SPORT What to do if there is a breakdown in diet and training

What is a "breakdown"

I was on a diet, ate right, counted calories, didn’t allow myself anything sweet, not even buckwheat or pasta, if we were talking about low-carb or keto, and then - BAM! - darkness... And then you find yourself on a mountain of candy and chocolate wrappers, an empty bucket of ice cream on your head, a half-eaten piece of cake in your hand, your stomach is so full of sweets that it’s hard to breathe. Congratulations - you've nailed it! Happens.

This also happens with training. You go like hell 4-5 times a week to the gym and the stadium, and then you can’t force yourself to get there. Even kick and drag. Of course, in this case the breakdown does not occur as sharply as in nutrition, but the thing is no less dangerous.

I missed a workout once, I missed two, and then I didn’t even notice how a couple of months flew by without jogging or “rocking.” This has happened to me once in the 20 years that I have been training with weights. One time that turned into an eight month break.

That is, a breakdown is a sudden overeating on a diet and an unexpected break in training, which can be dangerously prolonged.

Causes of diet failures

Diet violations do not occur just like that; for this, there must be a factor that led to the breakdown. Let's look at the main reasons.

1. Insufficient motivation for results. Typically, people who are planning to lose weight treat it as a short-term period in their life. (ATTENTION! This is a major mistake that often does not lead to the desired result!) Diet is a radical lifestyle change. This is worth understanding to achieve results. Answer a few questions for yourself: why am I doing this? What do I want to achieve in the end?
2. Lack of purpose or incorrect formulation. The right motivation will allow you to clearly formulate the goal and ways to achieve it. The next stage, another lost kilogram should bring pleasure and joy. Don’t set unattainable goals, try to soberly assess yourself and your capabilities.
3. Inappropriate diet. It would be more correct, of course, to consult a doctor before losing weight, take the appropriate tests and undergo an examination. Only in this case will they be able to prescribe a power system that is suitable specifically for you. But often people don't do this. Therefore, the diet may be too strict, which will lead to a breakdown.

Why does a breakdown occur and how to avoid it

There are many reasons: fatigue of the central nervous system (CNS), basic instincts, physiology and even psychology. Moreover, failure factors are usually intertwined.

If we dig really deep, we get to hormones, biochemistry and the basic reward system. Most readers will put such details to sleep, so I’ll limit myself to a simple, albeit exaggerated example (don’t do as it’s written there, don’t organize bad marathons with unbalanced and hungry mono-diets).

The man decided to go on a diet and, as often happens, tightened all the screws to the maximum. He eats nothing except buckwheat, grass and a strong belief in his own abilities. And this is after total food debauchery in the form of uncontrolled consumption of sweets, pickles, beer, hamburgers, ice cream and other tasty, but unhealthy things.

On the one hand, bad things happen to the body, because such a drastic change in diet and reduction in calories is a big stress for it. On the other hand, the body does not care that the owner wants to lose weight, it only cares about survival and having an energy reserve in case the stressful situation repeats.

First of all, it pumps the body with hormones, forcing it to increase search activity in order to feed itself. I think those who have lost weight remember this feeling of euphoria and vigor in the first few days, or even a week after starting a cruel diet. A person thinks how strong he is, he does everything right, the diet works - life is wonderful. But in fact, this is only a basic defense mechanism, working on instincts. Something akin to a powerful release of adrenaline in a critical situation, so that a person can either quickly run away from danger or confidently attack the enemy.

What happens after a period of hyperactivity in a critical situation? Right! A period of severe loss of strength. The same thing happens during thoughtless manipulations with the diet, only the time intervals are different. In the first case, we are talking about minutes or even seconds. In the second - about days or about a week and a half.

That is, the body turns on energy saving mechanisms, reducing brain and motor activity. You feel sleepy, sluggish and at the same time struggling with a constant feeling of hunger and the desire to devour everything that is not nailed down. Moreover, it is desirable that the food be higher in calories, fattier, and sweeter - these are also instincts.

Thus, at first the nervous system was inflated by hormones that forced it to increase activity, which greatly affected its resources. And then she is exhausted by hunger. Like muscles, the resource of the nervous system is not infinite. When it ends, a breakdown occurs. For some it is earlier, for others it is later, but it happens.

At a basic level, all this is also regulated by hormones, including serotonin (the so-called happiness hormone), which is associated not just with the desire to eat, but to eat harmful sweet treats. A large portion of sugar releases more serotonin than lean buckwheat or boiled chicken breast.

How to solve a problem?

In terms of logic, it’s simple, but implementing the solution in reality is more difficult, but nothing is impossible. Judge for yourself, if you can’t live without serotonin and other happiness hormones, you just need to find another way to get them. After all, they are released not only in response to the intake of certain nutrients.

You were praised by friends and acquaintances - this is the release of a small portion of serotonin. Finished a difficult task - another release of happiness hormones. I saw in the mirror the result of 4 months of work in the form of six-pack abs and powerful biceps - a little more serotonin for the piggy bank. I published this result on Instagram, received enthusiastic comments, and the body again responded with a portion of good hormones. You got behind the wheel of an expensive car or entered your own well-furnished new apartment, for which you have worked in the last months or several years - receive encouragement from your body in the form of a pack of happiness hormones.

Of course, it’s easier to eat something delicious than to follow a training and nutrition regimen day after day for months or to work on your own business (or even work in both directions at once), but the final result is completely different, it differs by orders of magnitude. Get a little here and now, or a lot, but after some time.

Yes, you will have to spend more energy, but in addition to a powerful portion of happiness hormones and a large amount of them, you also get other advantages. A beautiful, strong and healthy body, financial independence, recognition and gratitude from other people if you do something useful for them. Plus, in the process of achieving a big goal, habits change and what was previously difficult and stressful becomes a way of life, and you also begin to enjoy it. From a balanced diet and a feeling of peace in the stomach, from training and a feeling of strength, muscle tone, from a job well done, from order in the house and in the family.

It takes an average of three weeks for any habits to form or disappear - good and bad. By systematically moving towards a big goal, there is a chance to form a pool of good habits by getting rid of bad ones.

That is, the solution is the following - set big, but realistic goals and focus on them, and not on momentary pleasure. It’s hard, you want quick pleasure here and now - at this very moment, think about what you will achieve in the end if you don’t fail. That is why it is important to set clear goals so that you can imagine a real result, which will help you not go astray and not be distracted by trifles. And if you get lost, then a big goal and a clear idea of ​​it will help you get back on track .

The most important thing is that you should not overestimate short-term efforts (lose 20 kg in a month) and you should not underestimate long-term efforts (get yourself more or less in shape in 4-6 months). When you do a little, but every day for a long time, the final result will be impressive. This is what I slowly achieved in 2013 as I worked toward my goal day after day.

One of my inspirations then was Denis Borisov , whose work I recommend for study to those who want to replenish their knowledge base about what is important and useful for self-development (website, YouTube, Instagram).

Since then, I have developed a number of useful habits, continued to develop in the chosen direction, after which I set the goal of achieving peak form for myself (and really understanding the issue deeply, I was tired of experiments and searching for pearls in the information manure). This took 4.5 months of systematic work (the first photo on the left is the end of March 2021, weight - 104.5 kg; on the right and a couple of photos below - the end of August 2021, weight - 96.5 kg):

This time I was inspired by the works and direct help of Yaroslav Brin (Instagram, YouTube, website) - I also highly recommend studying it.

Don't forget about my own column on healthy lifestyle and sports . What is this for? Everything is simple when it comes to self-development in any area - no one will give you a ready-made recipe , but you can find a lot of useful information that adapts to your own realities. You read, adapt, take and do . Little by little, but every day and over a long period of time.

Nevertheless, as I wrote at the beginning, everyone has breakdowns and it is important to minimize the consequences.

Basic mistakes that lead to failure

How to avoid the main mistakes made by those who decide to start eating only diet foods?

• Exclusion of usual foods from the diet. Get rid of harmful foods gradually. For example, start putting not two spoons of sugar in your tea, but one. If the craving for your favorite foods is irresistible, then you can include them in your diet. You can eat sweets in the morning, but be careful!
• Excessive tension. For many, the word “diet” is something terrible and unpleasant. Therefore, consume it less, let this period become the beginning of a healthy lifestyle.
• Diet monotony. When losing weight, it is not necessary to eat only buckwheat, apples and kefir. Find healthy, wholesome foods that you love.
• Lack of knowledge. Expand your knowledge in the field of proper nutrition, improve yourself.
• Quick change of diet. It is necessary to change eating habits gradually.

Thus, failures on a diet are a very common and understandable thing. Sometimes they occur once, which does not have any negative consequences. But it happens that a person brings his body to exhaustion and a stressful state, then an urgent need to adjust his diet. Before you start losing weight, consult a specialist so that your diet is selected individually, this will help avoid unwanted breakdowns.

Elimination of consequences

Very often breakdowns occur at night and in the evening. The reason for this is improper nutrition and lack of evening activity.

What should a girl do if she has eaten enough at night:

1. Skip breakfast or “cut” it. In the morning, the feeling of hunger will not be so strong, and it may be replaced by a slight heaviness in the stomach. In this case, it is better to replace breakfast with plain water. But you can’t skip lunch. Otherwise, the risk of another nighttime breakdown is extremely high.
2. Take a detox. Actively get rid of “extra” with heavy doses of fiber and citrus fruits.
3. Go to bed early. This will prevent nighttime breakdowns in the future.

The destruction of refrigerator supplies at night signals the need to adjust the menu. Perhaps the calorie content of the diet is too low, and then an increase in the amount of protein and carbohydrates is required.

And forget about the “no eating after 18:00” rule, especially if you plan to go to bed after midnight. You need to avoid eating 2-3 hours before bedtime. But a glass of low-fat kefir is welcome.

Don't focus on losing weight

If you spend all day thinking only about losing weight, about what you can’t eat this and that, in general, you focus your attention exclusively on what you CAN’T do, then you will 100% fail sooner or later!

Breaking the diet is a problem of fixation!

Being fixated on one thing, be it weight loss, work or a loved one, always leads to emotional burnout, followed by depression and despondency, which are usually healed by something sweet and tasty. And it doesn’t matter that such treatment only makes it worse later, now you feel good! To prevent this from happening, DO NOT FOCUS ON THESE UNFAT KILOGRAMS ! There are so many positive moments around, don’t miss them, and then the process of losing weight will be much easier and more interesting!

Critical moment

The main rule after a breakdown is not to panic! Next, you should calm down, drink water and assess the “scale of the tragedy.”

If eating a chocolate bar is mistaken for a breakdown, then don’t be too upset!

Measure the calorie content of the prohibited product and try to reduce your daily diet by the stated number of units. Don't destroy yourself over a small piece of sausage or a fried chicken leg. Just adjust your daily combination of BZHU.

Important! Small disruptions will not cause harm if they occur rarely. Regular diet violations will negate all attempts to lose weight.

Sometimes during a breakdown the contents of the refrigerator are completely destroyed. Fatty main courses prohibited by the diet, sweets, buns, and smoked meats are used. In this case, it will be a little more difficult to prevent the consequences. How to proceed:

1. Get ready to see a couple extra pounds on the scale the next day. These are water, salts and unprocessed food debris. Over time, this weight will definitely go away.
2. Make adjustments to your diet for the next three days. Eat soups with light broth and vegetable salads. Eliminate carbohydrates and fat as much as possible, but increase the amount of protein.
3. Drink more fluids. Green tea without sugar and water are perfect.
4. Continue your diet! Don't give up on your dreams because of a momentary failure.
5. Analyze the cause of the failure and eliminate it. It is important to understand what prompted you to eat while on a diet. If it was hunger, then it is worth adjusting the diet and introducing healthy snacks. Lack of sports or hobbies? This means that this is an excellent opportunity to learn something new or attend interesting master classes.
6. Increase your physical activity over the next 2 days. Walking from work to home, climbing the 9th floor without an elevator and doing a couple of dozen squats will burn extra calories and strengthen your muscles.