To cheat or not to cheat...

I've done a lot of reading on fitness, weight loss, and dieting and one of the more controversial subjects is "cheat meals". In the world of bodybuilding, cheat meals do seem to be more accepted than those in conventional weight loss diet circles. As a matter of fact, I remember a few years back when I was doing Atkins and announced after a month of Atkins that I was going to have a cheat day where I eat whatever I wanted. It was one of the most active posts ever on the Atkins forum I belonged to.

One of the things I was firm about when I decided to transform my body this year was that I was going to have a cheat meal every week. The only thing I was indecisive about was what day of the week I would have the cheat meal on. I chose Friday since it is the end of the workweek.

Yesterday, at the end of my shift at the truck stop work at, I had the all-you-can-eat-ribs, garlic bread, and fries... it was very yummy. Oh and I had a few glasses of mountain dew.

So should one cheat when trying to lose weight ? I encourage other people who are trying to lose weight and improve the way their body looks to consider the facts:

• There's a school of thought which uses the drinking binge analogy: That is, if you are a recovering alcoholic and stop drinking and then all of a sudden decide to indulge one night, you'll relapse into your old ways. That's a valid point since many people do have some sort of food addiction. On the other hand, I don't think it's a really good analogy since your body doesn't need alcohol, while in a way, we are all "addicted" to food since we all need to eat every day. Food is a very unique temptation- you just can't get away from it. And telling someone that they can never ever have their favorite food is only setting them up for failure. Eating a cheat meal once a week is a way to practice for that happy day when you finally reach your goal and your body is where it should be. Then you'll be tempted to cheat all the time. They key is to decide in advance when to have your cheat meals, not to make them a spur of the moment decision. Then you are in control of the binge.

• There is some research which indicates that a cheat meal might not be all that bad and might be beneficial from a weight loss standpoint. Think of it this way: you've been taking in less calories than you've burned all week. Your body doesn't know you're trying to loss weight, instinctively it is going to eventually react as if there were a famine: it's going to slow down your metabolism, hold onto to its fat stores, and generally cause you to plateau. By breaking the diet periodically, you are telling your body there is no famine. I've done it before- where my weight loss stagnates and then I have a cheat day, gain a pound or two and then lose the weight I gained and then almost like magic I continue to lose weight again.
  

The key is to not feel guilty when you have your cheat meal- if you've been craving a certain food- go for it. If you want a soda with your meal- go ahead. And then when it's done and your stuffed, smile as you take your post-feast nap knwoing you just had a good meal and then maybe have a vigorous work-out when you wake up.

I enjoyed my all-you-can-eat-ribs yesterday, went home, took a nap, and then decided to do a one hour cardio session to burn off some of what I ate(20 minutes each on the elliptical, treadmill, and bike). I weighed myself this morning as I do every morning. I had the same exact weight as the day before, but my body fat went down .5%.

Weight: 224 pounds, Body Fat: 33.0%