Myths and Facts-Cheat Meals

Cheat meal myths-HBombs

 Well first let me start off by saying I hate the words “cheat meal.” It’s not something that you should feel the need to hide or feel guilty about. I prefer to use the words “treat meal.” After all, it is nice to treat yourself to something good after working hard in the gym all week! So let’s talk about a couple of myths that come along with this.

 Myth #1: Treat meals will hinder your progress.

  Treat meals CAN definitely hinder your progress if you’re having them too often or completely gorging yourself every time. I have a friend who once told me their old coach said to go out to eat on Saturday nights and eat until you want to puke! Yea, DON’T do that. I generally have 1 SOMETIMES 2 treat meals a week depending on whether I’m in prep for a show or not. In prep I limit myself to one a week (none once I hit the 4 week out mark), and usually have it on a day where I am expending a large amount of calories to refuel my body. Also, I try to have it on a different day from week to week to keep my body from getting used to it. Treat meals can be a good way to shock the body and keep your metabolism in check. The morning after a treat meal I always wake up feeling tighter and more filled out believe it or not! They are also a good way to keep you from slipping up on your diet. When you have something to look forward to you’re more likely to stick to a structured plan in the meantime. Be smart about it. Remember portion control. Sure, have an appetizer with your meal OR dessert OR a drink or two. A treat meal is not an excuse to go on an all out binge!

 Myth #2: A whole cheat day can’t throw me off course. 

   Think about this. It’s the weekend and you decide to make a hearty breakfast at home with your significant other, meet for lunch at Applebee’s with your parents, snack throughout the day, head to dinner with your friends at Olive Garden, then out for drinks afterwards. Let’s just say on the low end you consumed around 3,000 calories between 3 meals, a breadstick, salad, and 4 jack and diet cokes. This isn’t including anything between meals, if you added an appetizer at lunch, a dessert with dinner, traded those drinks for margaritas, etc. For reference 3,500 calories=1 lb. Maybe in the grand scheme of things 1 lb doesn’t seem like a lot, but it will take you longer to burn off those calories than it did to consume them. Is one day worth the time it will set you back and the way it will cause you to feel? Again, be smart!

 Always have your goals in mind. What is most important to you? Enjoy things in moderation, but know when enough is enough!

 Cheat Meal Facts-Wild Will

 That’s our girl Heather laying the smack down on the myths behind cheat or as we now treat meals. It’s time for Wild Will to bring your facts regarding the ever controversial treat meal .

 Fact #1: A treat meal WILL keep you on a steady lifestyle meal plan

It’s not just about prepping for show. It’s mostly about prepping for life and living a healthy lifestyle. Does that really mean you will never ever in the history of

No! There is no need for an “Epic” cheat meal.

your life time have cheeseburger or a slice of cake?  Of course not, that is just foolishness. True you don’t need to have ice cream after every dinner you have but having ice cream say once a week will not kill you. The fact is that is good to have a treat for two reasons. Reason #1 it keeps you sane. Our bodies like sugar, our bodies need sugar so when your body says hey give me sugar its ok to feed it real sugar. If you keep denying your bodies need for that sugar over and over gain you will lose the war. You will cave and you will GORGE and as we learned from HBombs, no good will come of that. But, if on a planned basis you allow yourself that slice, notice how I said slice of cake, then you are staying sane and avoiding the crash and burn of binge eating. Just make sure you plan your satisfaction around a time you are going to need it. Holiday dinners, birthdays, barbecues, parities whatever the event may be just make sure you plan it out ahead of time.

 Fact # 2: A treat meal WILL boost your metabolism

We all know the faster our metabolism is working the more calories we are burning. We know that proper nutrition and exercise helps improve our metabolic rate thus burning more fat and staying lean. However, did you know that your metabolism will slow down if it becomes too efficient? Meaning that if never ever, not even once eat extra sugar or carbohydrate your metabolism will become used to it and it will plateau. By never ever eating extra sugar you are making your metabolism used it which means it no longer has to work hard so it starts to slow again. Thus preventing you from achieving your weight loss goals, therefore you need to surprise your metabolism so it just gets used to what you are eating. So by having that extra sugar or carb once a week allows for your metabolism to keep working at a higher rate. It never gets dull, it never gets bored so it keeps working. The same way you need to change up your workout, is the same way you need to change up your meal plan with the occasional treat. Again you can’t go overboard, its still a matter of will power to only have a slice of cake, 1 scoop of ice cream, 1 to 2 slices of pizza.  Keep it small, keep it satisfying and keep it simple.

Just pretend this is Wild Will and HBombs. Sharing is caring!

The treat meal will always be a topic of controversy. Everyone has their belief. It all depends on goal and lifestyle. What it really comes down is keeping you sane and on track. As you have learned the treat meal is a blessing because it gives into your craving while keeping your metabolism up and running. The treat meal can also be a curse if you don’t take it seriously and allow yourself to gorge on food. Remember we are healthy for life, not just for a day or two. This is life and sometimes in life its ok to have a treat.

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 HBombs

Wild Will Wilson (W³⁾