How to celebrate reaching your goal without ruining it

Reaching your goal could be really hard and when you finally do it, you will feel the urge to celebrate your achievement. But in doing so, you might ruin it and end up where you started.

That’s why you need to know how to celebrate your goal the RIGHT WAY!

Here are some practical tips to enjoy your day without going back to where you started:

1- Have a cheat meal not a cheat day

The old days of a cheat day are gone a long time ago. Go for cheat meals instead!

You need to know that eating whatever you want for a whole day might lead to a huge rebound in weight and you may not be able to stop eating this way over the long run.

It’s like walking in the desert for days with no water and you suddenly found a lake. you might go nuts and drink it all (you probably won’t but you get the point).

Once you allow yourself to eat that much junk food and sweets, your cravings will be all over the place and you won’t be able to stop.

On the other hand, having a small treat like a cheat meal or snack of what you love can help satisfy the urge to celebrate without affecting your hunger signals and mentality.

2- Order one meal only

This one is a little bit tricky.

when I recommend eating just one cheat meal, some of my clients order multiple junk food meals in one sitting and saying I did what you say.

You have to know that eating 2-3 meals in one sitting is the same as eating unhealthy all day long. you will be getting the same calories at the end of the day and will have the same sweet craving effect as I mentioned before.

When you reach your goal and what to celebrate, just order one cheat meal in one sitting and call it a day.

3- Do a workout session that day

If you are celebrating hitting 100 rides or a PR (personal record), you may already have done this one. but if you are celebrating reaching your goal weight for example, having a workout that day will be a good thing to direct those extra calories toward building more muscle or restoring glycogen stores (muscle energy stores).

Also, doing a workout session can give you more room to eat a larger cheat meal without going overboard with your calories, which is great if you want to celebrate your goal with a full belly!

4- Celebrate your goal with a physical activity

The first thing people think of when they celebrate their goal is eating out or drinking. And I am fine with that if it’s just a meal or a couple of drinks, but there are many other healthy ways to celebrate your achievement.

You could go for a run, hike, camp, meet up with some friends for a walk around the city, or do anything that involves being physically active.

5- Keep your calories at a maintenance level

This tip goes for the day of celebrating and the days after.

when you reach your goal, you might be wondering what’s next. And it’s a fair question, should I go back to my old ways of eating once the diet is done or keep dieting?

What I usually recommend when celebrating your goal is upping your calories to the maintenance level that you can calculate HERE (it will be a different number than what you started with).

Once you figure out your daily needed calories to maintain your current weight, you can eat around that number when you celebrate reaching your goal and the days that follow until you set your next goal.

At the end of the day, you have to give yourself a treat every now and then. there is nothing wrong with it but you won’t be happy if you went back to where you started. knowing how to celebrate your goal will definitely help you with that!