Staying on track this easter, can you have your eggs and eat them?

I don’t know about anyone else but there is just something about easter eggs that make them taste so much better than normal chocolate, so, how do we eat them and not end up in a guilt filled spiral of shame this weekend? 

Well, its all about balance. 

You can have your chocolate eggs AND eat them, the way I teach my clients about nutrition is simple – Track and log your energy intake (food) to gain a better understanding of what macronutrients are in the foods you eat. 

If you’re eating homemade meals and mostly natural products along with less processed foods, microwave meals and takeaways you will feel and perform better in day to day life. 

If you are staying on track and exercising most days, then just enjoy a chocolate egg! Life is to be enjoyed, but having a good balance is what keeps us on track.

Lets take an example; *Rachel* wants to lose weight, she’s never tracked food before and is terrified of the snack cupboard in case she has another overeating episode due to restricting herself from eating chocolate for a month.. well this is what happens when easter comes around.

Rachel is aiming for a 1,800 daily calorie allowance (a 200kcal deficit, enough to lose weight)

What Rachel doesn’t realise is that within the space of a day she’s gone WAY over her calories and now accidentally put herself into a calorie surplus. 

But she’s only had some chocolate, a hot cross bun and a roast?? How did she over eat so much?

Let’s break the meals she tracked down..

Breakfast – Rachel tracks half an Easter egg – (462kcals) 

• But forgets that the sugar and milk in her tea add up to (66kcals) 

Lunch – Rachel tracks one hot cross bun – (200kcals) 

• But forgets that the sugar and milk in her second cup of tea add up to another (66kcals)
• She forgets to track the butter on the hot cross bun (108kcals) 
• She also has a chocolate biscuit (83kcals) as she’s preparing the kids lunch, and picks at some half eaten chicken nuggets (1 and a half nuggets – (75kcals)

Dinner – Rachel tracks her roast dinner as ‘generic roast dinner’ on MyFitnessPal and doesn’t weigh the ingredients individually, what she tracks is – (500kcals) 

• If Rachel had tracked each individual foods the meal would have actually been (567kcals) 
• She then picked at 50g of her kids left over potatoes whilst clearing up (40kcals) 

As Rachel thinks she’s not eaten a lot today, only half an Easter egg, a hot cross bun and a roast, she decides to have 4x chocolate biscuits and a cup of tea – She tracks 4x biscuits (332kcals) 

• But forgets that the sugar and milk in her tea add up to (66kcals) 

So, in total Rachel has tracked 1,494kcals – Under her goal of 1,800 calories! So she finishes off the other half of her Easter egg as a treat for being under calories and doesn’t track it (462kcals)

• What Rachel actually ate that day, with picking at small foods and forgetting to track small things like sugar and milk, her calories actually add up to: 2,395 kcals – 565kcals over her deficit for the day.

So, whats the point i’m trying to make? 

Rachel’s Easter weekend food choices are not ideal, but wouldn’t have effected her weight loss goals IF she had tracked EVERYTHING efficiently. 

She COULD still lose weight AND have an Easter egg, chocolate biscuits, tea, a hot cross bun and a roast – It wouldn’t be ideal as she would probably feel very lethargic the next day but she could have still enjoyed the weekend, guilt free if she had tracked better. 

If you exercise regularly, choose healthier, whole foods 80% of the time and enjoy 20% treats, you will feel better, perform better and function more optimally throughout the day. 

Your body needs sufficient vitamins, minerals and the right amount of carbohydrates, healthy fat sources and protein, so you CAN enjoy chocolate everyday and still lose weight, but just eating chocolate and other snacks ‘because you can, within your calories’ whilst tracking isn’t going to make you feel great long-term.

If you slip up and overeat, don’t punish yourself for it! Think of yourself as a car – If you have one puncture in a wheel you would replace the wheel and move on, you wouldn’t throw the whole car away would you?

So why if you have one slip up, do you go on a chocolate, guilt fuelled frenzy eating everything in sight and make everything so much worse? It’s like slashing the other three tyres! 

Just accept that you are human, make better food choices the next day and get some form of exercise in!

If you find yourself in a position where you are consistently making ‘bad’ food choices or feeling guilty for enjoying certain foods, reach out for help! 

I teach my clients about balance in nutrition and how to fuel their workouts so they no longer feel like a chore, they feel energised and empowered, strong and healthy. 

Want to improve your physical health, mental health and relationship with food? Eat your easter eggs and feel ready to smash a workout? 

Easter eggs to straight to the glute gains didn’t you know? 

Message me today for any questions, or to set up your free phone consultation to discuss how I could help you achieve your goals. 

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Kashima