The following article is published on Dynamic Supplements, the online fitness supplement retailer!
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A lot of people wonder whether Cheat Meals are worth doing. Do they work? Are they detrimental to your fat loss goals? Does “cheating” effectively mean you’re failing? Here, we look at why people have Cheat Meals, and why they are, in fact, beneficial to your weight loss goals!
We think Cheat Meals are a good idea – if done correctly! Here’s why:
It’s something to look forward to. Let’s get the obvious out the way. You’re far more likely to stick to a regimented eating program if you can let yourself blow off steam every once in a while. If you’re endlessly turning down meals out and refusing every slice of cake, you’re going to get pretty bored of your diet soon. Having a cheat meal in place gives you something to look forward to, ensuring you stick out your diet for the rest of the week!
It HELPS you burn fat. Let us explain; when you start losing weight, it starts off pretty easy. As time goes on, you find it more and more difficult to shift the pounds. This is because your body creating a hormone called ‘leptin’, which affects a host of other stuff in the body that affects weight loss. Long story short, your calorie reduction leads your body into thinking that you are, in fact, starving; your leptin levels then decrease in order to hold on to energy - and therefore fat - in the body, meaning your fat loss is massively slowed down. So the idea is that having a huge calorific blowout – i.e. a cheat meal – will help keep this hormone nice and level, ensuring you don’t accidentally make your fat loss mission a lot harder for yourself!
It’s worth bearing in mind too that the leaner you are, the more often you can cheat. Similarly, if you have more than 40 pounds you’re trying to lose, they probably wont help you much. Take your personal mission into account before deciding whether Cheat Meals are for you!
And remember; it takes 3,500 calories to add a single pound – it’s not likely you’ll wreck your diet over one burger. Don't stress - the best thing about a cheat meal is you can relax and enjoy yourself without having to focus on the calories!