Cheat Meals: are they worth it?

When you are following a fat loss program or training to meet your fitness goals, a cheat meal can help you cope psychologically and encourage you to keep you moving forward.

Cheat Meals can also have reverse side effects and make you feel incredibly guilty. I know this happened to me last week! As I celebrated my birthday (with a supercool birthday cake!), I ate so much food that I was actually sick the next day. It was more than just feeling incredibly ill. I also felt ashamed, as if I had cheated on my diet, my training and my hard work. I scolded myself for most of the weekend before realizing that I didn’t really do anything wrong.

The truth is, one day of eating healthy food won’t make you skinny just like one day of eating junk food will not make you fat. If anything, eating junk food (once a week!) will not alter your fat loss progress in any way. It will help give your mind and body a break from dieting and reward you for your hard work.

As long as you eat clean 90% of the time, occasional treats 10% of the time will not prevent you from becoming super-lean.

This does not mean you should go overboard and eat everything in sight. Cheat meals are quite different than a cheat day. Cheat meals simply mean one bad breakfast, lunch or dinner before getting back to your hard work.

I, Maya Nassar, believe junk food is meant to be earned and enjoyed in moderation. Work hard for it and enjoy it with a body you are proud of. You’ll eventually discover that your one treat once a week is more than enough to satisfy you. Nothing tastes as good as being lean feels!

On the other hand, if you would like to learn more about nutrition and weight training for a fitness competition, check out my latest post on Models Observer