When you are seriously committed to your fitness goals and you already know that you have to stick to a strict diet and your workout on a regular basis to see results.
Craving for unwanted foods is the last thing you want when you are constantly being told never to miss a workout or to cheat on your diet.
I got some good news for you, no I don’t want you stop working out and start eating junk foods, but research actually shows that whether you are trying to loose fat, gain muscle, or both an occasional cheat meal can benefit your progress, especially if it is planned out thoroughly.
Let us first and foremost define what a cheat meal is. So you or your personal trainer has put together a perfectly balanced food plan that is fine-tuned to aid you on your journey to reach your fitness goals.
Now the question is how you are going to stay 100% dedicated to your diet and never have any of those delicious junky, unhealthy, and nutritionally unsound foods. You know very well what I’m talking about: pizzas, burgers, snacks, microwave meals, and even heavenly tasting bacon.
A cheat meal is something you usually wouldn’t eat. It can be anything eatable that you don’t have in your normal diet plan.
A well planned cheat meal can be used as a great dietary tool to enhance your physical development, increase your metabolism through the increased levels of leptin, increase your energy levels, and prevent you from going insane. Being on a restricted diet is demanding and hard many do not have the dedication required and even for those who do, constantly restricting your calories and especially your food sources can make anyone go crazy.
That is why many bodybuilders, power lifters, and other fitness enthusiasts utilize the 90/10 method. This eating rule is built on the principle that 90% of the time you will follow your eating plan and stay consistent with it, and the remaining 10% you will use for your planned cheat meal.
Some of the most challenging mistakes people make when it comes to cheat meals are: cheating too often, making cheat days out of cheat meals, and drinking alcohol and cheating.
Making your reward meal into a full day of overindulgence is probably one of the worse things you can do for your physique. Planning and scheduling your cheat meal on the other hand can bring great benefits to you.
Furthermore it is important not to skip any of your other meals during cheat meal day.One of the purposes of eating a cheat meal is to add some extra calories into your plan for that day not to refrain from eating all day because you know you have a cheat meal waiting.
To make a structured and effective cheating meal, some of the things you need to keep in mind are your long term goals, your current fitness goals and how cheating will affect you psychologically. After carefully considering these factors make a judgement whether or not cheat meals is the best way to go for you to reach your ideal body.
