More and more often in the context of diet, you hear about a cheat meal, i.e. a cheat meal - a completely non-diet meal, quite different from products allowed during weight loss, which is included in a diet aimed at losing excess kilograms. Considered by some as salvation, by others strongly criticized. Is it worth using a cheat meal while on a diet?
Anyone who has ever used a slimming diet knows how difficult it can be. I do not mean mono-ingredient diets or fasting - if you use this diet, probably no one will survive for more than a week.
However, a rational, balanced diet based on products that are beneficial to he alth and restricting "junk food" also causes difficulties. Especially when we use this model of nutrition for many weeks.
We are only human and anyone can have a weaker day, a decline in willpower and a great desire for something forbidden, for something small, something that the diet absolutely does not allow. If your pre-diet nutrition was very unhe althy, and your meals were based on foods with a lot of fat, sugar and s alt, the harder it is to stick to your decisions, because when you started losing weight, your eating pattern changed by 180 degrees.
For many people, a long-term diet causes stress, causes tension and a decrease in motivation, which may result in abandoning efforts to fight for a dream figure. Here comes the rescuecheat meal- cheated meal.
Eaten during a diet reduces the tension associated with compliance, distracts from controlling eating, and is a way to relax. Additionally, the cheat meal can be a kind of reward for hardships and additional motivation. Because if in two days you will be able to eat something unhe althy with impunity, today I will stop.
The role of the cheat meal in weight loss
Usually, when you are on a diet, eating something unhe althy causes remorse and extra tension. The cheat meal avoids this. Yes, it is an unhe althy meal, but planned and integrated into the diet, it is also not a sign of weakness.
A cheat meal can be a solution when grandma invites you to dinner, or you go out with friends and you don't want to explain to everyone thatyou can't because you are on a diet. A cheat meal is a gateway that will allow you to eat "normally", i.e. like everyone else.
In addition to affecting the well-being of the dieting person, the cheat meal can have visible physical benefits. Many nutritionists use a cheat meal as a trick to trick the body.
Every person losing weight has a detention stage that lasts up to several weeks. It often passes by itself, but not always. The inclusion of a cheated meal with a much higher calorific value than those from the daily menu allows you to break the moment of weight retention, from which it can be concluded that such a meal stimulates the metabolism slowed down by the diet and mobilizes the body to burn faster.
Providing the body with a larger portion of calories once affects the secretion of hormones responsible for metabolism - mainly leptin and ghrelin.
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Leptin is produced mainly in the cells of white adipose tissue and is responsible for informing the brain about the state of satiety and satisfaction of hunger. Staying on a diet for a long time keeps leptin at a relatively low level, which is a signal for the body that the "hard times" are coming.
The processes that consume a lot of energy are slowed down, which results in slowing down the metabolism and, consequently, slower burning of adipose tissue. A single, large injection of energy in the form of a cheat meal raises the level of leptin in the blood and enables the acceleration of metabolic processes.
Ghrelin is called the hunger hormone. Responsible, inter alia, for regulating appetite. A low-energy diet leads to an increase in the level of ghrelin in the blood, which contributes to a more severe feeling of hunger. A cheat meal can lower ghrelin levels for a while and get rid of the feeling of hunger for longer.
If you exercise regularly while on a weight loss diet, you may feel more and more tired with exercise as the weeks go by. This is associated with declining muscle and liver glycogen stores.
Glycogen is a reserve sugar that is a source of energy during activity. Its optimal amount increases the efficiency of exercisers - it allows for a longer and more effective training.
Carbohydrates are needed to rebuild the glycogen used. Dieters who usually restrict carbohydrate diets may have a problem with this. A cheat meal comes in handy, thanks to which you can easily regenerate liver and muscle glycogen.
How to use a cheat meal?
First of all, to be able to afford a cheated meal, you must have been on a diet of at least two weeks. Nutritionistsbelieve that this is the period of time needed to put the body into the fat burning mode.
However, it's best to wait with the cheat meal until your willpower starts to decline and you need some change from the recommendations you follow. You can eat such a meal a maximum of once a week, preferably in the middle of the day, so that you have time to burn the calories provided to your body.
Pre-cheat meals should be eaten regularly according to your eating plan, and after cheat meals - reach for food only when you feel hungry. The calorific value of a meal should not exceed 1000 kcal at a time.
As part of the cheat meal, you can eat anything you want - a burger, pizza, favorite pasta or chocolate cake. It is important that eating it gives you joy and distracts from focusing on dietary recommendations. The next day the weight indicator may go up, but it will be caused by a temporary increase in water level in the body caused by eating carbohydrates.
Cheat meal a nie cheat day!
While the concept of a cheated meal seems justified, a cheat day, i.e. a full-day gluttony, to everything we want - not necessarily. Allowing yourself to eat all the unhe althy things - which just jump into the grocery basket on their own - one day will surely take a toll on your weight.
There are two concepts on cheat day. According to the first one, we eat as much as our caloric needs, but our meals consist only of forbidden products. Such an approach is unlikely to result in a constant weight gain, but it will certainly have an impact on the condition of the digestive system burdened with a large amount of junk food in a short time.
The second concept allows you to eat everything up to the limit. Record holders can consume even 6-7 thousand kcal in one day! In this case, we have guaranteed fat gain and indigestion. After such a huge amount of food, you can probably just lie down and wait for the body to cope with the pain of the day of gluttony.
During weight loss, the stomach contracts and the body learns to satisfy with less food. Delivering 3-4 times more food than usual in one day is non-physiological, causes stretching of the stomach walls and the loss of the effects of previous work.
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Author: Time S.A
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Find out moreImportantWhat to watch out for?
People with less willpower may be prone to stretching a cheated meal over time. A cheat meal can turn into a cheat day, and hence a simple way to a week full of satisfying your desires, then remorse and with a little success - returning to the diet with making up for losses.
Cheat meal should be planned, integrated into the diet, it cannot be an excuse for compulsive reaching for favorite sweets or chips. Also, remember about the portion size. A cheated meal is not to fill you up to the limit, but to enjoy your favorite food with pleasure.
It is also worth realizing that when you decide to go on a diet, you are going to a certain deal with yourself. The reduction diet is to teach you he althy eating and encourages you to consciously give up certain groups of products.
I mean fast food and industrial sweets full of hardened palm fat. For a cheat meal, choose something that you like very much, but you are not afraid that it will ruin your he alth.
The cheated meal is gaining immense popularity because it breaks the stereotype of a diet perceived as a period of constant hunger and sacrifice. The cheat meal is a springboard from following the recommendations, thanks to which it relaxes, reduces tension and allows for another injection of motivation while losing weight.
Eating a meal outside the diet once a week will not destroy the effects of weight loss, on the contrary - it can speed up metabolism and improve the results achieved. So if you love lasagna - eat a serving once a week and enjoy everyday life. Also on a diet!