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Will a cheat meal affect my progress? and Is a cheat day better for my body?

Updated: Jul 11, 2021

As most of the humans in the world have shifted to a healthier lifestyle with strict and studious exercising routines and a well-drafted diet regime there has been a sudden surge in the fitness culture among humans. Consider the situation just 10 years back where there ever was not a mobile application offering exercise routines and meditation tools. That's not the case now we have numerous Apps, fitness trackers, and body fluid monitoring devices and many more help us to stay fit more and more adding up to the longevity of the human race. As the fitness culture has improved so are the aspects surrounding it, one is the case applications which I mentioned above, fitness equipment has shown a sudden growth among the purchase, the employment levels in the fitness industry have improved, and many more. Today there is a high demand for gym instructors, trainers and yoga instructors all around the world and many are choosing it as a career option on a full-time basis.


Today we live in a world where a person exercises at least twice a week and there are ones who work out two times a day. As the culture has widespread the methodology and the terms used have changed. One such ideology which was established quite recently or it can be said was long before but was coined is Cheat day. You might have read about Dwayne Johnson cheat day or videos of it where he eats giant bacon cheeseburgers on YouTube. So what is a cheat day? the term widely popular among the fitness community that most people are following it. Let's find out what it is.


What is a cheat day?

The ideology is simple where you eat for 6 days straight sticking to your right regime where you monitor your food intake and the level of nutrients and proteins along with the calories you consume. In addition, you stick with a regularized exercising routine that you follow for the entire six days. During these six days, anything such as snacks, processed foods, fried, canned food items, desserts, alcohol, anything that falls into the category of junk foods is totally off the table and you have to stick with it.

So what is a cheat meal? And what is involved in a cheat day diet? A cheat day meal during a strict diet regime is providing you the freedom to consume whatever you want but by temporarily breaking the rules of the diet plan. Finally, on the seventh day, you let yourself loose where you eat the entire things that were off the table that I mentioned above. Anything that falls into your comfort food category will come under the cheat day meals. You can unwrap the things in your freezer, have a drink or a couple of beers but always remember to keep it under control and don't tip the iceberg.


Is a cheat meal better for my body?

Studies have described that when you overload your body with carbs and high calorific food intakes for a day nothing much will change to the human body and doing it now and then just as Cheat days will neither have long term benefits and effects on your body. However, you will have certain short-term setbacks right after a cheat day.


Improvement in Metabolism is out of the picture as you would not gain metabolism by having a cheat day as the calories you burn no matter how much you consume will be staying in a normal percentage. The human body does not function in a way where the more calories you consume the same energy is exerted on our daily activities to burn them. What you will achieve is severe stomach aches and laziness due to over-consumption. Consuming large amounts of food in a short amount of time is always bad for your stomach. The chances of you getting a stomach ache is high. Additionally, Overconsumption adds up to the aspect of feeling sleepy and the people are set to a moody situation of inactivity.


How can Cheat days be favourable to us?

The first step is to understand your body and plan your cheat day diet accordingly, you should consider your exercise regimen, your diet and then consider what to consume during a cheat day. Although, the process of taking a cheat day or eating a cheat meal cannot bring in substantial benefits it can be beneficial for certain people. The ideal way is to take up smaller portions of your cheat meal rather than slamming a high-calorie pizza on cheat day and experiencing overeating for two or three days.


This will ensure that you are not entirely disrupting the diet plan that you follow and pave the way for the intake of certain comfort food. Moreover, a well-planned cheat day will ensure that you are not feeling fatigued after it and maintain the metabolism as well as your activity potential at the same level throughout the day and the coming ones.


How to recover after a cheat day?


Recovery is one of the primary aspects of any regime you are following, just like Cristiano Ronaldo focuses on muscle and body recovery right after a game or an extreme exercise session. Considering cheat days you should also see the vitality of recovery after it, there are many ways that you could get back on track and the primary one is to exercise and fall back into the regime. You should get back to your daily routines by starting slow and gradually pacing up. Stay with yoga where your muscles are stretched back and you burn a lot of calories.


A good walk after a heavy meal will help you to relax and release the fatigue when your stomach is full. Being hydrated plays a key role in helping your food to digest as well as brighten your mood and always staying fresh. Never skip a meal and always have a healthier breakfast the next day after a cheat day which will keep you going and plan your food intake as per your requirement.

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