The realisation

“I know you, you eat like a little bird during the week, and then stuff your face on the weekends with cheat meals”, my old time friend, said to me, a few weeks ago. My first instincts were shock and denial; I replied, that I always eat plenty.

But then I remembered, I used to be that girl. I would watch everything I ate during the week, then go crazy over the weekends, while out with friends socialising. In truth, it wasn’t easy to maintain my desired waist line whilst living in Italy, with all the culinary temptations surrounding me. The otherwise unmatchable variety of dishes, combined with the element of novelty, placed me in a guinee pig (try everything) position when eating out. My friends and colleagues would always want to make me try this or that, even sharing their plates with me as a sign of friendship. Without a double, I was a ‘yes’ girl to food!

Back then I was doing lots of exercise in the gym, swimming, kick boxing, however my nutrition was far from being appropriate for my level of the physical activity. I was basically under eating during the week, and binging during the weekends. In turn, training to fuel my eating. Sound familiar?

We all go through our own ‘discovery phases’ and I don’t think anyone has ever gone from ‘zero to hero’ in just one step. My journey from being that girl to someone more balanced is made of little steps forward, and quite a few steps back. And let’s be real, I am a work in progress, and always will be.

Concept of cheat meals

When I first came across the weekly ‘cheat meals’ concept, I of course embraced it, believing it was a ‘need’. An opportunity to take a break from the self-imposed, strict eating regiment. However, I was eating ‘clean’, so clean that my body would react very badly after each cheat meal. And often, that one cheat meal would turn into multiple cheats throughout the remainder of the day and possibly into the latter parts of the weekend. Therein laid the problem; I was cheating on my diet.

This added, the feelings of guilt and fear of ruining all my hard work, would set in and this would later make space for further ‘cheating’ . In my mind I was thinking that I ruined my diet so I may as well just keep eating. It would take days to recover from the successive cheat meals, and to go back to my meal plan. I felt sluggish, bloated, and constantly wanted more sugar.

Focused for your goals

Today I don’t do cheat meals anymore, but I ‘treat’ myself to varieties outside my usual meal plan. I’ve evolved to realize that I don’t need a cheat meal to reach my goals, or to stay motivated. More often, I personally prefer doing ‘refeeds’, in which I increase my calories in a calculated manner.

Enlightenment came when I started my first body building competition preparation (prep). I had to face the idea of packing on added muscle, and therefore some fat with it. For someone that never weighed more than 48-49 kg (105 -108 lbs) getting to the beauty of 55 kg (121 lbs), was more of a psychological journey than anything else. I took on a new understanding, relationship and approach with food. I started eating the proper amount of food that would help me grow, keep healthy, and be satisfied. Then I also learned that the concept of super clean eating can actually be a very dangerous path. That can easily lead to eating disorders.

Here are some little steps, ideas and tips, that I personally learned, and use in my journey towards a better relationship with food; with a particular focus on rewarding oneself with meals.

SMALL STEPS TO A BETTER TREAT-MEAL EXPERIENCE

1. Eat and train for better health. Let health be your “why” and let your bodies physical appearance be a byproduct.

My “why” is having a healthy, long life, so I can enjoy more time on earth with the people I love! Your reasons may be that you want to look better or loose fat. Remember though, that each of these reasons are just another way of conveying that you ultimately want to be healthy. We occasionally all get caught in the comparison game (me included), in our social media lives filled with images and hashtags like #bodygoals, and #gymmotivation, etc. It’s great to see motivated, strong people showcase their hard work. Sometimes though, these images and catch lines are misleading.

For example, you have no idea how long this person may have diligently worked hard in the gym, in order to have achieved such a great physique. I raccomend taking your own fitness progress photos regularly, and letting your personal progress be your own motivation. Research by PUBMED.GOV (2016) indicates that “excessive focus on the superficial aspects of weight loss could be mentally damaging, as it can enhance feelings of anxiety and encourage disorder eating tendencies, especially among younger women“. (A Systematic Review of the Impact of the Use of Social Networking Sites on Body Image and Disordered Eating, 2016).

2. Eat in moderation when having a treat-meal. As I said, I used to over do it and I know many others are on a similar path.

As a strategy, I plan my treat meal in advance, with consideration for timing, and quantity. I incorporate an awareness of the calories the treat-meal will deliver and limit my portions. If you decide to eat out for your treat meal, I encourage you to apply this mindfulness. The Journal of the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2018) cites that on average, a restaurant meal exceeds 1,205 calories.

3. As mentioned, planning your meals is fundamental.

If I have to eat out with a friend, consider looking over the restaurant’s menu ahead of time to have a rough idea of what you plan to choose. This will help find enjoyable foods and avoid wasting calories on a poor choice.

4. Don’t let anyone influence your meal plans.

I was raised very well by my mother. Respectful of others opinions and thoughtful to never offend. Setting boundaries is necessary for friends or family who are invasive of your meal choices. This can come in the form of shaming one for choosing to eat in a certain way. Even if it’s a treat meal, I am careful to make my own decisions and stay firm to my boundaries.

5. Depending on my fitness objective, I consciously decide to train before, or after my meal.

Training before my meal means that I can minimize fat gains, as my body is being depleted of glycogen/sugar stores. In this way, part of my meal will go replenish the sugar that my body burned up for energy. Training after my meal promotes muscle growth.

Note! Please don’t go to the gym next day, only to do crazy hours of cardio, thinking you’ll be burning the calories out. It doesn’t work like that. Trust me, I have tried this one too.

6. I try to stay away from the combination of ‘high fat and high carb’ meals.

On a treat meal, aim for high protein and carbs and keep your fats low. Never choose only fats and carbs as this creates empty calories. An example of this is a desert filled with sugar and fats. Even if it’s a treat, avoid empty calories! In the world of processed desserts this is no easy task.

7. I have at least 1 or 1.5 l of extra water after immediately after a treat meal to help reduce bloating.

8. As the extra carbs will draw in more water retention, I never weigh myself the day after a treat meal. For accurate results wait 2 to 3 days.

ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS FROM HAVING A TREAT-MEAL?

When we are on a caloric deficit for too long, sometimes our body will stop responding to the diet and ‘hit a plateau’. Besides being a reward, a treat-meal can help break through this plateau by boosting our metabolisms leptin’s levels. Leptin is the hormone responsible for signal to your brain, when to stop eating. When we are on a diet, leptin levels can drop due to the caloric restrictions and also as a result of the types of foods we are eating. Having a treat-meal from time to time will promote your body to produce more leptin than usual. Our system will be triggered to think there is an abundance of food and so it will start burning the fat reserves again.

Studies have also demonstrated that having that weekly treat can boost metabolism, improving the ability to stick to the diet plan. In contrast, I don’ believe everybody needs a weekly treat-meal in order to lose weight. Athletes and body re-composition individuals are better to follow a controlled, moderate re-feed, rather than an overwhelming meal.

If you’re not following your diet and training at least at a 90% for the week, you don’t need a treat-meal to boost you up. It will, most probably, only be adding extra calories.

Don’t expect to be perfect and get it right every time. You win when you never give up wanting to improve yourself and your health. And trust me, we are more powerful than our cravings for cheat meals!

LEVEL2FIT