I’ve been having quite a bit of a challenge for some time now and that’s because I have managed to put myself through several diet plans like; intuitive eating, Mediterranean diet, Paleo diet etc. but I can say that one of the plans that I stuck with for a long time was the “Paleo diet”, not until I learned how to eat for my body and physical health.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t claim to know it all; I’m only trying to tell you that I have been through where you are right now, I’ve also had to overcome some of these struggles; trust me, I know what it is like to want to “cheat” whenever you’re on a diet. What I want to do is to share my experience on how I dealt with the situation. In this article, I’ll explain how I managed to change the way I look at those meals as cheat meals and what exactly I think you can do instead.
But first, let’s talk a little about the meaning of Cheat meals.
What is a Cheat Meal?
Cheat meals are say deliberate acts of overindulgence by anyone who is on a diet in a bid to undo some of the side effects of being in a calorie deficit. Sounds good right? Well let’s put it another way; a cheat meal is like deciding to take a day off to get drunk after you’ve struggled to be sober for a while. I’m guessing it doesn’t sound that great anymore.
Cheat meals are like days when you can eat whatever you choose to eat. The idea of this sounds very appealing and so you feel really good when you’re indulging yourself but you wake up the following morning feeling like you have lost all the gains you accomplished in the past weeks or months. It even gets worse because the moment you begin to indulge yourself, the more dissatisfied you are with your results and then you would want to give in more often to those cravings.
The catch usually is that you’re told that it’s just one day or one meal where anything goes, anything; form pizzas to chocolates, sweets, pancakes, burgers etc. and in the end what this does is that you will:
- Reset your metabolism
- Stay out of the starvation mode
- Get a mental break from the rigors of dieting
All these sound logical and reasonable but in actual fact what you are being told is that you should take a break from REALITY because all these statements are NOT SO TRUE.
What you must know is that Cheat meals do not reset your metabolism. They may be a bit helpful in trying to restore your hormonal balance but like I said it’s just a bit so they are not really good at doing it anyway, so it’s best if you didn’t even get started on it before you’re hooked.
Now that we know what cheat meals are, the second question we should bother ourselves with is;
What exactly do cheat meals do?
Maybe you’ve heard a lot about the benefits of these cheat meals especially regarding our hormonal systems which for me I think is a myth. I was even more startled when during the lockdown period I decided to take an online course to learn more about the hormonal system (funny how the quarantine has had such a positive impact on me and my work).
These past few months have actually given me enough time to investigate on a deeper level some of the things that I have been practicing for a long time. I’ve always wanted to carry out these studies but I always told myself that I didn’t have enough time. I would rather just learn from my mentors and colleagues and then put them into practice; I never really took time to investigate why I did most of these things until now. So back to the question at hand; what exactly do cheat meals do?
In order to understand this topic I would first like to introduce you to two hormones in the body; Leptin and Ghrelin which work together to bring about hunger harmony in the body.
- Leptin make you feel full after meals
- While Ghrelin makes you feel hungry when you need food
Whenever you’re on a diet, these hormones over time help you to regulate your eating habits so that you do not eat too much or too little and you’re able to maintain a balanced weight. However, once you start losing too much weight, your body reacts by reducing the amount of Leptin it produces. This implies that there is an excess amount of Ghrelin in the body and not enough Leptin to balance it out and this makes you feel hungry more often and even less satisfied after having a meal.
Sounds weird right? This is where the myth of the cheat meal comes in, making it look like a cheat meal will help you deal with this hormonal imbalance but in actual fact, a cheat meal in this scenario is only as good as what you get when you mix oil with vinegar. Yes it’s that bad
So we are told that cheat meals help us to;
- Restore Leptin levels
- Reduce hunger and
- Increase metabolism
The disappointing fact is that not only are cheat meals detrimental to your diet but also they are the most ineffective way to raise your Leptin levels. I know you love them but the truth is that cheat meals are no good for you.
However I also have good news for you, I am not here to only tell you how terrible they are, I also want to share my experience with you on how I dealt successfully with them when I used to indulge myself every Saturday with my cheat meals
This was what I learned about cheat meals through some online courses and these are the 3 ways that I put them into practice in my own life and I can say it had a huge positive impact on me
1. Firstly, Cheat Meals reinforce the “GOOD” Food vs “Bad” Food Mindset: Let’s just say that this helps to remind you why you’re on a diet in the first place just in case you have forgotten. Let the way you feel the morning after remind you of all the positive reasons why you need to stay away from junk and unhealthy eating
2. Secondly, Cheat Meals Encourage Over-Consumption & Binge Eating: You’re better off told this than experiencing it yourself because once you get started with cheat meals and you’re unable to control your appetites, you get hooked and will constantly be looking for every opportunity to indulge in another cheat meal until you completely reverse all the gains you have worked really hard to achieve in the past few weeks or months. Think about That
3. Lastly, Cheat Meals Are Ineffective at raising Leptin Levels: just as explained earlier, cheat meals do not help to increase leptin or reduce hunger levels. Just think about the analogy of the oil and vinegar mixture when thinking about this, they don’t mix.
So in conclusion what is the way to go?
The Key is to eat in moderation
What does moderation mean?
Dietary moderation simply means you create room for some of the foods you like while maintaining a diet that is both nutritionally rich (vitamins & minerals) and suitable for your goals. Simply put, don’t overindulge yourself. Make sure to get most of your calories from whole food sources that provide you the macronutrients and micronutrients that your body needs. That does not mean you cannot have a pizza or a burger every now and then, just make sure it’s in moderation. Likewise, if you must get ice cream or a couple of biscuits in the evenings, sure you can.
The key is finding the right balance that enables you to stay healthy and reach your goals while maintaining a diet. Do this and you’re guaranteed to succeed and in no time you’re sure to say goodbye to binge eating once and for all.