The 2 ways I categorize meals while dieting

I didn’t realize I did this until recently.

A fat loss coaching client asked me how to know when they’re “overeating” or if they’re just simply… enjoying a meal.
When they’re dieting, when is it “right” or “wrong” to have that burger and fries they’ve been craving?

Or to go off plan for a day because they're taking their kid to an amusement park?
Or to enjoy a shot and a few drinks with their best friend?


Basically, how do you balance the gray area of enjoying life and staying on your diet?

I emailed them back and said there are two ways I look at meals:

1. Priority = Fitness Goals
I only see it as “overeating” if your intention for that meal is to stay on track with your diet because fat loss/health is a higher priority to you in that moment. Therefore, you’d be “overeating” simply because you had a calorie goal you wanted to hit, but this meal pushed you over. It’s NOT good or bad, it’s just what happened, objectively.
NOTE: you can also "fit in" these high calorie meals and stay on track with your goals.

2. Priority = Enjoyment/Life Satisfaction
I don’t think it’s overeating if your intention is to enjoy the life experience of eating that meal with friends, your S.O., or by yourself. Then it’s just simply… eating. You decided that fat loss isn’t as important to you for this meal, and that’s ok, so you shouldn’t feel guilty because you aligned your actions and intentions around what YOU thought was most important.
So over these next few weeks, give yourself permission to commit to one, but neither are “right” or “wrong.”

The whole point is to make sure it’s a conscious choice, not an impulsive one.

Take inventory on what’s most important to you in that moment, act on it, then move on with your life.

Hope you found this helpful.

-Kayli
P.S. I'm really enjoying this article on "How to Do Great Work".

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