Tag: meals
This is Why You Should Never Eat Cheat Meals
This is Why You Should Never Eat Cheat Meals
After bicep days, cheat days are the second most favorite day of the week for most fitness enthusiasts. Just like some people work for the weekend, most lifters train for the cheat meal.
For the uninitiated, cheat meals are a planned overindulgence (at least in some cases) that can help undo some of the side effects of being in a calorie deficit. To be honest, most lifters use it as a break from their bland chicken breast and rice meals.
Why You Should Quit Cheat Meals
To understand the concept of cheat meals better, you need to know about Leptin and Ghrelin. Leptin and ghrelin are hormones found in the body that work together to bring about hunger harmony.
Leptin makes you feel full after a meal and ghrelin makes you feel hungry when you haven’t eaten. When you’re following a calorie deficit diet, your body responds by reducing the amount of leptin you produce.
When your body limits the leptin production, ghrelin runs wild which results in you feeling hungry more often. While broscientists sell cheat meals as a way to fix this hormone issue, they aren’t as effective because –
Cheat Meals Encourage Over-consumption & Binge Eating
The first and one of the biggest problems is that some people turn the cheat meals into cheat days. The others turn the meal into a three-course dining experience. They start with a hamburger but have the cravings for fries in the middle of the meal and want to finish with an ice-cream.
Many people can’t control themselves when they are around food that has been deemed forbidden by their diets. Dining-in is a terrible idea for cheat meals. You should rather consider takeaways or ordering food to your home.
They Reinforce the ‘Good’ Food vs. ‘Bad’ Food Mindset
If people don’t do it already, they start categorizing food as good or bad as soon as they embark on their fitness journey. Creating this divide between different foods is not healthy or ideal.
Sure, knowing which foods are ‘good’ and which are ‘bad’ can help you make better food choices. However, the reality is that labeling food this way is distorting your relationship with them. This habit is also giving you unhealthy, unproductive and unnecessary eating habits.
Cheat Meals are Ineffective at Raising Leptin Levels
Some people have the illusion that cheat meals are helping them in restoring their leptin levels, reducing hunger and increasing metabolic rate. In reality, they are nothing more than for you to escape your shitty weekday diet.
Cheat meals are usually full of fat which has no notable effect on leptin levels. A study shows that not only do carbohydrates raise Leptin levels but carbohydrate overfeeding also increases energy expenditure over 24 hours, whereas fat overfeeding does not.
The Fix – Refeeding
Refeed days are what you should replace the cheat meals with. A refeed day constitutes of planned meals to consume more calories throughout the day. This helps counteract the negative effects of being in a calorie deficit and restores your Leptin levels.
In a refeeding meal, you have a calorie goal that you need to adhere to. Meaning – even though you will indulge and eat more than normal, you’re given a structure to stick to. Cereals, popcorn, pancakes, syrup, pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, and oats are some of the approved carbohydrates options for refeeding days.
Which is your favorite cheat meal? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Cheat Meals
7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Cheat Meals
A cheat meal is a lifter’s favorite feast, probably after a whey protein shake. If you’ve been around the fitness scene for some time, you probably have heard how a cheat meal can help you achieve your goals faster.
Fitness enthusiasts and not-so-enthusiasts wait six days a week for their treasured lip-smacking meal. The most popular theory around cheat meals is that they provide your body with enough calories to give your muscles a fuller and rounder appearance.
Another story reasons that since you’re only eating ‘clean food’ while following a strict fitness diet, your body will no longer be able to digest heavy (read: junk) food, therefore you should constantly keep your body in the loop by adding a cheat meal to your routine.
While there might be some benefits to gulping down a cheat meal, the price you pay in the long run far outweighs the benefits. You might want to stop reading here if you live for a cheat meal. It’s going to get brutal.
Cheat Meals Should Be a Big NO!
How Much Should You Eat?
One of the biggest problems with a cheat meal is that most people don’t know where to stop. If you follow a diet plan designed according to your goals, you know exactly how much you’re going to eat and the number of macronutrients you’ll be consuming.
Many people lose their shit when they step into their friendly neighborhood McDonald’s. You can’t entirely blame the rogue fitness junkie when he lays an eye upon his favorite junk food.
While people go around advocating the benefits of a cheat meal, they never talk about how much or what a person should eat. If your cheat meal consists of a pizza, burger, burrito, french fries, and a soda, you’re doing it all wrong.
It’s Not a Ghost Meal
We’re sorry to be the ones breaking this to you but the calories of your cheat meals still count. A Burger King is no Vegas. Whatever happens inside the restaurant doesn’t stay in the restaurant. It comes home with you.
Most people don’t adjust their diets after a cheat meal. You’re going to stray off your progress timeline if you don’t account for the calories and macronutrients you consume in your junk meal.
How many people have you ever seen or heard of who modify their Monday’s and Tuesday’s meal plans to settle the extra calories they had on Sunday? Unaccounted calories can add up quickly and leave a mark on your waistline.
A Cheat Meal Can Turn Into a Cheat Day
Some people get carried away after eating a cheat meal. Usually, people plan their cheat meals on a weekend with friends and family. There are high chances of these weekend lunches extending to snacks and dinners.
These people think that an additional cheat meal won’t do them any harm and they can always train a little harder the next day and burn off all the calories. Sadly for them, it doesn’t work this way.
Few people take the cheat day fiasco a little further. They turn the cheat meals to cheat weekends. They then pacify themselves by saying that they can compensate for it by eating ‘super good’ the next five days. This is a case of pure mental toxicity.
A Cheat Meal Negatively Impacts Your Mindset
A cheat meal subconsciously makes you think that you’re eating punishment food throughout the week and you’re only allowed to “enjoy” your favorite food once a week. Feasting on junk food every week only strengths this unhealthy mindset.
Consider this, if you were craving a slice of a pizza, and you ate it that same day, it wouldn’t take a lot to satisfy your craving. Now imagine if you were craving french fries on Monday but you only cheat on a Sunday. What are the chances you’re going to order a small bag of fries?
It’s like if I ask you not to touch your nose, the only thing that’ll consume your brain is to touch your god-damn nose. It’s better to eat a small portion of what you’re craving than to let the cravings pile on.
Results in Overindulgence
More often than not, the satanic cravings will make you pick a coke with large fries. A normal person craves multiple things throughout the week. Tim might want ice cream on a Monday, chocolate on a Tuesday, cheeseburger on a Wednesday. Little Tim enjoys his food. Leave him alone.
But since Tim is following a cutting program, he might have to wait for Sunday to get his hands on his beloved cheat food. If Timmy finds all his cravings in a single shop, no snake can hold him back from biting the forbidden apple.
Cheat Meals Are Hard To Fit in a Daily Routine
You’re always going to have an unhealthy relationship with food that you consider “bad” and those that won’t fit in your daily routine. Achieving the physique of your dreams is all about following a schedule, plan, and rituals, and a cheat meal can never be a ritual. At least not with your current mindset.
If you have got a taste for junk food, you should follow a diet that better suits your lifestyle. IIFYM (if it fits your macros) is a diet that allows you the flexibility to eat anything you want until it fits your daily macronutrient needs.
Cheat Meals Affect Differently People Differently
One thing that most people forget is that, based on their body types, junk food will affect different people differently. You should know your body type and if you’re an ectomorph, mesomorph, or endomorph.
If you had to take one thing away from this article, it should be this – stop treating a cheat meal like a fling. Think of it as a long-term relationship, if anything. Don’t limit your cheat meals to restaurants. Bring them home, introduce them to your family and accept them in your life with an open heart.
How often do you eat a cheat meal? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.