For many people following low calorie diets, “cheat meals” are a must. A cheat meal is essentially one planned meal (or meal deviation) a week where you can eat anything you want that you wouldn't normally eat as part of your diet — pizza, burger and fries, tacos, whatever you have a hankering for.
If you're relatively healthy, indulging in a slice of pepperoni pizza every once in a while will not (repeat: will NOT) kill you. It won't even affect your weight. In the short term, your weight will only increase by the actual weight of the pizza, according to Angelone.
“Cheat meals” are meals that contain foods that aren't on your current diet plan or are considered indulgent with a calorie count that would throw off your plan. But the idea that a cheat meal includes unhealthy foods (like a fast-food burger or milkshake) isn't always the case. It's about what's on your health plan.
If you keep the calories within reason, and ensure your cheat meal still has a good combination of carbs protein and fats, then you'll be a-ok! 2. How often should I enjoy a cheat meal? A cheat meal is something you should look forward to, a maximum of twice per week but preferably once per week.
How many calories should I eat on a cheat day? 'There is not an exact number of calories that you can eat on a cheat day but a good guideline to follow is to not consume more than 150 per cent of your regular calorie intake/limit,' according to Bodies by Byrne, run by a nutritionist and fitness instructor.
A cheat day causes some large weight increases, but weight because of water, not fat. Depending on what kind of diet you were on, loading up on carbs on a cheat day can increase your weight noticeably. If you were trying to lose fat, you likely were trying to cut carbohydrates out of your diet.
The bottom line is that a 1000-1500 surplus of calories for a day means you'll only gain about 0.70-112 grams of fat. The scales might say you've gained more, but that's because of the water weight excess sodium and carbohydrates bring along with it.
A little pasta never hurt anyone. Spaghetti and meatballs is one of our favorites because it's carb and protein dense and contains a small amount of fat. It hits all of your macros–which is one of the goals in choosing a “good” cheat meal.
Research shows that after a cheat meal, the body increases its metabolism, causing you to burn calories faster. This is caused by increased levels of leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cells and responsible for maintaining energy balance in the body.
On a cheat day, you are allowed to eat whatever you want. It is possible that you may not count the calories as on a normal day. While some choose to go all out, some choose a less extreme version and increase their daily calorie intake with healthy, high-calorie foods.
Pizza can be a healthy choice for many people. And yes, you can lose weight by eating pizza as long as you're eating it right! As surprising as it may sound, it's, in fact, true. You can have portion control, use selectively healthy vegetable toppings and make your pizza healthy.
But since pizza is still a source of saturated fat (about five grams) and chock-full of sodium, limit it to once a week and load up on those veggies.
If you eat 1500 calories daily and 3000 calories on Saturdays (or another cheat day of choice), your metabolism will experience a small boost and your will burn more calories on “normal” days. Just do your best to lower the glycemic index of the cheat meals so you burn them more slowly and absorb less as fat.
Increased calories from a cheat meal help to increase thyroid function, further supporting the metabolism. This increase in metabolism can last for days after your cheat meal, thus offsetting the drop in hormones that will occur as the calorie-deficit diet is again resumed.
Your Cheat Meals Should Be High Carb, Low Fat
Next, let's talk about the actual composition of your cheat meal. This is important when it comes to counteracting the negative physiological adaptations from dieting most effectively. And in this case, carbs are actually your best friend.
May Postpone Progress: While small sugary indulgences are typically fine on a cheat day, sugar-laden, nutrient-poor foods can postpone progressduring the week. A common nutrition mistake is to think that all calories are created equal – they're not!
If you're healthy, your body knows how to regulate itself after a cheat meal. Aside from feeling bloated, less active, and a temporary increase in water weight (excess sodium in many processed foods means you'll hold on to more water) a cheat here or there won't do much harm.
How Often Should Be Your Cheat Day? Since every weight loss program is unique, there is no conclusive response to this issue. However, most people recommend having a cheat day once a week. This will allow you to indulge without jeopardizing your diet or weight reduction objectives.
One day of overeating does NOT offset all of your progress. When you're dieting, it's easy to feel like you ruined your progress after a Friday or Saturday night full of pizza and ice cream. But that doesn't have to be the case.