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Cheatmeal (Cheat Meal) and refeed (Refeed) is called a planned short-term violation of the diet. According to scientists and nutritionists, the more comfortable the diet, the easier it is to stick to it. A balanced diet that includes a wide range of foods – whole grains, meat, poultry, eggs, fish, vegetables, fruits and dairy products, as well as the presence of a small proportion of sweets in the diet – makes a comfortable diet. Cheat meals and refeeds can help you make prohibited foods part of your weight loss strategy.
Cheat meal: advantages, disadvantages and recommendations
Cheat meal is a planned meal for which you choose what you have long wanted. If you are restricting carbohydrates, then choose high-carbohydrate foods, and if you are restricting fat, then you can afford a high-fat meal. Of course, if you’ve been eating a healthy, calorie-deficit diet, just allow yourself to eat your favorite forbidden food.
Advantages:
- Psychological relief – eating a “forbidden” product without anxiety, you calm down internally and understand that the food will not disappear, you do not forbid yourself anything, but only follow certain rules.
- Reduced stress – If you have tightly controlled your diet and exercise for several weeks, you have accumulated enough stress, and with it the hormone cortisol. Cortisol causes fluid retention, so your weight may seem to be standing still. Cheat meal can help reduce stress and cortisol levels, as well as cope with fluid retention.
Disadvantages:
- The risk of losing control over yourself, which will block all efforts;
- Discomfort and bloating after eating food that is not typical for the diet.
Recommendations for a cheat meal
If you are afraid that you will lose control over yourself and eat twice as much, then cheat outside the home – in a cafe or restaurant. There, you certainly won’t order a few main courses and three desserts on top.
The best time for a cheat meal is dinner. Chances are good that eating the forbidden fruit in the morning will make it difficult to stick to your diet for the rest of the day.
For better appetite control, be sure to include healthy foods in this meal – a low-fat protein source and salad.
Lyle McDonald, a world-renowned nutritionist, suggests limiting free food intake in time – up to 60 minutes. This allows you to self-organize and not turn cheat meal into hours of eating. Plan your cheat meal ahead of time. Planning helps you stay in control.
And finally, how often can you cheat. If there is a lot of excess weight – the body mass index indicates severe excess weight or obesity, then you should do a free meal no more than once every two weeks. If the weight is within normal limits or the BMI indicates a slight excess weight, it is optimal to cheat once a week.
Refeed: advantages, disadvantages and recommendations
If a cheat meal is one meal, then a refeed can last up to three days. Refeed is done with carbohydrate foods and fat is cut as much as possible. That is, you won’t be able to afford a large serving of ice cream, but you can enjoy a large plate of pasta. Carbohydrate loading is advisable on low-carb diets. The amount of carbohydrates for the refeed rises to 3-5 grams per kilogram of body weight. If you are unsure of how your body reacts to high amounts of carbohydrates, it is best to start with a minimum.
Advantages:
- Psychological relief and stress reduction;
- Replenishment of muscle glycogen stores, which will allow you to train harder;
- Stopping catabolic processes and maintaining muscle mass;
- Stabilization of hormonal levels – increase leptin, reduce ghrelin and cortisol.
Disadvantages:
- Short-term fluid retention after consuming large amounts of carbohydrates. Nutritionists recommend not weighing yourself for three days;
- Risk of loss of self-control.
Recommendations for a refeed
To get the most out of your refeed, you need to deplete your glycogen stores. Do a full-body strength workout prior to a carb load. Perform each exercise in 2-3 sets of 12-15 repetitions.
If you are doing a refeed for the first time, then by the amount of carbohydrates, be guided by 3 g per kilogram of your weight, but fats should not go beyond 50 g. Keep proteins in the range of 1,5-2 g / kg.
The frequency of the refeed depends on the type of low-carb diet and your weight. Overweight people are advised to refeed for one day every 10-14 days. Normal weight people can do a carbohydrate load one day every 7-10 days.
Remember that a cheat meal is one small meal. You don’t need to check your stomach for strength, trying to figure out How long food will fit in it. If you choose Meadovik for your cheat meal, eat one bite, not the whole cake. Likewise a refeed, if you’ve been on a low-carb diet, then you need to increase your carbs, not eat a ton of protein and fat. And since the refeed is longer, choose healthy carbohydrate sources that you’ve been denying yourself – sweet fruits, potatoes, pasta.