In honor of September 1st and *Cheat Meal Day* I want to write you a little blurb about cheat meals and WHY they are so important. Don't roll your eyes... it won't take long.
Most people tell you to have a cheat meal once a week ... I've even heard 2x a week... which is a total nope for me. There is no way I could come back from splurging 2x a week. I actually chose to wait an entire month for this particular cheat day because I wanted to put a significant distance between it and my old way of eating. I wanted to have some strength behind my determination... I needed to feel like I could walk away when it was over and get right back to work.
Here's the deal... a cheat meal - high in carbs and high in calories - will actually jump-start your metabolism. Listen up folks... I'm about to drop some knowledge on you... there are 2 hormones in your body related to this sort of thing - leptin and ghrelin. I read all about them and it literally blew my mind... how have I not known these things in my adult life?? I can't even put it all into one blog... it would take too long to explain it and honestly I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it all. Regardless... I've provided a couple of links for you to read up on it yourself... and you should... if you struggle with your weight at all. In a nutshell leptin signals your brain to inhibit hunger so that you don't feel the need to eat when your body doesn't need the energy - the levels of leptin in your body will go up or down based on your caloric intake. When you lose weight your leptin levels go down... which makes your body crave more food - which it turn makes it even more difficult to continue to lose weight. Ghrelin is the "hunger hormone" that stimulates your appetite.
All About Leptin
All About Ghrelin
So why did I enter into the land of hormones and wreck your brain? Because of the cheat meal. Studies show that cheat meals replenish these hormone levels back to their normal state - which is super important because you want to eat when you are hungry and stop when your body has had enough. These hormones, at normal levels in your body, do the right thing all on their own. Drastic changes, such as overeating or dieting (taking in significantly less calories) cause the hormone levels to go wonky... your cheat meal will reset the balance. You want these hormones doing exactly what they were meant to do - otherwise your body will literally be working against you when are trying to lose weight!
As if that isn't enough... why else should you cheat? Because your brain AND your body need a break! All of that worry and calorie calculating and meal planning and watching the scale fluctuate can wreak havoc on your mental state. It's important for you to take time to just indulge, otherwise it's exhausting and you'll come to resent everything about it. You're also going to need a way to maintain focus and stick to your 80/20 or 90/10 plan... however you're working it... it's tough. Knowing there's a light at the end of the tunnel makes it easier on you to go harder through that 80% or 90% and give it your all.
One more reason why a cheat meal is OKAY... your body will burn MORE calories in the 24 hours after your cheat meal than you have in awhile. Throw some bread on that carb deprived system and it's going to throw a party up in there! Your whole system is going to be like "OH... what do we do with this madness!!!!??? BURN IT!" And your body will be a wheelin' dealin' carb crushing machine. You are forcing your body to burn those calories and re-booting your metabolism instead of allowing your body to adjust to the lower calorie intake ... which can lead to a plateau... and NO BODY in this room wants that.
Here are the rules... well, here are my rules...
2 hours. That's the time frame... you get 2 hours to eat whatever you're going to include as your "meal". So basically... you best have you a plan.
Don't die. Don't eat till you puke or eat so much you feel like you might die. It still needs to be worth it.
Now... if I ate a cheat meal each WEEK I would be a little more careful with my choices... but since it's been a month... I'm eating what I want... no regrets.
So, as I mentioned before a couple of friends asked if I could provide my weekly menu ahead of time. Our menu is a bit different, I guess, because I don't cook EVERY night. I typically do cook Saturday and Sunday evenings and then we eat those leftovers Monday & Tuesday. Every other Wednesday is my "Shopping Day" - I go to Walmart & Harris Teeter (for produce and sales) and then I'm whipped so shop day is also eat out day 'cause Mama ain't cookin'! It's also a bit different than most families because Clint is a vegetarian (he does eat fish and shrimp) and Renn and I are not... so sometimes I will make 2 meals ... but I try to make sure one is pretty simple ;)... for instance Saturday on this menu I'll be making Clint's dinner but throwing mine and Renn's in the crockpot.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Meal Plan for the week...
Breakfast: Breakfast Quesadillas (Clint) / LadyBoss Shakes (J)
Lunches: Vegetarian Taco Jar (Clint) / so this is the basic recipe I follow but I get low carb tortillas, use reduced fat cheese and greek yogurt cream cheese to tone it down Chicken Enchiladas (J)
Snacks: veggie tray from Costco (yes, I'm cutting corners!), nuts, fresh fruit, rice cakes with nut butter and protein balls... I'll use this recipe Monster Protein Balls but replace the M&M's with dark chocolate chips.
Sunday: Mediterranean Potato Hash
Monday: Salmon Burgers & Stir Fry veggies
Tuesday: Sunday night left-overs
Wednesday: Grocery pick-up - dinner out!
Thursday: Honey Garlic Shrimp over Wild Rice with roasted broccoli & zucchini
Friday: Thursday night left-overs, add stir fry veggies and/or protein pasta if needed
Saturday: Lemon Garlic Orzo w/ Roasted Veggies (Clint) / Crockpot Beef & Broccoli (J and R)
Sunday: Baked Eggplant Parmesan with Salad
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