The M&F - Cheat Sheet
Muscle & Fitness|October 2019
Does taking a break from eating clean really help you create your ideal physique?
Adam Bible
The M&F - Cheat Sheet

Cheat meals can serve as a beacon, with bacon cheeseburgers, greasy pizza, and ice cream sundaes singing a siren song that can help pull us through to the other side of pain, sweat, and cramps. These indulgences can also help break the monotony of eating grilled chicken breast, white rice, and broccoli, making the parameters of a strict diet a little more palatable. But do cheat meals offer anything aside from mental relief from a calorie-restricted diet?

DEFINING “CHEAT MEAL”

They’re not supposed to be a calorie free-for-all. Plowing through a bag of Ruffles and then a Hot Pocket and then a bag of Funyons is a binge, not a cheat. A better definition of a cheat meal, says Ali Gilbert, C.S.C.S., a men’s health coach in Greenwich, CT, and a Golf Digest Top 50 Golf Fitness Professional, “is to think of it as more of a free meal consisting of foods that would not be in somebody’s traditional dieting plan during low-calorie days.”

HOW DO CHEAT MEALS WORK?

Physically speaking, cheat meals serve to spike the metabolism and increase a hormone called leptin, which allows your body to mobilize fat stores and increase satiety, says Jim White, R.D., ACSM, owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios in Virginia. “Leptin is produced by fat tissue, and the hormone helps regulate your energy balance by inhibiting hunger,” he says.

Keeping your body in a calorie deficit can cause your energy levels to crash, and that means leptin levels will fall, slowing down your metabolism. “By sporadically boosting your calories, you encourage your body to burn calories more quickly instead of allowing it to adjust completely to a restricted diet,” White says. Gilbert adds that cheat meals can work on a psychological level, “because it can be tough to be on a continuous calorie restriction for X number of months.”

This story is from the October 2019 edition of Muscle & Fitness.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the October 2019 edition of Muscle & Fitness.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM MUSCLE & FITNESSView All
7 Things Fitness Insiders Want You To Know
Muscle & Fitness

7 Things Fitness Insiders Want You To Know

We asked seasoned coaches and trainers in the fitness industry for tips and advice that they wish all their clients and social media followers knew. From dispelling myths about training with injuries to assuming all box gyms suck, your training IQ is all but guaranteed to rise a few points after digesting these tidbits.

time-read
3 mins  |
April 2020
GRAGE AGAINST THE MACHINES
Muscle & Fitness

GRAGE AGAINST THE MACHINES

Fitness entrepreneur James Grage ditched the gym for resistance band workouts to spend more time with his family. Judging by his results, he won’t be returning anytime soon.

time-read
4 mins  |
April 2020
GO TO BED TIRED
Muscle & Fitness

GO TO BED TIRED

Forget brains, talent, or genetics. For Special Forces operator and former UFC fighter Tim Kennedy, hard work is the most important factor to a rewarding life.

time-read
4 mins  |
April 2020
FINE ART: CHISELING A COMPETITION-QUALITY UPPER BODY
Muscle & Fitness

FINE ART: CHISELING A COMPETITION-QUALITY UPPER BODY

How physique competitor Osamoje Imoohi shaped his mind and impressive body through fitness.

time-read
4 mins  |
April 2020
Light Up Your Legs
Muscle & Fitness

Light Up Your Legs

Juan Morel’s continued quest for bodybuilding’s top prize begins with his killer leg workout.

time-read
4 mins  |
April 2020
ROMAN'S SECOND REIGN
Muscle & Fitness

ROMAN'S SECOND REIGN

After being sidelined with leukemia in 2018, WWE Superstar Roman Reigns returned bigger and stronger—both inside and outside the ring.

time-read
7 mins  |
April 2020
COOL RUNNINGS
Muscle & Fitness

COOL RUNNINGS

To break out of his fitness funk, M&F ’s chief content officer, Zack Zeigler, challenged himself to complete a 5K, a 10K, a half marathon, and a 24-hour, 30-mile Spartan Race all in a week’s time.

time-read
1 min  |
April 2020
THE FUTURE OF STEROIDS
Muscle & Fitness

THE FUTURE OF STEROIDS

M&F explores the advancements being made to PEDs, emerging drugs, and what this all means for the future of bodybuilding and other sports

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2020
BRAIN FOOD
Muscle & Fitness

BRAIN FOOD

These seven foods will nourish your body and sharpen your mind.

time-read
3 mins  |
April 2020
THE MODERN RUNNING SHOE...DISSECTED
Muscle & Fitness

THE MODERN RUNNING SHOE...DISSECTED

More innovations have been made in the past decade to the running shoe than ever before, resulting in a product so efficient it was almost banned from all running events. Here are the major changes that have led us to the pinnacle of performance footwear.

time-read
5 mins  |
April 2020