Get Yourself Out of (Calorie) Debt!

A guaranteed death knell for your personal finances is to use credit cards to outspend your means. Most people who get into trouble with credit cards have a “pay it later” mindset, meaning they think:

“Well, I’ll just put it on my credit card now; I’ll pay it off later.”

Well, we know how that story goes.

The same holds true for fat loss. You can completely sabotage your fat loss efforts by approaching exercise and nutrition with a “pay it later” attitude:

“Well, I’ll have this cake/cookie/apple martini now; I’ll just work it off at the gym later.”

There’s 3 things wrong with this scenario:

1.) The metabolic damage is already done.
You not only have the calories to pay down, there’s the immediate effect the food has on your hormonal tone. Chances are the foods you choose to cheat with are loaded with or break down into sugar, which causes an avalanche of negative effects, including the creation of a fat-storing environment – adding insult to injury.

2.) It’s FAR easier to run up debt than to pay it down – calorie-wise as well.
As I’ve discussed, it takes far less time and effort to avoid eating foods that take you away from your goals than to work those excess calories off. Much like the debtor who finds himself struggling to make even interest payments, you will accumulate excess calories far faster than you could ever hope to burn them off – it’s a losing game, mathematically speaking.

3.) Sadly, in most circumstances later never comes.
Honestly, how likely are you to “get to it later?” Having worked in gyms, physical therapy offices, and even a hospital, having observed, consulted, and instructed hundreds and hundreds of trainees, I can (unscientifically) tell you, the answer is “just about never.” The unfortunate reality: for most things, later never comes – until it’s too late.

Don’t fall into the trap of running up a calorie tab with yourself. You wouldn’t do it with your finances; why do it with your corporeal finances?