Thursday, January 07, 2010

Cheat Meal Tips

If I had to name one thing that was the cause of the demise of so many New Year's Resolutions, I'd have to say:

Football.

Oh, and Awards show parties too.

Why? Because that is where the diet comes tumbling down, right?

But a football/Oscar awards "cheat meal" doesn't have to be the meal that derails your progress.

A 'cheat meal' (or reward meal, as I prefer) can be a valuable component of your program. It can be the biggest factor in helping you stick to the lifestyle for life.

Just check out this advice I gave to a new TT Member on the forum yesterday...

Question:
I'm 7 days into the transformation contest and its going well. I still need to work on portion control but I am eating whole,
natural foods. I've decided to have my cheat meal tonight while watching the BCS Championship (college football) with my wife. 

She wants Hooter's wings (LOL). Are there any guidelines on what you reccomend for cheat meals (besides a healthy meal). I'd love to have the wings and some beer but I don't want to crash a good start.

Answer:
Great question.

Very simple guidelines.

1) Enjoy the meal WITHOUT guilt. It's just one meal.
 
2) But NO "gorging" or going back for 2nds. You just get one round of food to enjoy - so eat and drink slowly. No gluttony allowed.

3) Once it's over, get right back on track. No feeling bad. In fact, you should feel good - after all, you just REWARDED yourself.

And be prepared in advance that you don't "relapse" after the meal. Make sure you have plenty of healthy alternatives for snacking if you still are hungry later in the evening so that you don't go back to the leftover wings.

Also, with respect to rule 2, everyone needs to make sure they haven't "bottled up their desires" so that they end up going on a binge fest. Its not about binging, its about rewarding.

That's why I like the term "reward meal" rather "cheat meal", even though it sounds totally dorky.

Anyways, apply those 3 rules without guilt, and enjoy the game!

And no matter who wins, at least it isn't the Gators.

(And I just opened up the floodgates for angry emails from Florida fans right there, didn't I?)

Have a great weekend,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

3 comments:

Advanced Personal Fitness Trainer said...

A 'cheat meal' (or reward meal, as I prefer) can be a valuable component of your program. It can be the biggest factor in helping you stick to the lifestyle for life.Thanks fopr sharing this information.

Acai Berry said...

Interesting read, yes “reward meal" sounds better than "cheat meal". If you take is as a reward and eat it sensibly it will really help you to do better.

Acai berry said...

Many thanks for sharing these great tips. Everybody is wondering about weight loss, hope this will help. Would you like to discuss about how to gain good weight. Sounds abnormal, but I’d praise your efforts.