Reward Syndrome “Who suffers from this besides me?”

“THE REWARD SYNDROME”

Has anyone ever struggled with what I call “The Reward Syndrome?” ME ✋🏽.

What is the Reward Syndrome? My definition of the Reward Syndrome is the idea that because I’ve gotten a great a workout in that day & burned 500 calories, 700 calories, etc. I can reward myself with high calorie/high carb/low nutrient snacks or meals.

I’ve been guilty of grabbing ice cream after a workout as a reward to myself for the “tough” workout I got in that day.

So, what have I had to do to curve that craving?

Consider the costs versus the reward. I’m not sure what your guilty pleasure snack might be, but my guilty pleasure was a medium Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard Ice cream, so here’s what I’ve had to consider…on average I burn about 500-700 calories in a workout that lasts me at least an hour, that’s on the higher end. That’s an hour of working my a** off exerting energy. One Oreo blizzard is 790 calories.

Even if I burn my maximum calorie potential in my workout, I’m still stacking on an additional almost 100 calories for a few minutes of caloric heaven if I decide to eat an Oreo blizzard (or a similar treat) after my workout. If I decided to eat one slice of pepperoni pizza, there are approximately 620 calories, and I could go on.

Here’s my challenge to you, if this is something you might battle with, I challenge you to review the calorie & nutrition information for that snack or food of choice before consuming. Is it worth working against all the work you just put into your self-improvement? It’s a real question.

Consider this, and I’m learning to ask myself this same question… “Do I Eat to Live or Live to Eat?”