Sometimes you eat ALL the cake

I originally shared this post a few months ago, and it seemed to really resonate, so I wanted to refresh it for you. 🙂

Back in October I participated in my favorite work event of the year.  It’s an incredible experience each time, but the days are long.  My meetings started at 6am each morning, and I worked until about 9pm each night.  They fed us a lot (and I ate it all).  I sampled 6 different types of cake. I also accepted there would be no exercise (unless you count the balancing act I completed in heels throughout the event).

These times in life happen.  It’s ok. What makes it NOT ok is stressing about it.  Stress will cause more damage to your body and cause you to gain more body fat than a few squares of cake.  This is my 20%.

If you know me, I’m a huge fan of the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time you eat well and in reasonable amounts and exercise at least 3 times per week. 20% of the time you consciously choose otherwise.  It’s ok as long as you are mindful in the choices you make.  The cake squares at this hotel were amazing, and they were different each day. I chose to eat them. I’m good with it.  Also, I wasn’t getting up at 4am to exercise. I’m good with that too.  Sometimes listening to your body when it says no to exercise and yes to cake is ok…just not all the time.

So my lessons in this message are:

1. Follow the 80/20 rule.

2. Be kind to yourself.

3. Stressing does more damage hormonally to your body than some extra calories.

4. Sometimes you should eat all the cake. 🙂