"Earning your treats" mentality?

kiela64

Do you think the mentality of "earning" or "deserving" treats through exercise is good or harmful? Why?

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

*shrugs*

I exercise to earn more calories.

I also understand that losing weight is 100% dependent on a calorie deficit and that most of that deficit is created through diet.

I really don't think it's a big deal as long as macros and micros are met roughly every day and weight is lost.

mldoucette

I see no problem with it. I work hard all week on fitness and watching calories, and on Friday, I sit back and enjoy a glass of wine.

zyxst

For me, it leads down a road of turning this "If I go for a 30 minute walk, I can eat this cookie." into this "I can't eat this cookie unless I go walk for 30 minutes." That sounds normal and logical until you're doing a 6 mile walk around town at 2 am because you misjudged how many calories in that cookie.

I work my treats into my day. It's easier for me since it doesn't lead me down the ED path.

PaulaWallaDingDong

CICO, therefore, it's fine as long as you aren't delusional about how much of a treat you've earned.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

DanSTL82

I thinks it's probably usually harmful, as most people tend to overestimate the workout they did, and underestimate the calories they're consuming.

lisa9805

I do incorporate treats into my daily allotment but if it's something like pizza or drinks then I would just make sure I work out that day for the extra wiggle room lol

chandanista

The time I mentioned it on MFP (suggesting a person could take a walk and eat an apple as she was still hungry and out of calories) I was told my thought was disordered. So I don't suggest that anymore. Lol

kiela64

Thanks for your thought guys! I went swimming today and was still hungry after dinner, so I had some liquorice - not healthy haha but I made sure it was under my day. I caught myself thinking "I deserve this" & wasn't sure if that was a useful thought or not. It certainly was yummy though lol.

bendyourkneekatie

50% of the reason I run is for calories, aka beer, wine, and chocolate.

KateTii

I leave room every day for treats in bed. It's not quite a "reward" for eating right, it's just what I get to do. In the beginning it helped me say no to the office treats but now I enjoy it. I don't think thinking of them as "rewards" is a bad thing, it can just become a bad thing for some people.

Lounmoun

I think it could be negative for some people to think that way... like they might overeat and beat themselves up over it or push themselves to exercise a lot to compensate for overeating.
I have a exercise plan. I eat some of my exercise calories. It isn't about deserving the food. I want it and I have the calories for it.

Summerberry1012

Yep. I drink a cup of chocolate milk after a workout because I've earned it, but it fits within my calorie goal. I don't really restrict or reward myself that much, I follow the 80/20 rule for the most part and just stay near my calorie goal. I think it just depends on what works for you personally.

jennifer_417

It really depends on the person. Some people can take too far, and and for some people it just won't work. I'd say for most people it's ok.

MelodyandBarbells

Whatever motivates you and keeps you successful. Don't over complicate it. But I do believe I always deserve treats, so

CollieFit

I thing the use of words like "treats" creates a rewards and punishment mentality around food that keeps people regard food as something much more emotional than it should be.

In terms of earning calories I see the CICO situation much like a bank account.......

If you spend money you haven't got you will get into debt and it will sooner or later cause you trouble. So either you earn the money before you buy something, or you buy something on loan but pay it off as soon as you can.

Likewise, if you're into instant gratification and you carry on eating calories you haven't really got or that you don't burn off afterwards you will get fat... Simple as.

yarwell

"Exercise bulimia is a subset of the psychological disorder called bulimia in which a person is compelled to exercise in an effort aimed at burning the calories of food energy and fat reserves to an excessive level that negatively affects their health."

CollieFit

So are you trying to imply that everyone who actually applies CICO is mentally unstable?

yarwell

In response to the OP taken to excess it would be a bad thing, as illustrated by there being a diagnosable condition.

I have no idea what "actually applies CICO" means.

Goatsmith

It's a budget thing for me. I budget XYZ calories for the day. If I eat too much, I "owe". If I'm "uderbudget", I get to eat more. I track as precisely as I can for any given situation, and err on the side of "this cost more", because more work hurts less than too much food.

cafeaulait7

I think it's good to think of calories as fuel as far as weight is concerned, so using exercise to 'earn' calories can show that someone really gets that.

But folks can get batty with it, yeah. Don't do that And don't do the reverse, where folks eat whatever they like because they got on the treadmill last Sunday, lol. Keep the actual math in mind

MikaMojito

Usually I fit my sweet and savoury treats into my daily calories. Most days I'll have a small chocolate bar at school or a cookie with my coffee. But I tend to eat very light breakfast and lunch, so I can have those treats. In the evening, I pre-log my main meal and the push the numbers around until I can fit another treat in if I feel like it.

If I know there will be pizza I try to eat less earlier during the day but I don't always have time to work out to "earn" it. But if the lovely parents of my boyfriend are making pizza, I'm ok with going over my goal. It's not something that happens too often, after all. But there are also days like last Friday when I got home, the sun was shining, spring was in the air... I went for the first run in YEARS and then put on different shoes and walked 4km to the bakery (even though there's a perfectly good one next door to my place). I got about 15km of walking and running that day and thoroughly enjoyed my steak, sweet potato, salad, beer and Ben&Jerry's that night. If I hadn't walked that much I would've eaten less of the yummy things.

Springfield1970

I see treats as a byproduct of exercise, and I value them more when I'm counting calories.
Luckily, everything I eat is a 'treat' as I love my food with a passion.
I see going to the gym and all my other exercise as a treat too.
I've had a tough life.

CollieFit

It simply means an appropriate balance based on one's individual statistics of calorie consumption versus calorie output. Whether you create that balance every day or as some do across the week is immaterial, but simple recognition of the fact that if you carry on "treating" yourself to more calories than you are expending, weight will not be lost.

Of course some people have the mentality to use that simple truth to create a stick to beat themselves with, but that doesn't make it any less true. So if you want excess calories you either earn them before, burn them later or simply accept that you'll gain weight.

joinn68

zyxst wrote: »

That sounds normal and logical until you're doing a 6 mile walk around town at 2 am because you misjudged how many calories in that cookie.

No seriously you've done that? I would find it very funny if as you said it wasn't a slippery slope.

To answer OP, I really try to separate exercise and food. Food for weight. Exercise for health regardless of weight therefore shouldn't be used as a bargaining tool for treats. However when I am going to eat more (nights out) I'll try to bank a few calories of exercise beforehand

lindathom209

I don't really look at it as rewarding myself with specific treats. Since I've been exercising consistently and trying to hit over 12000 steps every day, I'm getting between 400-600 extra calories a day. Having that much extra wiggle room has been tremendously helpful. I get to eat the foods I love instead of trying to find foods that make me feel fuller, I don't feel like I'm starving and by the time I go to work to start my night shift I'm not already almost out of calories for the day AND I'm losing weight. It also keeps me from going on a binge due to depriving myself. So for me, exercising gives me the ability to stick to my diet AND feel satisfied every day. It's more than just an extra cookie ☺

zyxst

joinn68 wrote: »

zyxst wrote: »

That sounds normal and logical until you're doing a 6 mile walk around town at 2 am because you misjudged how many calories in that cookie.

No seriously you've done that? I would find it very funny if as you said it wasn't a slippery slope.

Yes, I have. It's why I don't go tell someone who went over calories to go burn it off in the gym.

I don't remember saying it wasn't a slippery slope, not in this thread.

Sabine_Stroehm

Unless you were active BEFORE your "lifestyle change", I would say use that as an approach sparingly.
Given that for most, workouts are the first thing to fade out of the new lifestyle.

A true lifestyle is a big picture thing.

To me, it's one thing to say: my workouts, which I do for my health, give me extra calories (generally), and another to say: I'm working out because it's pizza night....

Building treats into the big picture makes the most sense to me.

But, I'm sure it works for some. Heck there's a whole Facebook group called "I run to drink".

cwolfman13

I think it depends on one's overall relationship with food and fitness. Exercise bulimia is a very real thing and extremely unhealthy and a horrible mindset. I would also say doing a bunch of unplanned exercise because you ate something or want to eat a particular thing isn't the healthiest mindset either...it may not be full on exercise bulimia, but the mindset is pretty similar and you're kind of heading down a bad path there.

I exercise regularly and my training is pretty much on a schedule...I do it primarily for my fitness and to achieve my fitness goals...but I also exercise regularly because I know it give me a lot more latitude for things like beer and wine and pizza and whatnot than I would have if I didn't exercise.

StealthHealth

Personally, I don't. I have in the past but I stopped because tracking calories out (incorrectly) caused me to gain weight, so when I stopped tracking exercise calories I stopped eating them back.