Cheat Meals: What’s the deal yo?

You’ll notice that the title reads “Cheat MEALS” not “Cheat Days”. If you hadn’t, you are now acutely aware of it.

Nutrition is 80% of this whole fitness thing, in case you didn’t know that already. Exercise is merely the trigger, but the actual outcome is shaped largely by the foods you eat. Cheat meals ought to be a planned part of your nutrition and diet plan. The trick with utilizing cheat meals, in addition to the psychological benefit of gorging, is understanding how they really work and how they can actually be a positive aid in your fitness regime.

Let’s do some quick sciencing for your young minds first shall we?

Fact: You have a hormone in your body known as “Leptin” which has an integral role in regulating energy intake and expenditure. Leptin is largely fueled by the influx of sugars and carbohydrates into the bloodstream and directly boosts metabolism and fat burning in the body. Now that I mention that, it’s important to get back to the original point of it being a cheat meal rather than a cheat day. Leptin is a hormone that takes a single meal to spike its levels in the body and can take up to a week to drop; meaning that’s it’s easy to boost and remains with you for a while. Leptin is so important in fact, that people (or animals) who are unable to produce it or build up a tolerance to it are more likely to be obese!

This is Leptin. Say Hi Leptin! [Image source: Wikipedia]

You see, your nutrition should be clean 90% of the time in order to really supply your body with quality ingredients that end up producing desired results on account of your fitness regimen. Eating too much “junk” food would however result in a spiked insulin that can lead to increased fat storage and a heap of other ailments which can include diabetes on the long run. That’s the real trick in relation to cheat meals, it’s about giving it a boost every now and then so that you’re not constantly causing a spike in Leptin which would only result in increased tolerance and decreased efficiency.

Cheat meals, a once a day - once or twice a week - occurrence on the other hand, end up regulating your Leptin levels - which can take up to a week to drop - by raising them almost instantly. So this should be part of your nutrition arsenal, once or twice a week, in one of your day’s four to five meals, you should include something sinful, but don’t get too excited.

You see, a cheat meal, while a moment of indulgence that puts your mind at ease as much as it does your Leptin levels, does not necessarily have to mean that’s junk food. The trick with cheat meals is eating stuff that still provide some nutritional benefit of sorts. Think burgers, pizza or shawerma, just make sure it ticks off all the boxes in terms of the proteins, carbs and fats ratios so that you’re not just stuffing your face with a chocolate cake that - while absolutely delicious - isn’t doing you much benefit past the indulgence bit. Another thing to take into consideration is the quality of your cheat meal, have your burger, absolutely, but you should skip out on the fries. This ties back to the concept of benefit I just mentioned. French fries serve little nutritional benefit, I’d rather you eat sweet potato fries - but do try and skip on fried foods altogether is possible or at least make them yourself instead of going out to eat them or using processed pre-packaged versions.

[Image source: Twitter]

Plan your cheat meals ahead. Make them a joyous occasion. They are a reward for the mind as much as they are for the body. Two weeks ago, my cheat meal was a double burger from Mince with a side of sweet potato and a salad. The week after it was two shawerma sandwiches, this week it was 450 grams of sirloin steak with similar sides. Next week I’m planning to make tacos with shredded chicken and the whole Mexican shebang!

Cheal meals can be a powerful weapon in your arsenal, suffice that you understand how they work, their psychological and biological importance, and how you can utilize them for your benefit.

Oh, and do try and place them on the day of the week you’re actually working out you tub of lard.

Carbs are NOT the Enemy: Learn to Pick Your Friends

Quick show of hands (it’s a popular gimmick on this blog to ask for this you may have noticed) who here once went on a “No Carbs” diet? You? The lady in the back hugging a box of croissants? Sir, with the bread crumbs on his lips? Anyone else? Dandy.

We’ve all been there. At some point in time we stumbled across some TV report or online article that basically told us carbohydrates were the spawn of Satan and the reason why this world is the big clusterfuck it is today. It’s those motherfuckin’ carbs, man! You were sick of it, sick of how everything in your life was hindered by the presence of those delicious yet fattening bad boys. So you quit. You quit hard. You went cold turkey on their ass.

And you, more than likely; crashed.

There are many flawed reports and skewed infomercials you may have come across that promoted some new fad diet (think Atkins, Jenny Craig, etc.) which had you omitting entire food groups from your nutrition plan. All of those things are fucking ridiculous. The human body has evolved over the past few million years to consume proteins, carbohydrates and fats - all of which are basic building blocks to sustain life and provide energy in the feeble human body. It’s biology 101 really.

Carbohydrates are the body’s #1 source for quick energy as they are the fastest and easiest to breakdown for energy unlike fats or proteins which require more time and expended energy to breakdown into usable energy. That being said, not all carbs are created equal, there is such a thing as a “good” source of carbs and a “bad” one. The difference my dear readers, is in the hormonal effect it triggers.

It’s important to note that not everyone responds to carbs in the same manner. Some people’s bodies are very adept at utilizing carbs for energy efficiently while others aren’t so lucky, but believe it or not that may have more to do with the kind of carb they’re ingesting.

There are two main types of carbohydrates, simple and complex.

Simple carbs trigger a spike in your insulin hormone, which is the main hormone responsible for regulating fat storage in the body. Get your insulin levels peaking beyond a certain point, and BAM, all those lovely carbs you’re gorging on were just instructed by your body to be transformed into fat for storage.

Those bad boys are the reason you need new pants on a regular basis

Most people would assume that consuming simple carbs before your workout would be a smart thing to do since it delivers energy much faster and therefore can contribute to your energy during your workout. But that’s why you don’t carry medical degrees. If anything, simple carbs adhere to the very basic rule of “What rises must fall back down”. Simple carbs often lead to your body crashing after getting a literal “sugar high”.

Simple carbs are the ones you typically find in foods that are processed or refined such as sodas (soft drinks), white flour, corn/sugar syrups, processed candy of all kinds, and even fruit juice! Now that doesn’t mean you should avoid fruit, it just means you should eat it rather than drink it as blending fruits into juice crushes a lot of the fiber content which can help make the digestion of the fruit in question slower.

Complex carbs on the other hand do not cause a spike in the insulin as their energy content is slowly and gradually released rather than flushed at once like simple carbs. This means that complex carbs promote a stable level of insulin production which keeps it under control and doesn’t make your body go apeshit and have it trying to save fat in storage like it’s back in fashion.

Complex carbs on the other hand are excellent pre-workout food choices due to their ability to deliver energy in a sustainable manner throughout your workout and not leading to a spike in insulin and in so, avoiding the crash!

Complex carbs are formed of more natural and less processed types of foods which can include whole wheat/grains products, oatmeal, legumes, sweet potato (starchy foods), a wide variety of vegetables, raw nuts and so on.

I think you may be seeing a pattern here already in regards to what constitutes as simple and what constitutes as complex, that being how natural Vs. how processed it is. Fruits as the good Lord created them are natural, they do have some simple sugars but their fiber content prevents them from contributing to spiked insulin, fruit juices on the other hand (and let’s not get at the four tablespoons of white sugar you’re throwing into the blender along with them) have moved on from being natural into the realm of processed.

Many people think their options are limited when it comes to eating “healthy” but that could not be further from the truth. It’s about reading up on information, a little bit of research and making smarter choices.

What constitutes as complex carbs on my weekly diet?

• Sweet potato
• Rye bread (from TBS)
• Almonds
• Fava beans
• Oatmeal flakes
• Potato
• Mixed vegetables

If I were you I’d avoid the multi-grain/whole-grain Rich bake bread variety we have littered in our grocery stores, it’s more likely than not it’s just plain old white bread that’s been blended with a natural brown dye to give it the appearance of a healthier bread. It certainly doesn’t taste anything like any “real” whole wheat/grain breads I’ve had abroad or from select sources in Egypt. Although more on the pricey side, TBS and Paul are quite decent sources of whole grain loaves of bread and if you dice it up the right way you can easily go on with one loaf for an entire week.

I don’t even need to tell you that the last bullet point literally holds hundreds of options underneath its wings, so don’t come at me with that “Ugh I don’t know what to eat I’m eating the same stuff everyday I’m so sick of it!” bullshit. You’re not trying to diversify your menu son, and that’s your fault and your fault alone.

P.S. Just a passing thought. Anything, and I do mean anything, when consumed in excess will make you gain weight. It’s about being smart with your meal portions, sizes and frequencies and balancing your carbs with your proteins and fats to give your body what it really needs.

I guess that sums up today’s post. Remember, it’s about choices and it’s about how you use the right foods to help us reach our goals.