Cheat meals, a time to indulge and scrap your diet entirely right? Not exactly, most people have gathered a strong misconception of what a cheat meal truly entails, it does not mean to say your diet is now irrelevant from now nor does it mean your training is unimportant either. Here at FFUK we believe it is important that you understand what a cheat meal actually constitutes in terms of nutrition and training. And with National Pizza Day coming up on 9th February, and Pancake Day following a few days later, we want to really educate you on the true meaning of a cheat meal. Let’s get into it:
WHAT IS A CHEAT MEAL?
Simple, you set aside a time in the week where you can indulge in your favourite foods to break the pattern in your normal diet. Essentially, a cheat meal is more for your mindset, especially when your diet is so restrictive where you can become a little crazy in your fitness journey, which is exactly why cheat meals are incredibly important. There are also shared opinions that a cheat meal can help with muscle hypertrophy in a cutting phase through the replenishment of glycogen levels, so long as it done right.
CHEAT MEAL CHEAT DAY, SAME THING RIGHT?
A common misconception is the infamous “cheat day”, a more sustainable aproach is a “cheat meal” mainly because this will have less of an impact on your gains and health. Essentially a cheat meal can be consumed 1-2 times a week if your training is managed well too. Cheat meals are for the mind and body, but they should not affect you in a way that completely destroys your flow.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CHEAT MEAL AND RE-FEED
Re-feeds are significantly different from cheat meals, a cheat meal is the consumption of food outside of your regular diet plan and is typically constitutes “junk food”. A re-feed however, is a planned increase in calorie consumption for the next 8-to-12 hours with an increase in carbohydrates.
IMPACT ON YOUR HEALTH
The idea is to have a cheat meal that has you feeling good and have you saying “i’m going to go to the gym and have an awesome workout!” not “I can’t go to the gym because I feel terrible right now!”. Choose a meal you think will satisfy your cravings but at the same time, not damage your health so much so that your training becomes impaired. Yes cheat meals are generally not great on your health, remember the idea is to have fun with your cheat meals in the present and in the future, so do be cautious!
So there you have it, your Cheat Meal 101 by Focus Fitness UK, we hope you have enjoyed this post and we also hope you enjoy your next cheat meal, but the right way! If you found this post useful, why not check out some of our previous posts on our blog page or if you are interested in becoming a qualifed personal trainer check out our main page for course information.
Written by Daniyal Siddiqui.