This blog post explores the Cheatmeals. Cheatmeals are an important part of any healthy diet routine or lifestyle that will finally help you reach your fitness or health goal. They are your “heart meals” like I typically like to call it, each of us having a little part of our palettes in our hearts, however …
And these are important. Food has a deep connection with our psyche, our memories and our happiness quotient that spreads wide wings when we indulge and eat what our heart desires. And that feeling is pure bliss. Never let it go. Weave it cleverly into your routine to keep your efforts going and sustaining!
But how do you do this without damaging all that you have worked for, the exercise, the food regulation, the portion control which finally paved the way for good results?
Cheat meals: A diet disaster or metabolism booster? Get expert insights from Anupama Menon, top Nutritionist in Bangalore, on balancing indulgence & health!
- Remember that a cheat meal is a reward for your hard work and effort to keep your fitness goals going. So plan for it, but do not fret over it. You have eaten right throughout the week, a cheat meal or two in the weekend cannot and will not take over your life! But, but, but that also means that throughout the week you have to be careful not to reach out to anything, not that little piece of chocolate luring you from the refrigerator or that “1 teaspoon” of mixture that looks harmless. Leave your cheat for one or two blocks of 2-3 hours where you indulge in what you want to eat. Do not scatter them in little minuscule pockets through that week. Keep it compact.
- Do not cheat through the weekend. The weekend typically comprises of 7 main meals lasting from a Friday night to a Sunday night. So if you work hard at your food routine through the week and cheat throughout the weekend, that’s 30% of your week that’s been washed down without any regulation. This won’t work and will ruin your pace towards your goal!
- During your cheat, eat without guilt, eat without moderation, eat as much as you want.
Your otherwise fitness and food eating practices will have naturally shrunk your stomach capacity to a healthy limit. Hence you may not be able to eat as much as you may want to, as you may visualize in your mind’s eye. But when you tell yourself without guilt that you are going to cheat and eat whatever of and how much ever of anything you want, it send a very positive vibe to yourself, satisfying your cravings and setting you free in your mind that this lifestyle is sustainable and not a binding!
There will now be never a question of “how long can I do this”? - Make sure that in your food routine your digestive and gut health is taken care of. This is uber imperative. If you digest well & have a great gut, remember that not only will your health multiply manifold but your body will be able to handle your cheats well too! So add in those probiotics, bring on those healthy spices like ginger, cinnamon and cloves, think nothing of drinking 3-3.5 litres of water a day and infusing your water with veggies and fruits.
- Last but not the least, always remember that your body gets used to what you get it used to. When you cheat twice a week and yet achieve your goals, your confidence soars. Remind yourself then that sustainability is as important on a healthy path as the goal itself.
So get your body used to the cheats, after all you are eating healthy 19 meals a week which is a sure majority to the two innocuous cheats saved up for the week!
Life is a pleasure and food is an essential part of who we are and how we feel. When we eat, we can be careful, not guilty. Guilt and food just cannot hold hands, all we need to do is find a way to reward ourselves as we remind ourselves at the same time that it’s all about finding the right balance.
