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Cheat Meal Rules to Live By | Body Solutions
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07 Dec Cheat Meal Rules to Live By

Posted at 13:21h in Articles by bodyadmin

 Cheat Meal Rules Healthy Eating Overland Parkto live by….

This is a popular topic so we thought we would break it down for you and give you some tips.  A cheat meal serves specific purposes.  It is NOT a chance to eat a pizza, buffet or do a keg stand.  It is an opportunity to refuel your body with healthy complex carbs and some things that you may not normally eat.  Also notice I said cheat MEAL not a cheat day.
Hormonally speaking it does help to speed up the fat loss process.   It will help to stimulate Leptin, a fatloss hormone that becomes depressed with chronic dieting and low calorie intakes.  Low leptin levels typically cause a weight loss plateau.  So once a week we will have clients eat a cheat meal to throw it back into high gear.
Cheat Meal Guideline #1
Your cheat meal should follow a 25:1 ratio.  Meaning every clean 25 meals you eat you get to have one cheat meal. This is an easy way to track it or you can simply choose one night a week, Friday or Saturday.
Cheat Meal Guidelines #2
Examples of cheat meals could be a top sirloin steak with a sweet potato and green veggies with a small amount of butter.  It can also be whole grain spaghetti with a lower sugar sauce and lean meat.  It could be Chipotle’s burrito bowl, etc.  You see the pattern here.  We did not say donuts, beer, pizza, etc.
It is about making healthy choices and a lifestyle change.  You wouldn’t reward someone trying to give up alcohol a celebration shot for being sober for a week!  Cheat meals serve the same purpose, a reward that is healthy but a bit off of your normal eat guidelines.  One thing people miss is that a big food bender can ruin your enter week of clean eating and long weekends of eating garbage will easily add fat back on you worked desperately to take off.
Cheat Meal Guidelines #3
The leaner you are the more often you can cheat.  If your body fat is below 15% for males or 20% for females you can cheat every 10 to 15 meals.  If your body fat is above 15% for males or 20% for  females stick to the 25:1 rule and as you get leaner you can start adding cheat meals more often.
There you have it, pretty simple.  Plan a cheat once a week, make it a healthy choice that does stay in some portion control guidelines and avoid alcohol.  Good luck!
Need help with your nutrition, contact Body Solutions today!