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Can Junk Food Burn Fat?
How once-a-week splurges keep you lean and focused

Hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, onion dip, cake. Go ahead… indulge!

Of course, there is a catch.

And that’s to save these forbidden foods for special occasions like the 4th of July, birthdays and big game days.

Unless, that is, it’s your weekly free day.

Once a week, give yourself a food free-for-all day where you allow yourself to splurge on things you’ve avoided all week. Order a pizza, have a soda or finish dinner with a dessert.

Just make sure you get back on track the next day or you’ll be on a diet downward spiral that’ll be hard to bounce back from.

Here are some more stay-on-track nutrition tips to keep in mind:

1. Keep a food journal or log. Spending lots of time thinking about food, calories, the scale, your butt or gut can be stressful. And that raises cortisol hormone levels, which makes you fat. To break the food freak-out cycle, keep a log of everything that goes down the hatch. That’ll make you more aware. And awareness puts you in control.

2. Fuel your body before workouts. Make sure that you’ve eaten enough to get through your daily workout or you’ll run out of gas and be unproductive. What to eat? Try a portion each of protein and carbs, like chicken breast and an orange, an hour before gym time and you’ll be golden.

3. Shun fast food. Ensure you maintain your shape-up goals by never being caught unprepared. Stock your kitchen cabinets and freezer with quick, healthy meal-worthy foods like chicken noodle soup, frozen veggies and low fat dinners. If you’ve got quick-to-prepare food at home, you’ll be less likely to stop at a forbidden
and fatty drive-throughs.

4. Dine in. Whenever possible, eat a healthy dinner at home. If a hectic schedule has you dining out more than usual, don’t snack on the before-entrée bread, don’t have a pre-dinner cocktail and don’t order dessert.

5. Just say no to drinks. Alcohol is fat-free, but loaded with calories. What’s more, it interferes with sleep, which has negative health implications all its own. Instead, go for the water. And, if you’re a juice-drinker, mix half a glass of juice with half a glass of still or sparkling water, which will save you about 85 calories per glass.

Now that you’ve got that under control and you’ve decided on your weekly cheat day, make sure your healthy eating habits are reinforced with a regular workout schedule.