3 Beers and a Chicken Leg

I think I could win an award for most squash consumed in a 5 day span.  Its a little ridiculous, and the cashier generally looks at me as if I'm stocking up on the yellow veggie-o-awesome in preparation for the Apocalypse.
I'm not.  I just happen to eat an absurd amount and apparently think that warrants a ribbon, trophy, or honorable mention of some sort.
See, this is a prime example of a generation that was pat on the back growing up for basically everything from good grades to farting correctly. 
Give us praise for anything....for the love of God, lie to us and tell us we're great...
Unbelievable.

Well, it was a typical Monday in the gym, catching up with clients about their weekends, nutrition confessionals, and a few reminders that using a magic wand on inner thigh fat works about as well as sitting on it.
While I am truly grateful for clients' honesty about their journey and "where they are" from an emotional and personal perspective standpoint, there are often common themes that I deal with on a daily basis.
So yes, by the end of the week when I've addressed the problem-with-eating-whatever-you-want-and-thinking-you're-immune-to-fat-storage-and-a-heart-attack issue, I am pretty much ready to assault someone with an eggplant in an effort to break their way of thinking.
Apparently that's frowned upon.
Which is crap.
But today the reoccurring subject I talked about with numerous clients was NUTRITIONAL CONSISTENCY.

I see/hear it All. The. Time.
"Meredith, I ate so well Monday thru Friday, "slipped" on the weekend, but I don't understand why I'm not losing weight."....or...."I've been eating good for a week, why am I not losing?!"....or the best is "I eat 'GOOD' almost all the time" coupled with a food journal that looks like a recipe for diabetes, and then they're in awe of the fact that their pants are still tight.
Bottom line:...You didn't gain the weight overnight, and you certainly won't lose it overnight.  Expect it to be hard, expect it to take time, and you won't be disappointed when it does.
Will a couple days a week of nutritional mayhem hinder progress?  ABSOLUTELY.  Just from a numerical standpoint, lets say you consume just 700 extra calories on the weekend above your maintenance and what you are burning,...if you are NOT burning that off in the days after and continue that trend, in just 5 weeks you're looking at an extra pound.  Granted, that is with the assumption that calories during the week are completely on point.  Also, 700 is a conservative number for the majority of folks...being football season and the rampant beer-consumption, you're looking at 3 beers and a chicken leg.  That's like 1st quarter warm-up for most.
5 weeks...1 pound.
52 weeks in a year...~10 pounds.
Hello.

Long story short, consistency is paramount when it comes to nutrition.
One meal does not make or break you.  Just like one day of not flossing doesn't cause gingivitis.  Its our HABITS good or bad that will ultimately sway our bodies into a fat-loss state, maintenance, or weight-gain state.  And amazingly, we have complete control over what goes in our mouths.
Crazy thought, I know.
Hey, take away my sarcasm and it only leaves interpretive dance for me to comunicate.
And that gets me in trouble...

Whew, what a day.
Tomorrow, more of the same and Wednesday is projected to be a the longest humpday known to man. 
Wednesdays are the unfortunate rash of the week. 
Always there.  Stays around longer than you'd like. 
And leaves you calling your best friend about it afterwards...