Cheaters!

Good Morning!

Today's topic - cheat meals, why you should have them and how to do it right. Because after all, personal trainers love a good cheat meal! And we do try to follow the food pyramid... although not the one shown below lol.

Trainers love food so much so that when our friends have occasion to watch us take down an all-you-can-eat buffet or a Christmas turkey, their mouths usually fall open, spilling cranberry sauce all over the "good linen." But while needing to eat big from time to time (for both physiological and psychological reasons), we do it infrequently and plan it in to our healthy eating plan.

Cheat meals, when done properly, are all about helping you stick to your diet. The most common reason people fail to reach their goal (or fail to maintain it afterword) is because they stop eating the way they need to be eating. Why does that happen, you ask? Well, because losing fat, preventing fat gain, or just being healthy in general requires a certain amount of restriction from the “bad” foods we all love to eat, and everyone hates that. So, what often ends up happening is that people feel deprived and generally pissed off and annoyed because they miss eating the foods they really enjoy eating. And what happens next? They go off their diet and start eating them. If you deprive someone of something they crave (and are constantly surrounded by) for a long enough amount of time, and they will eventually give in to it. And that’s why diets fail.

But, that’s exactly where cheat meals help you succeed. What if instead of depriving yourself of your favourite foods for the rest of your life, you regularly plan out instances in advance where you will allow yourself to eat those foods guilt-free? Instead of torturing yourself until you reach your breaking point, you allow yourself to occasionally give in to your cravings and therefore prevent that “breaking point” from ever being reached. That’s what cheat meals are: small planned breaks in your regularly scheduled diet that serve to keep you sane and happy. And since you planned for it, there’s no guilt involved. It was supposed to happen.

By allowing yourself to eat the foods you love in this type of controlled fashion, the chances of short term and long term diet adherence increase significantly. And that right there is the purpose of cheat meals. Because think about it - If you’re eating the “right” way 95% of the time, do you really think that other 5% is going to make any real direct significant difference in the grand scheme of things? Trust me, it won’t.


The rules for you cheat meal are few:
1. Keep it to a maximum of one cheat meal per week
2. Try to keep it under 800 calories
3. Still try to get all of the food groups in there

My Favourite 'cheat' meal: 3 slices of a large 'The Works' Pizza on thin crust from Papa John's coming in at 840 Calories. PS you save 50 calories/slice getting the thin crust and you really can't notice the difference!

I hope this has given you some guidance on when and how to use cheat meals to there advantage. And remember that food is an important part of life and make sure you enjoy it! Especially your cheat meals! Take a small bite of something that you think your craving and really savour the taste. Then ask yourself is this worth it. If it is have at it and enjoy! If not move on to something that will truly satisfy your taste buds!

Stay Healthy!
Andrea :)