"Cheat meal: a clever way of elevating your metabolism to burn body fat, replenish glycogen stores; making food taste better, and motivating you to get after it in the gym."
If you think that eating healthy means you can't eat anything delicious ever again... you're dead wrong. I take that back...if you can do that, go for it. I can't, so I'll tell you one way I know that works...
Now, I love cheeseburgers, pizza, Mexican food (anything from Taco Bell on up), Captain D's, donuts, ice cream, etc... and frankly, the thought of never eating those things again is depressing. So, I eat one meal once a week where I choose my food strictly by taste and not by nutritional value. (Mary Elizabeth and I usually go to Mugshots, or somewhere equally as nutritious)
Now some folks do a "cheat weekend" (every weekend!), others a whole "cheat day" once a week, and still others like my good friend Branden Mann will go 3 or 4 weeks before having a cheat meal. You can do it anyway you want, but I recommend one meal, once a week where you "let yourself go" a bit. If you've been eating a healthy diet (high protein, some fat, few carbs), a cheat meal can be just what you need to get your body's fat burning capabilities stoked...meaning you can actually torch more fat by having a bad meal every once in a while than you could if you didn't. How fun!
Not only that, but it makes junk food SO GOOD! Junk food is not even a treat to a lot of people anymore... so when you cut it down to once a week, it really starts to get tasty!
Now you can do it all scientific and organized like this guy, or you can wing it like I just recommended. Either way, start with something, and of course you can always tighten up later if you want.
For those of you that are already eating healthy... hopefully this is something that you might think about implementing into your eating plan to help you stay lean.
For those that have never tightened up on their eating because they're afraid that they'll never eat the foods they love again... there's hope! Start eating right today!
