Why I Think You MUST Have A Cheat Meal Each Week
Okay, so if there IS actually a bright side of eating healthy (which there totally is), it has to be the weekly cheat meal! I’ve been at this game far too long to have missed this point. It WORKS. And I’m going to explain why.
(PS - did you see me go LIVE with this topic yet? Join Fitness Coach Jennifer Stawarz’ VIP Foodies community to watch HERE.)
When you are on a healthy eating plan, have changed your lifestyle to eat real food and cut out all of the junk, something crazy happens in your body. It becomes SUPER efficient and actually notices that you’re feeding it less calories. So it adjusts and starts burning fewer calories. Makes sense. Except when you want to lose more weight, because then that sucks! Your metabolism actually SLOWS DOWN after a few weeks of eating well. Well, here’s where you trick your metabolism, ladies.
Once a week, you plan a cheat meal. Not only does it reduce your feeling of deprivation on your journey into your skinny jeans and allow you to stick to your plan, but it will temporarily increase your metabolism because - yasss there’s more food to digest for once! Get me? But of course, there are rules to live by with this.
You have to PLAN IT. It can’t just be a whim of “OMG I forgot to pack my lunch today so let me cheat”. No, just no. That’s not what I’m talking about. Plan it so that it becomes a reward, something you look forward to on your lonely quest toward healthy nutrition. Believe me, it’s lonely and when everyone else is talking about their beer and pizza, you can just smile and know that come Saturday night, you will pick your favorite indulgence too!
Which leads me to the next rule: Pick one area to indulge in. So, like you can’t say my cheat meal is going to be bread from the basket pre-drinks, 2 cocktails before dinner, a cheat dinner and then dessert. Too much!! It is not a cheat DAY. I like to advise that you can pick one area to cheat with - either 1) your meal, 2) you have dessert or 3) you have 3 cocktails but still eat pretty healthy. That’s fair right? And each Saturday night can be different so you’re always looking forward to the next cheat item. Spice it up, would ya?!
Rule number three: You have to actually be eating clean the entire rest of the time in order for this to work it’s magic. If your diet is not clean the rest of the week, your body won’t be shocked by the cheat meal and it will be, well, just more food. What’s also kind of smart to do is make sure you eat all of your nutrient-rich but low calorie foods on your cheat meal day leading up to it. For example, eat a green salad with protein and dress it with lemon juice and olive oil for lunch on a day when you know you will be cheating at dinner.
Hope you enjoyed this content! As always, if you are NOT a member of my VIP Foodies group, please join us for my Live Q+A Thursdays and bring your health and fitness questions!