Cheat Meals: 6 Strategies for Weight Loss Success

Strictly following a restrictive diet plan is good for your pro cheer fitness. Even if it’s mentally hard to do so most of the time because you can’t eat most of the foods that you crave for. But did you know? There are also fitness benefits to giving in to your indulgences sometimes in the form of cheat meals.

In fact, it is necessary to do so for those looking to lose weight. Without further ado, these are the reasons why you should eat comfort food occasionally and how to do it right.

How Cheat Meals Benefit Your Pro Cheer Diet

A restrictive diet plan will make your body reach a diet plateau - a condition where your body burns calories equal to or fewer than how much you eat. That makes the diet plateau a diet plan backfire because it stops or slows down weight-loss.

Once you’ve reached your diet plateau, you’ll also feel less energetic because your body digests only what you need for your daily activities. This could potentially affect your physical performance especially when your pro cheer activities have a higher energy demand than your daily workouts.

However, through cheat meals, your system is tricked into thinking that you’re eating a lot every day and it’s okay to burn through your fat storage for fuel. Cheat meals also jumpstart your metabolism making your digestive system absorb more nutrients from what you eat while keeping your calorie and fat burning rate high.

In a psychological sense, cheat meals help you stay sane in your diet program because it quells your intense craving for whatever unhealthy food you desire. Then, your diet program becomes easier to follow and you have better control over yourself from caving in to your cravings.

Tips to Have an Optimal Cheat Meal That Support Your Weight Loss Goals

1. View cheat meals as tools

Cheat meals aren’t luxuries. They are tools designed to jumpstart your metabolism and keep you sane. Eat cheat meals only when necessary, not when and wherever you can.

2. List down cheat meal foods to eat

Since one purpose of cheat meals is to make your diet plan easier to follow, your cheat meal menu should be foods that you’re craving the most and make you very happy while eating. So list them down for scheduling.

3. Plan and schedule your cheat meals

You should have a specific day and mealtime planned for your cheat meal. Without planning, you’ll mindlessly eat cheat meals not knowing it’s your 4th cheat meal of the week already. A good cheat meal schedule would be twice a week scheduled for Saturday and Sunday breakfasts.

4. Remove the guilt and get psyched

There’s no use to have a cheat meal if you feel bad about eating after. Cheat meals should give you something to be excited for as well as motivate you to exercise and follow your diet even harder.

5. Eat your cheat meals in moderation

Just because cheat meals are designed to trick your system into thinking it’s abundant in calories doesn’t mean you should overindulge. Don’t eat a bag of fries, a bag of chips, a big mac, and a large bottle of soda in one sitting. One cheat meal is equal to one serving of one delectable food.

6. Go beast-mode after feast-mode

And of course, you need to burn the high levels of calories metabolized from your cheat meal before they’re converted into body fat. Do aerobic to anaerobic exercises an hour after eating your cheat meal.

Remember, a cheat day is different from a cheat meal. A lot of people often forget that distinction once the cheat meal touches the taste buds. So don’t forget to exercise moderation when indulging in your comfort food.

Maintain mindfulness when eating. When the cheat meal is scheduled for Saturday’s lunch, that should be it. No more cheat meals for breakfast or dinner. Eat your fill but don’t eat too much and get into a sweat session an hour after.

Discover more dieting articles here!

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