The thing that I find is the most successful part of any healthy eating plan is the allowance of cheat meals.
Taking out the opportunity for this might work well for a couple of days then the motivation wanes and you drive yourself crazy, say stuff it and just go to town and eat whatever you want.
Hello excess belly fat.
Definitely not the perfect scenario when you are trying to optimise your fat loss results is it?
Make sure your cheat meals are worth it and not this type of rubbish!
What I am about to share with you was formerly a secret in my Aussie Fatblast Secret Guide to Smart Eating.
For the full explanation of eating for fat loss success and the bonus 13.5 healthy recipes in 13.5 minutes or less it really is worth the small investment (you’ll get change out of $50) in the program alone just for those 2 reports.
The rule I like to have for cheat meals is to allow a maximum of 4 cheat meals each week as part of a regular healthy eating plan.
Yes! Bread Is A Cheat Meal
Some people won’t even need that many but I definitely recommend you indulge yourself – it won’t sabotage your success, more like ensure it.
There is a big but though.
If you eat less than 6 meals a day, say only 5 meals you will only be allowed 3 cheat meals a week.
The simple rule of thumb is to apply a 90-10 rule.
90% of your foods must be clean, healthy food choices.
10% can be whatever you like.
A cheat meal comprises of anything like this:
• Alcohol
• Foods that contain artificial sweeteners
• Foods containing gluten and wheat
• Most foods containing trans fats
• Soft drinks
• Fruit juices
• Most simple carbohydrates
• Low fat or fat free foods
Go Easy On The Beers
Foods that do not comprise a cheat meal are those foods that should comprise the majority of any healthy eating plan:
• White Meat like Turkey, Fish and Chicken
• Lean Red Meat
• Salmon/Tuna
• Beans like Red Kidney Beans and Mixed beans
• Chick Peas
• Eggs (including the yolk)
• Unsalted Nuts like almonds, cashews etc.
• Water
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Avocado (although could technically be included above, I think it is a great source of healthy fats and is a must have in your diet)
• Brown Rice – eat on your training days and not on a rest day
Oats/porridge is okay for breakfast unless you are gluten intolerant.
A lot you will not be happy to learn that a cheat meal will include anything that has wheat or gluten as part of the ingredients.
To find out why wheat is so bad check out the War on Wheat video.
It will be a challenge but how much do you want to lose your body fat? Trust me on this one.
I’ll even make a compromise with you.
If you do not have a known reaction to any wheat or gluten products, once you get to your ideal weight you may re-introduce it gradually into your diet starting with once a day.
If your body doesn’t blow out again when you add it back in, you can keep it there but ideally try and go without it except for those cheat meals.
The biggest cheat meal is definitely alcohol.
As good as having a drink tastes, alcohol is unfortunately just empty calories that will only hinder your weight loss mission.
It is not unusual for people to have a drink with dinner each night. This will definitely add to the kilos that are piling onto your expanding frame each year, especially if you are a binge drinker (anything more than three or four drinks a day).
If you decide to have an alcohol free month, I find, and so do most people I talk to that do the same, that the first week is the hardest because you are trying to break the habit of just having a drink either watching the footy or when you’re out for dinner just because.
Not for any reason in particular. Once you get over the first week it is a lot easier to manage.
Just like starting any new habit, it takes a little bit to get used to and the first week of any new habit will always be your hardest.
Try and limit your drinking to just one cheat meal a week, maybe two or three drinks for dinner on a weekend.
Other cheat meals are also obvious like pizza, hamburgers, chocolate, ice cream, other sweets – even sorbets which as just sugar.
I definitely don’t recommend people to have a cheat day where you can just go stupid and eat whatever you want.
This calorie overload will just be too many extra calories for you to burn off. Just stick to the four cheat meals.
I like to save my cheat meals to a weekend only. So I might have two cheatmeals on Saturday and two on Sunday for example. Some weeks I might only have two or three total in a week.
You choose whatever works best for you.
The best thing about this practice is it allows me to stay focused during the week and gives me something to look forward to on the weekend.
Let’s say I have a get together with mates coming up on the weekend, I know that I can train my butt off during the week and stick to my eating plan with a 100% success rate, and then go out and have a beer or two with my mates or indulge in a slice of cheesecake with family and not feel guilty.
I know come Monday morning that I have not blown out and put on three kilos after a big bender of a weekend and I feel good and ready to get back into my weekly routine.
A final tip for you regarding cheat meals is to schedule a workout before you know you are going to have a cheat meal.
Say you have a Saturday night out for dinner or you are at a party and you don’t want to follow your regular eating plan you can go out on Saturday afternoon and train with a big Aussie Fatblast type session.
At the end you will be looking forward to that drink or treat and know that you have earned it.
The drink will always taste better after you have earned it!
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