Do you have cheat meals and/or eat junk food?
Do I have cheat meals? Kind of. Do I eat junk food? No. Let me explain.
Previously when I was eating a lower calorie diet, I would have high carb days once or twice per week. But now, I eat according to an eating plan and allow myself one meal on the weekend where I eat anything. This is kind of a cheat meal, except that I don’t eat typical junk food (like deep fried food, chocolate, cake, etc). I choose not to eat junk food because I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome and am also lactose intolerant. Junk food does not go down well with my stomach so I have to be careful with what I eat. So on this day I will eat out and not eat according to plan, but I still have to watch what I eat. I will however eat things like pizza or Mexican (minus the cheese)!
Do I think cheat meals are a good idea? If you’re sticking to a healthy diet, then yes I do. Cheat meals can actually help improve your metabolism. If you’re eating to a strict diet then your body adapts and you may plateau. Eating a cheat meal keeps your body guessing and it has to work harder to process the larger amount of food. If you eat treats every now and then, or your diet is not up to scratch, then cheat meals are not a good idea.
Not everyone can handle cheat meals. Some people find it hard to bounce back into their healthy eating and exercise routine after cheating (this is me sometimes). Some people may feel guilty afterwards. And some people tend to binge out on anything and everything and completely overdo it. Cheat meals should allow you to eat foods that you typically would not eat, but not to eat so much that you make yourself sick! Junk food is still bad for you, remember.
Cheat meals work well for some and not so well for others. You need to make up your own mind on whether cheat meals are something that will work for you.
Stay tuned for next week’s blog post: MY DAILY DIET including calorie and macronutrient breakdown. I will also be providing one or two full days of my diet including snacks and portion sizes.
Please note that I am NOT a nutritionist. This information is based on my own personal experience and research. If you require assistance, please seek professional advice.
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Can you tell me what does protein do? You are my inspiration!
Thanks hun! I’ve written some information on protein, check it out here :) http://www.rachaelattard.com/resources/
If you still have questions, please feel free to ask x
Wonderful post Rachael! Interesting.
It is incredible of you that you seem to handle everything so well with the tough ibs :/
It is so true that cheat meals can work for some and some not. I must say I have been doing rather well with my weight loss even though in my worse periods I binged 1-2 times a week with 3000 calories or something each evening , I still lost weight. I was not doing well and I don’t recommend it to anyone…It is just interesting I see how different bodies work differently. But after some time I handled it better and better and now I just have a regular cheat day bingin on a Ben & Jerry or something :-)
Hugs
Thanks Louise!
Congratulations to you for getting past the binge eating as it can be a tough thing to conquer! Sounds like a cheat day is something that is working well for you :)
All the best x
Oh that’s great idea you will tell us how you do it :D I will wait unpatiently for that ;)
Hi, I find your blog amazing and so helpful! Thank you for dedicating a bit of your time to helping us :)
I just wanted to ask if you can tell us how you did you macro nutrients in the next post cuz I find it very difficult and complicated to do it myself.
Thank you in advance :))
You’re most welcome! I know, it does get a bit confusing. I will explain how I calculate my macronutrients :)