Just imagine eating whatever you want in whichever quantity and getting away with it by starving yourself the next day. Are you grinning from ear to ear or wishing to grab a snack to even read about it? Helpful as told by many and a complete nuisance by others, a cheat day owes a million definitions in the health dictionaries of the people around the globe. Let’s dig a little deeper in the calorie world and know how a cheat day can affect our lives.
Often regarded as junk or fat loaded meal, a cheat meal usually involves gobbling down calories wishfully. This is rather a meal of choice than the so-called cheat meal. Eaten with a relaxed state of mind, a meal of choice has lesser nutritional value. It is higher in calorie count, sugars, and carbohydrates. However, did you know that a cheat meal is considered to fire up the metabolism? That’s right, eating something you love encourages the body for a faster metabolism. The regular staple diet slows down the breakdown process and makes our body habitual. The same intake of the food even when it is a salad also asks for a change and that’s when cheat meal comes in play! As a refreshment, it calms our cravings and fastens the metabolism process.
However, a moment of weakness can cost a lot too. It is true that a change is always required for the mind and the soul. The diversity in meal routines is must but going overboard and devouring uncontrolled meal at a time can zero down your workout and not prove your cheat meal as a good idea. Thus, to balance it out one must always encourage diversity and practice portion controlled intake. Gobbling down high intake of sugars and fats in the forms of cake, pastries, burgers, pizzas in one go is not an appreciable approach. Rather one must always spread the meals of choice across the weak and enjoy a little of it every time they are looking for a change. The opportunity of binge eating should always be supported by a strong will, where eating a spoonful should be encouraged. In fact, it is the small amount that will bring a big change. So, besides waiting 6 days in a row for the cheat day and sulking around, isn’t it nice and healthy that you get to relish your favorite bites evenly just like your healthy food throughout the week.
One bad meal won’t make you fat just like one healthy meal won’t make you skinny! Do you read this cheat day quote? It is always about finding a balance. People who workout with an aim of losing weight should never go for strict dieting as it would change their lifestyle for worse and leave them drooling for more. In fact, their cheat day might turn into neverending ‘cheat days’ leading to cure hunger pangs forever. They should always start over with a low carb diet and instead of a single binge eating day, indulge in a plateful love across the week. Also, not just for the body, keeping yourself and your stomach happy also results in happy mind, soul, and mood.
Another mistake that people unknowingly commit is keeping their cheat day on a rest day i.e when they are taking an off from their workout and office. Awfully wrong, this is a crime against the body you won’t be forgiven for. Always, go for a cheat meal when you are active. An active living will help you burn it at the same time and won’t let it accumulate leading to further difficulty in a weight loss programme.
Healthier Swaps For Your Favourite Junk Foods
You can always go healthy even when eating junk. No, there’s no need to add broccoli to your cupcake or add a green tea bag in your double chocolate milkshake! You can go for a healthy cheat meal even when you are choosing to cheat and following tips can help you get with it.
- Swap caramel loaded chocolates with a bar of dark chocolate.
- Swap chips with a bowl of popcorn or a small bag of chips.
- Swap the flour-based pizza with a cauliflower-egg crust.
- Swap burgers with a healthy grillable veggie burgers.
- Swap a cream loaded tart with a no-bake fruit tart.
- Swap processed ice cream with homemade frozen yogurt.
- Swap aerated drinks with lemonade, coconut water, water, or fruit juices.
- Swap a bowl of french fries with baked fries.
- Swap choco chip cookie ice cream with yogurt fruit tops.
- Swap fried chicken wings with baked chicken wings.
- Swap full-fat dips with low cal healthy dips.
- Swap traditional creamy mac n cheese with low-calorie veggie macaroni.
- Swap butter with Virgin olive oil
- Swap breadcrumbs with chia seeds.
- Swap peanut butter with almond butter.
- Swap sweet cookie crunch with a bowl of muesli or cereals.
