Cheat meals are days where someone on a diet decides to go off the rigid diet and eat whatever they want, typically over indulging in carbs and fats. If a cheat meal is done once a week, and on average you are overeating by 1000cals then that is 4000 calories extra in a month. This cheat meal can throw off a balanced diet and stop you from reaching your goals. However, using a more balanced approach can help incorporate treats and food without throwing your diet off course.
So how should you incorporate a cheat meal?
There are several ways to incorporate a cheat meal into a fat loss program. Rather than an uncontrolled cheat meal, the dieter could opt to fit the cheat meal into their prescribed calories and macronutrients, still staying within the caloric deficit. For instance, if a dieter is trying to avoid pizza, they could simply choose a smaller portion to fit within meal parameters. In the case of dieters following a popular diet such as the ketogenic diet or paleo diet, the dieter could add the recommended serving size of the “off-limits” food for a day. This will have a minimal physiologic impact and not likely derail weight loss efforts. Second, cheat meals can be incorporated into flexible diets, even without increasing calories. Using a more flexible dieting program and not setting up stringent rules surrounding food may be more sustainable than a diet that restricts entire foods or food groups. Conlin et al., (2021) conducted a randomized controlled trial with 23 resistance-trained adults on a fat loss diet. The participants were separated into groups and either given a rigid or flexible diet with the same baseline energy restriction of 20 percent below maintenance calories. The same amount of weight was lost by both groups of participants. There is evidence to suggest that flexible dieting may help individuals lose more weight over time as these diets are easier to stick to long-term (Berg et al., 2018). In this case, the dieter can simply have their favorite meals as part of their energy-restricted diet if the macronutrients and total calories stay within the limits of the fat loss diet. There is also evidence to support the idea that refeeds (especially refeeds high in carbohydrates) can help dieters maintain lean body mass while still losing similar amounts of fat mass throughout a fat loss program. These refeeds can be as short as two days (Campbell et al., 2020). The dieter could opt to incorporate a favorite “off-limits” meal into a day, two days, or a week of controlled refeeding. In this case, the dieter would increase the number of calories they are consuming for the refeeding period to enough calories to maintain weight, but still fit the cheat meal or cheat meals into those prescribed amounts of calories. This method may bring more physiologic benefits than a single cheat meal.
So, let's think of these as "cheat items" rather than "cheat days." Being able to enjoy foods we love is important for a sustainable balanced diet for the long term.
Learn more here:
https://blog.nasm.org/cheat-meals?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=What-is-a-Ketogenic-Diet-and-How-do-You-Follow-it?&utm_content=--------------------------------------
Comments