“Cheat meals” , or as some call them, “reward meals”, are a controversial topic. This is my personal take on the subject, and why I suggest cheat meals for people who are dieting.
Whether you are dieting for personal weight loss goals or more aggressively for a show or competition, cheat/reward meals can have many benefits, from as simple as maintaining sanity while following a strict diet, to as beneficial as boosting your metabolism.
Now, let me start by saying that I do not think that anyone should live on a constant diet. My definition of a diet is consuming calories in a deficit of what you are burning daily, in order to lose weight. Once your goal weight is achieved, you should slowly start to increase your caloric intake week by week as long as you continue to maintain your goal weight. This keeps you from constantly having to eat in caloric deficit and improves your metabolism.
Remember, you cannot trick the human body! If you eat in a caloric deficit for an extended period of time, your body WILL eventually start to store fat. The same goes with extensive cardiovascular training. Now, don’t get me wrong, cardio and eating in a caloric deficit are great tools to use to lose weight and you should utilize them if weight loss is your goal, just be sure to give your body a break every 3 months or so.
Enter: Reward/Cheat meals!
When you consume a meal that is calorically higher than what you are typically consuming during the rest of the week, a few physiological processes occur.
First: Depleted glycogen stores are replenished. This allows for greater training intensity, as well as maintaining your hard earned muscle.
Second: Up-regulation of hormones that are depressed from low calorie or low carbohydrate intake. Two important hormones that play necessary roles in metabolism function are leptin and grehlin. These hormones are responsible for controlling satiety and hunger. (For a refresher on the hormones leptin and grehlin, read here). When these hormones (as well as cortisol) are disregulated due to excessive dieting, cardio or lack of sleep, on come the cravings and slowed metabolism; two huge factors that affect weight loss.
Third: SANITY. Anyone who has dieted for an extended period of time knows how crazy you can start to feel after a while. “Diet brain” as some call it, can make you feel less than stable emotionally. Providing yourself one meal a week to eat something you really have a taste for can not only provide some emotional stability, but it encourages you to stick to your diet the remainder of the week.
Now, this is not to say that all cravings will subside. You will see someone eating something that looks or smells amazing, or a commercial might trigger a favorite food item that you miss. Here are some reminders I use between cheat meals when those cravings arise:
1. My goals are worth more than a temporary craving.
2. I am not depriving myself. I am feeding my body everything it needs so there is no reason I need to eat additional foods. I eat proteins, fats and CARBS in every meal. And I eat at just enough of a calorie deficit to see results. In other words, I’m not starving myself!
3. I have a PLANNED cheat/reward meal ONCE a week so I don’t feel the need to cheat on my diet during the week.
Here are my cheat/reward meal guidelines:
– This is a MEAL, NOT A DAY. You can easily trash all of your hard work if you indulge in a cheat DAY once a week.
– Eat something you enjoy that is not part of your diet, but don’t go overboard. Don’t go nuts, remember your goals. There is no need to binge and try to eat EVERYTHING you want….because remember, you will have another cheat meal next week.
– Don’t judge your cheat meal or feel guilty. What I mean is this….you want pizza? Have pizza! You will not stall progress from a couple slices of pizza.
Remember, what you do MOST of the time is what makes progress towards your goals. Not the things you do SOME of the time. Think of it as the 90/10 rule, follow your diet 90% of the time, and allow for treats or cheats 10% of the time. Balance and moderation are key.
Be sure to check out my Restaurant Guide for your next planned cheat meal! You can also follow me on TheBesty.
Happy feasting!
Xoxo,
Elizabeth
The Glow Remedy 