Five ways to have a successful cheat day

One of the most interesting days of your diet plan is the cheat day. This is when you curb your cravings by eating one meal outside of your daily diet. Cheat meals, however, can be quite unhealthy and can set your healthy journey a few steps back. At times, cheat days could make you gain weight depending on what you eat. If you intend to use the cheat day strategy, you first need to realize that cheat day methods are implemented differently for everyone's depending on an individual’s diet plan one and body metabolism.

In order to avoid having a poor cheat day and end up adding weight instead of losing, one should avoid picking meals that have a lot of fat. These few steps can help to guide you on how to have a successful cheat day.

Do not cheat when famished

People have a tendency of doing heavy exercises a day before their cheat day and severely restricting calories a couple of days before their cheat day. Even though creating a calorie buffer could be a good strategy for a cheat day, it can also end up backfiring in different ways. You might end up overeating if you have a cheat day when your body is deprived. Your body's metabolism might have dropped if you have been eating under 1,000 calories daily. This will cause your body to hang on to the cheat meal fat and use it as a survival technique which could lead to you adding weight rather than losing.

Have meals that are high in carbs and low in proteins

A meal that is high in carbohydrates and has moderate proteins can help you remain on track with your weight loss diet. Some cheat meals are better than others because carbohydrates have the greatest influence on leptin levels which help your body burn fat and help you feel satisfied. Proteins have influence on satiety because of their influence on appetite regulating hormones and on their high thermic effect. Digesting proteins requires more energy from your body than any other macronutrient.

Avoid fatty meals

Meals that are high in fat cause immediate fat storage compared to meals that are high in carbs. Dietary fats are stored in the body as body fat more efficiently than carbohydrates or proteins. For your body to turn a carbohydrate molecule into a fat molecule it uses a chemical process that burns energy in about 25% per gram of carbohydrate. The dietary fat is chemically similar to body fat and thus it hardly requires energy for conversion. Since fat is not very efficient in increasing leptin levels, you will miss out on the temporary metabolism boost. 

Control your portions

Controlling your portions when having a cheat day is key. Always order half of what you want to have since restaurants tend to serve a lot of food, this will be enough to satisfy your cravings and you will also be indulging responsibly. An appetizer size portion is enough to satisfy that craving without ruining your diet plan. Make sure you order carefully to avoid having the unhealthiest meal on your cheat day that will take you a couple steps back.

Drink a lot of water

Restaurant meals are high in sodium which throws off the antidiuretic hormones, which are the chemicals that control how much one urinates. They tend to leave you feeling bloated and dehydrated. You can replenish your body by having large glasses of water or by adding a few lemon wedges in your water.