So, I read an interesting article today that a facebook page I follow linked up to. The article is entitled The Ultimate Cutting Guide and while I feel like it's geared more toward men, it brought up something interesting to me. At the end of the article, it talks about the necessity of having a dietary "cheat meal" - not one that is necessarily unhealthy, but one that is heavy in carbohydrates. The idea is to have a one-time increase in your caloric intake to increase your metabolism and keep it high and strong. The article suggests the following "schedule" for cheat meals:
There is no exact science here but I would quite simply start with some markers. If bodyfat is in excess of 25% there are no cheat meals as in the onset, someone at this level will make conscious and unconscious mistakes.
- 15 - 25% bodyfat I would look at implementing a cheat meal every 4-5 weeks.
- 10 - 15% bodyfat I would apply a cheat meal at least every 14 days without fail.
- 4 - 10% I would use a ‘re-feed’ or cheat meal every 7-10 days.
Well, depending on what gadget I use, my body fat is at about 17-18% right now. And being that today marks the beginning of Week 10, I find Saturday night to be reasonable: I had a ltitle bit of a cheat moment ;)
The important thing is to take into consideration your motives for cheating. Are you caving into temptation for a food you REMEMBER to be good, but aren't necessarily craving? Are you simply craving a food and feel you have earned it? For me, I've felt tempted various times along the past 2 and a half months but my absolute die-hard motivation to not half ass this journey has kept me on the straight and narrow. But interestingly enough, about 4 weeks into my program I had a particularly brutal workout and felt the need to cheat, and the same thing goes this past Saturday night, too. It was more a matter of listening to my body; it was begging for high-carb energy and fat.
The first time I caved in, I had no choice; my blood sugar levels were so low that I was about to pass out, so I ate thai food. Whatever, it was a one-time thing and I forgave myself quickly for it. But on Friday I had an enormous workout: a 90 minute round trip bike ride to the Santa Monica stairs, where I ended up doing 20 sets (and for the first 10, I did 25 curbside tricep dips before going up the stairs, and 25 twisted crunches on the Bender Ball before going back down them). The result was the following:
Then on Saturday I rode my bike to the beach and played volleyball all day, followed by riding my bike home and getting dinner with my bestest friend. I intended to have a "cheat meal" that night and get a bunch of sushi rolls. There is nothing I love better than an avocado california roll drenched in teriyaki sauce! And I was considering even getting a diet coke. But then I began to review all the ingredient of a diet soda and was turned off. Then, after looking over the menu at the Sushi restaurant, I ended up settling for a salmon salad and miso soup, just because it sounded so good! So much for a cheat meal!
On my way home, I still felt my body crying for simple (non-fruit) carbohydrates. I was considering getting a piece of cake at the local Whole Foods food bar when I instead remembered my favorite not-so-guilty treat of years past: THESE little suckers!
It was the greatest cheat meal I've ever had; so guilt-free (relatively speaking... despite these not really being "Eat Clean Diet"-friendly!), somewhat nutritious with their iron and a little protein and fiber... but coupled with a tall glass of nonfat milk, and this really hit the spot the way half a bag of Oreo's can but with a fraction of the dietary regret ;) I let myself have 2 servings and put the rest of the container into the freezer. the problem is, though, is that I don't like to throw away food, so now I hear those cookies singing to me at all hours when I'm home. I wonder what I should do with them?
Anyway, I think it's important to really analyze why you are having a cheat meal, and to make sure that whatever you eat, really hits the spot for your reason to cheat while still being a healthy alternative (if possible) and consumed in moderation. That little bowl of cookies super charged me, and I woke up ready to tackle the day on Sunday morning.
As for this week, I will continue to strive for cardio performance while also upping the weights I'm lifting in the gym. I'm afraid I may not be taking in enough calories in the day, and am considering re-analyzing my diet to see if I need to add more or less of something. I do feel a bit of a carbohydrate deficit lately, but possibly only because of three vicious back-to-back cardio days. One thing I have to say, is that I felt INCREDIBLY lean yesterday for the first time in a long while. People from all over have been complementing me - and not even just close friends, some are people who are completely unaware that I have embarked on this journey. They say that it takes 4 weeks for you to notice a difference, 6 weeks for close friends and family, and 8 weeks for the general public. So at 10 weeks, I feel I'm right on track.
10 weeks down, 16 left... Did I mention THIS happened? This is the lightest I've weighed in several years :)
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