Weight loss definitely requires you to cut off fries, burgers, cakes, and cheese from your diet.
But people can only stick to their diet throughout the year. In fact, the secret to making your diet plan work effectively is to break them at times. That’s where “cheat meals” come into the picture.
Many people don’t believe that cheating on a diet once in a while can help reap more benefits than you might have thought. For them, infallible adherence to planned meals is the only way to achieve fitness goals.
However, the secret is an unerring implication of cheat meals for weight loss results.
You can use cheat meals for fat loss if you:
- plan cheat meals in a careful pattern
- stay mindful of your weekly calorie benchmark
- pay attention to what you are eating (hint: carbs are fine)
- control portion size
- choose healthier options
- drink but not overindulge
- don’t skip workouts
- time your meals
This blog makes you familiar with all these ways in detail so that by the end you know how to use cheat meals for fat loss.
Plus, I have also added some healthy meals you can add to your diet with guidance on how often you can cheat. Let’s get into it.
How to Use Cheat Meals for Fat Loss? – 8 Tips
A little widow to treat yourself will only serve benefits if done in the right way. It’s okay to eat off-plan, but there is always some room to make it better. Here’s how to modify your cheat meal for weight loss results.
#1. Plan Your Cheat Meals in Weekly Diet: The first and foremost thing to do is plan your cheat meals in your weekly diet. Allocating one or two cheat meals a week will help maintain calories throughout the week.
#2. Be Mindful of Calorie Intake: It is recommended to be mindful of calorie intake when you want to use cheat meals for weight loss. Make sure to eat within your set calorie consumption for an entire week so that it doesn’t offset your dietary efforts at the end of the week.
#3. Focus on High Carb and Low Fat Diet: Focus on carbs to boost your energy levels rather than fat storage. Eating carbs already slows down the fat-burning process and stores dietary fat as body fat. Therefore, it is better to choose carbs over fat during your overeating process.
#4. Consider Portion Control: If you don’t know how to use cheat meals for fat loss, simply follow portion control and stop overindulging. It is important to remember that it’s a “cheat meal not cheat day”. If you don’t want to blow your diet, eat half a portion of what you’re craving.
#5. Make Your Cheat Meals Healthier: Avoid picking nutrient-poor food as it only makes you hungrier. Cheat meals should not mean compromising the nutritional value. Include more protein, fiber, and carbs.
#6. Drink in Moderation: Alcohol consumption affects weight loss and slows down the fat-burning process, increases fat storage, and accelerates the conversion of carbs into fat. It is, therefore, important to remain mindful and choose low-calorie drinks.
#7. Don’t Skip the Workout: Cheat meals should not be combined with skipping gym and workouts. Make sure to work out before and after stuffing your face with your favorite cheat meals. The process helps increase the metabolism and refills the glycogen stores rather than storing fat, and thus there is fat loss.
#8. Choose the Right Time for Cheat Meals: Consider the cheat meal time to accelerate your fat loss process. Cheat meals are usually high in carbs, calories, and sugar. Therefore, it is better to choose daytime for cheat meals when metabolism is faster.
Considering these tips will make you use cheat meals for fat loss and achieve weight loss results faster.
Cheat Meals for Fat Loss – Benefits
Cheat meals are a part of your diet that allows you to break all the rules and indulge in your favorite foods.
While consuming cheat meals, you don’t have to stick to your eating schedule, diet recipes, and even quantity control.
It may sound like cheat meals can throw your weight loss regime off track. But what if I tell you, you can use cheat meals for weight loss? Surprising, right?
Well, in reality, a cheat meal benefits the entire fat-loss regime, and there are multiple ways it works.
There are 2 ways in which cheat meals work for fat loss benefits.
#1. Gives you a psychological break: Planned cheating once a week can lower the stress hormone and also improve your appetite hormones.
#2. Resets the hormone levels: Cheat meals replenish the muscle glycogen levels, intra-muscular fat, and leptin levels. Increased leptin levels suppress appetite, burn more calories, and improve energy expenditure.
When implemented properly, a slight increase in calories and carbohydrates can offer weight loss benefits that can be far superior to dieting all along.
Apart from this, it is equally important to consider how frequently you can include cheat meals.
How Often Should You Have a Cheat Meal?
Set the calorie consumption of your entire week and allot not more than two cheat meals in a week. More than 2 cheat meals will reduce your calorie deficit and increase your calorie surplus, leading to fat gain.
A cheat meal once a week for weight loss is most considerable.
The easier way to attain cheat meal benefits is to follow the 80/20 rule. This means 80% of your meals should be healthy and cling to your diet plan, and only 20% should fulfill your cravings.
Adding to it, make sure to be mindful of moderation according to how close you are to achieving your fitness goals.
Now once you are done planning how much to eat and when, it is time to find out what to include in your diet plan in order to use cheat meals for fat loss and harness maximum benefits.
Best Cheat Meals Ideas for Weight Loss
Cheat meals do not necessarily mean you should eat everything unhealthy.
There are healthy cheat meal options that can fulfill your cravings, satisfy your taste buds, and still help you with the fat-loss process.
#1. Sweet Potato and Zucchini Fries Instead of Potato Fries
Switch to sweet potato fries that are rich in sodium, potassium, dietary fiber, and vitamin B6. You can also experiment with zucchini fries for a change.
#2. Frozen Yogurt Instead of Ice Cream
No doubt ice creams can melt your heart and are incredibly delicious. But they are loaded with sugar, calories, and fat. Instead, you can go for frozen yogurt, which is equally delicious and healthy. For more flavors, add your favorite fruits.
#3. Dark Chocolate In Place of Regular Chocolate
To use cheat meals for fat loss, prefer dark chocolates which are rich in magnesium, zinc, and compounds like flavonols, polyphenols, and, theobromine in the place of your regular sweet chocolates.
#4. Bran Muffins Instead of Cakes
It’s better to switch to bran muffins if you don’t want to reverse your fat loss efforts. Bran is healthy fiber and when accompanied with nuts, dry fruits, and healthy fats, it’s worth adding to your cheat meals list.
#5. Red Wine Over White Wine
Instead of white wine, choose red wine which is rich in antioxidants and can even help in increasing good cholesterol levels. Adding to it, red wine is also known to fight free radicals that, as a result, control blood sugar spikes.
Healthy cheat meals when consumed in moderation, keeping in mind the calorie consumption, can be an effective way to dodge its adversities. However, if you’re still concerned about your goals, here’s how long it takes to recover from it.
How Long Does It Take to Recover from a Cheat Meal?
First of all, it’s important to understand that cheat meals are an important part of your fat loss plan. Therefore, don’t rush into getting back on track immediately after you’re done feasting.
It normally takes 2-3 days to recover from a cheat meal. However, it depends on your efforts, BMI, and how well you have executed your cheat meal plan.
If you find planning cheat meals a complete hassle and want to get better results without having to diet extensively, there are also cheat meal alternatives.
Cheat Meal Alternatives
Cheat meal alternatives include fat burn and weight loss supplements that are made to accelerate the weight loss process. These alternatives suppress appetite so that you don’t get as many cravings, and there won’t be a need to keep your tongue under control.
You will naturally feel more satiated with your regular meals and thus will consume fewer calories as per your weight loss plan.
Here are two of the best cheat meal alternatives for you that effectively suppress appetite and even burn fat:
#1. PhenQ
When looking for weight loss options, PhenQ tops the list. It is hands down the most popular weight loss supplement among those trying to lose pounds.
It also crushes cravings which is most difficult to handle when you’re on a weight loss calorie deficit diet plan. Considering its popularity, PhenQ is also sold on third-party sites. However, to get the original product, buy PhenQ online from its official website only.
The new PhenQ formula includes Innoslim, B vitamins, and iodine in addition to 5 other ingredients that target the 5 areas of metabolic health altogether. So, make sure your bottle contains these ingredients and has the 100% original formula if you do decide to buy it.
Buying from the official website is recommended because then the product ships directly from the manufacturer’s warehouse.
#2. Zotrim
Zotrim is yet another cheat meal alternative that entirely focuses on suppressing appetite. With just 5 ingredients, Zotrim outperforms prescription drugs that too without any strict dieting.
It is manufactured to help you break bad eating habits and control snacking. This way you can cut down your daily calorie consumption.
It is popular around the world for its insane results and has been selling for more than 20 years. The supplement is available in many countries and can be easily bought from the official website, whether you’re in the US, Australia, Canada, UK, France, or Germany. Zotrim Australia reviews have especially created quite some buzz with its results for Aussies.
So, if you are confused about how to use cheat meals for fat loss, just stick to portion control, and you can even try some appetite-suppressing weight loss pills to complement your diet. To witness better results, these FAQs might be of help.
FAQs
Cheat meals are a controversial topic. Many people might have doubts about how much to eat and what to eat. The discussion so far has hopefully helped you get answers to some of the questions.
More of the frequently asked queries related to cheat meals and how to use them for fat loss are discussed below.
#1. Can you do cheat meals while cutting?
Cutting is a critical phase and though you can do cheat meals during this phase as well, try to not include more than one cheat meal a week.
#2. Should I fast after a cheat day?
No, you don’t need to fast after a cheat day. But it is important to work out and get back on your healthy dietary plans.
#3. What happens after 1 cheat day?
There is an increase in metabolism and calorie burn. You also feel more relaxed psychologically and will be able to work out in a better mood.
#4. Should you have cheat meals or cheat days?
Both strategies are good, but it is much better to go for cheat meals because it is easier to distribute your daily calorie consumption that way.
Use them appropriately, and cheat meals can be your biggest support in boosting fat loss. Just pay attention to what you do eat, and even if you slip and load on some savory but not-so-healthy foods, don’t dwell over it and get back on track as soon as possible.
If you really have a hard time managing your cravings, try weight loss pills that contain appetite suppressants. Most of them have chromium for weight loss or glucomannan which is essentially a fiber that will keep you full.
So, don’t shy away from indulging in your favorite munchies every once in a while. Just because you need to lose weight, it doesn’t mean you will have to forsake life’s simple pleasures. So, try having a healthy balance of health and taste. Happy cheating!