When is the best time to have a cheat meal?
When should you have your cheat meal?
Weight loss may surely require you to cut out the fried, processed and calorie-laden, sugar foods but it’s okay to give in to temptations once a while. Call it a cheat meal or a once-in-a-while indulgence, it’s alright to give in to your cravings while you are on a journey to lose weight. Be it chole bhature, pancakes, gooey chocolate cakes or biryani, everyone has a favourite cheat meal they find hard to refuse.
Benefits of having cheat meals for weight loss
Cheat meals have also been scientifically proven to help a person stay fixated on the goal laying ahead in front of them. Eating the same kind of food can also bore you out. Psychologically, they help you stay focussed. Diet-wise, they can also work in a way to rejig your slow metabolism, which can happen once you hit a weight loss plateau.
However, the golden rules of weight loss enforce that high-carb, sugar are best avoided late at night. Then, what really is the best time to have a cheat meal for optimum weight loss?
What are the things you should look for when you are having a cheat meal?
The time you have your cheat meal matters
The time you have your meals is crucial for speeding up metabolism, and, in turn promoting weight loss. The same applies to the cheat meals you have.
Now, while most of the cheat meals are usually high on carbs, calories and sugar, eating them at night is not always wisest. Instead, what experts suggest is to have something of your diet during the first hours of your morning, or during the daytime. If you do take into consideration the time of your cheat meal, it may help you accelerate fat loss and toning up.
Here's why
The reasoning behind this lies in the way our body processes food.
According to science, our metabolism is comparatively faster during the daytime, in comparison to the night. A better-functioning metabolism empowers the body to burn calories faster in the morning than in the evening.
There are also some other reasons why it is suggested to keep your dinners light and have larger meals during the day. For example, foods high in sugar may shoot up blood glucose levels higher during the nighttime than the day. Hence, a lot of nutritionists recommend people to practice the art of chronobiology, i.e. to arrange the food they are going to eat as per their calorie content, and occurrence of time. Adopting smarter strategies such as these can help in better and more efficient weight management and minimize health complications too.
What are the other benefits?
Cheat meals had during the latter half of the day may also be difficult to digest and unload additional problems.
If you have something heavy on carbs, which, you may no longer be used to, it can induce digestive distress and cause problems like stomach aches, acidity, nausea. Too many high-carb foods had in unmoderated quantity can also make it difficult for you to sleep well, which again, is crucial for weight loss.
It also depends on the type of food you are having
Again, having a cheat meal isn't a bad decision. However, it's important to take into consideration the type of foods you do choose to eat.
Not practising portion control with cheat meals is one of the biggest problems weight watchers can make and may even undo the efforts of their weight loss plan.
Even when you do have a cheat meal, your focus should be on finding a meal that has richer nutrients, or something from all food groups. For example, if you do choose a heavy-carb meal, ensure there's some protein that you are scoring with it too. As tempting as they really are, avoid having something that's heavily processed or contains chemicals.
Starving yourself ahead of the cheat meal isn't a good idea too. It can make you more hungry, and make you overeat. Also ensure that you have plenty of water, and do include exercise to burn off those excess calories.
How many cheat meals should you stick to?
It's okay to cheat on your diet as long as you don't overdo it.
Going by the rule book, you should aim to eat healthy 90% of the time, leaving the rest 10% for snacking and other indulgences. If you eat 2-3 times a day and are able to maintain a calorie deficit, allowing room for a small cheat meal won't do you much damage.
Remain conscious of the number of calories you eat and go accordingly. Allowing for 1-2 cheat meals a week, or compensating with other meals of the day can help you stay on track. Just remember to let your cheat meals turn into cheat days, i.e., have more cheat meals or bigger quantities than you should have in a day.