There are a whole lot of bad nutrition ideas floating in the world. From eating tiny quantities to cutting out essential food groups, there are way too many myths mixed with facts out there. Diets are difficult to maintain and this is the reason we crave our ‘ cheat meals ’ so much.

A lot of nutritionists and fitness specialists suggest us to take that one cheat day when the craving gets too much. They urge us to eat ‘healthy snacks’. But are cheat meals really good for you?

So, what is a cheat meal?

A Cheat Meal is a meal eaten outside of your diet plan. It is one day or one meal a week usually, when you don’t have to follow the routine diet and can eat what you feel like eating.

As you diet the temptation for unhealthy food intensifies and fitness coaches implement a planned increase in calories, commonly known as ‘Cheat Meals’.

The Cheat Meal is meant to reduce stress from a controlled diet, and provide a ‘psychological break’ from a feeling of regularly eating in deficit. It serves as a small reward for the hard work you put in while following your weight loss plan consistently. It is also said to help boost metabolism and keep you motivated and on track.

While this holds true for some individuals, for the others it could potentially do more harm than good. Some people await these meals so they can binge eat and satisfy every craving they felt all week!

A planned cheat meal needs to be 500 calories to boost metabolism and provide other physiological benefits. However, a surplus of 500 calories is not nothing and won’t provide the mental benefit for most people. So, how about planning a cheat meal on the day one can burn that extra intake!

What’s our take:

Including a cheat meal in your diet or not basically depends on one’s personality and their willingness to go that extra mile.

Are you the kind of person who does well with moderation or do you get easily tempted?

If you have a cheat meal, go in knowing that it’s meant to be a reward and that you are setting yourself back a few days. It will help you control your intake and not overdo it.

You could also take a day off once every few weeks than the usual weekly ones.

Quick Tips – you need to know:

1. Take them less often than you would like to.
2. Eat mostly proteins and veggies earlier in the day so as to balance the day’s diet.
3. Strategically plan cheat meals around special events.
4. Plan it on a workout day so you can burn off some of those calories.
5. Take it easy on alcohol.
6. Don’t let negative emotions take over and don’t quit.
7. All your favorite snacks have a healthy alternative too. Opt for baked potato chips or multigrain chips instead of the regular fried ones. Always look at the ingredients! We love all things natural.

Follow these tips and your cheat meals should be fun and rewarding as they should be!

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