its aroma is seductive..
haha...
previously, before i started my work out thing, i can drink up to 6 cups of coffee per day...
now, when i work out, i feel tired quickly...
u got any tips to reduce coffee or caffeine addiction?
i hope, u can do me a favor...
thanks... :)

no one said...
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matacoklatbiru said...

LEXIS:

oh my, i just had 400 mgs of caffeine today lexis..
u know, i was thinking to make a cup of coffee, while reading blogs, and nope, im not going to the kitchen and make a toxic for my bod...
seriously, no wonder i always fatigue, and tired all the time...
now, i know what is the prime reason...
u know, i thought coffee don't affect me much but, im totally wrong..
i need to find solutions to reduce this coffee..
any idea lexis?


p/s: thanks for all the informations lexis... i really appreciate it... :)

no one said...
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