Are You A Victim Of "Last Supper Syndrome"? • Russ Howe PTI

‘Twas the night before Monday, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a-

– wait, what?!

Oh, never mind, it’s just Megan.

It’s 23:59 and she’s attempting to scoff the entire contents of the “junk food drawer” because her new healthy diet starts tomorrow.

If that sounds familiar, then you’re in the right place!

Because we’ll be talking about the nutritional phenomenon known as “last supper syndrome”.

What Is “Last Supper Syndrome”, And Why Does It Happen?

If you feel guilty about eating loads of junk food the day before you start a new diet…don’t.

It’s actually very normal to do this. (1)

Consider it our mental response to imprendiing change.

It’s mainly caused by frustration that we’ll no longer be able to eat any of our favourite foods due to our stupid fucking snap decisions when it comes to wanting to get in shape (e.g. “That’s it, no more chocolate from tomorrow!”).

As such, our brain tells us to enjoy one last night of freedom.

Oh, and what a night it is!

We’ll smash through the remnants of the Christmas chocolates, we’ll gorge on the delicasies hidden in the “secret place” which we then totally forgot about, and drain the contents of the junk food drawer, like a grizzly bear filling his belly before enduring the long hard months of winter. (2)

We do this because food (especially that of the “junk” variety) tickles our brain’s reward centres, which makes us feel all warm and happy – even if just briefly – and the mere thought of going without our favourite treats from this point forward terrifies the holy mother of fuck out of us.

So despite the fact that, deep down, we have made a conscious decision that we would like to lose weight and get in shape, this is like the brain’s way of calling you a dick.

You’d notice a similar response if you decided to give up alcohol, coffee, or sex.

It’s Okay Until It’s Not Okay

Like I said, this is a normal response to an impending weight loss diet.

However, if you’re experiencing these days of “last supper syndrome” every weekend, this is when it can become a serious problem.

Because not only will it hold back your results (you’re overriding a week of hard work with one massive blow-out), but it can also lead to an unhealthy relationship with food and possibly even an eating disorder. (3)

Holy flaps.

Unfortunately, throughout my 22 years as a personal trainer I’ve met countless individuals who say they feel “stuck” in the cycle I just described above, and it’s not a healthy place to be.

They feel down about their weight
They decide to go on a diet
The diet starts on Monday and feels hard
By Saturday they’ve crashed off it and binged
They feel even more down about their weight
The cycle starts again

Sound familiar?

The worst part about this cycle is that after a few months of it you feel like you’ve been dieting for ages but you’re actually heavier than when you started.

So listen up: if this behaviour is common it this tells me you’re continuously attempting stupid fucking diets.

Over 50% of people who are eventually diagnosed with eating disorders start out in the “plan > diet > binge” cycle I explained above, so we need drop these overly restrictive crash diets like a bad habit if we are to succeed.

That means no more “cabbage soup diet”, and no more “juice detoxes”, and no more “500 calories per day” bullshit!

We now have decades of peer-reviewed research (the “gold standard” of data) which confirms that you don’t need to do an extreme diet to lose weight.

Science shows us that it’s not even necessary to “cut out” any of your favourite treats while trying to get in shape, because nutrition is ultimately a numbers game. (4, 5, 6)

All we need to do is create some new nutrition ground rules.

You see, dieting is hard – even when you’re still allowed to eat whatever you want! – and it requires a certain degree of self-discpline.

This is how you’ll stay consistent for long enough to actually see results.

The first step of this journey is to remove the usual stigmas which surround certain types of food (e.g. no more lists of “good/bad”, “healthy/naughty”, “clean/dirty”), and taking a little bit of time to learn how to focus purely on the numbers game. (7)

Trust me, when you’ve come from a past of shitty restrictive fad diets, something as straightforward as “stay within your calorie budge… eat enough protein every day… don’t beat yourself up… done!” almost feels wrong…

… but it’s not!

This is nutrition model otherwise known as flexible dieting, and it’s a strategy which many of my clients (and I) began using way back in the mid-2000s after growing tired of the endless struggle of restrictive so-called “clean eating” bodybuilding diet plans.

You can read more about that here.

I recommend giving it a try if you feel like you’ve been stuck in the endless “last supper syndrome” cycle which I described earlier.