Are Once a Week Cheat Meals Okay?

I like a good cheat meal. If you’ve been sticking to your diet during the week, a cheat meal will be pretty necessary once the weekend rolls around. You’ve been eating healthy and keeping up a good gym routine PLUS doing self care. Now what? Your body is going to be craving some “bad food.” The question is should you give in?

The answer is yes. Cheating on your diet IS OK. But how?!

Cheat meals allow you to get a break from the strict diet that you’ve been following. It’s a great mental and physical pause from eating herbed chicken breast and egg whites. But your body actually NEEDS the break. It helps it become stronger.

But does this mean? Should you drop what you’re doing and hit up McDonald’s? Not quite. Eating a fast food cheeseburger is good every once in a while, but think about how many calories you are consuming in one meal! Do you really want to do that to yourself?

It’s important to remember cheat meals should be done in moderation. Sometimes it’s easy for a cheat meal to turn into a cheat weekend, a cheat week and then all hell breaks lose and there is no turning back. What do you do then?

First you should realize your limits. Maybe you’re the type of person that likes to have everything in moderation. I’m not a fan of following a diet. It’s too constricting and I like things that are long term. But not everyone is about that life. Some like order and are able to eat well during the week, and have a cheat meal during the weekend and get right back on track. Big ups to those that can do this! Because it’s hard.

But if you’ve been doing this for a while you may have realized that binge eating and straying from your diet will not only mess with your stomach and appetite, but most importantly your progress. So this is the time to be honest with yourself. Which cheat meal lifestyle can you and your body really handle?

Here are a few options!

Option 1: You restrict yourself to having one cheat meal once a week, meanwhile participating in an efficient balanced workout program.

Option 2: Eat things in moderation. Have a little bit of everything (not fast food everyday) and make sure your workouts are on point. I try and have a mixed diet of “diet-like” food every other day mixed with foods I like and enjoy.

Whichever option you  pick, make sure that it’s something you can do long-term!