From the gym floor this week.
One of the discussions from the gym floor this week was about takeaway meals
Often while training clients I will ask how their eating/nutrition is going. And usually I can tell by their body language how good it has or has not been. So, last week I was talking with a client about her nutrition and she said how good it was that she has only had takeaway once this week. I was a little surprised that she thought only once a week was good. SO the conversation opened up to a couple of others in the gym, another client said she would have it once a week as well while another said she was lucky to have it once every 3 or 4 months. I have another client who’s family have it once a week as well. Personally, I might have it once every 2 or 3 months.
So, is having takeaway once a week OK?
Well firstly, lets look at it purely from the food perspective, ie remove the influence of the individual client.
When you eat takeaway you will consume more calories than you would if you had cooked the meal yourself. You have no control of the additives and macronutrient content of the food. Now, don’t get me wrong there are some good food options from some takeaways, but in general you are more likely to eat healthier food if you make it yourself from natural ingredients. Fortunately there has been a rise in healthy convenience foods outlets.
Takeaways aren’t completely off limits though and you shouldn’t feel that you can’t have a takeaway should you want one (I love a good Indian). But let me help you with a few parameters.
- Firstly, the more weight you have to lose the less you should have. If you are trying to lose weight, minimize the takeaways and make healthier choices.
- If you are used to having a lot of takeaways (2-3 times per week) and you reduce it to once a week , that is progress.
- Some takeaways are better for you than others, I’m not going to mention the different ones because you know yourself which ones are better for you.
- Plan your meals so that you are less likely to call a takeaway because the fridge is empty.
- Reward your body with healthy food.