How To Prepare For a “CHEAT Day”

We’ve all been there…

You have plans for the weekend (i.e. birthday, family get together, social event, BBQ, etc.) and you know darn well that all of these events revolve around FOOD.

What do you do ???

Do you skip the event and be a social outcast? (No Fun)

Do you attend but not eat anything? (Not much fun either)
If you did this you’d have to deal with your friends and family asking you what’s wrong? Are you sick?
Why won’t you eat aunt Margaret’s delicious home cooked meal?

Or do you just throw caution to the wind and eat everything in sight?

Is there a better way?

In this blog post you are going to learn how to prepare for a cheat day so that it actually works with your muscle building and fat loss goals, rather than against them.


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The truth is that no one can stick to a strict bodybuilding diet plan perfectly without getting off track at some point. Sooner or later you will cheat on your diet. Either because you planned to do so (the best way), or because things beyond your control affected your eating plans, or because your food cravings got so bad that you just lost control of yourself and binged (the worst way).

But the good news is that with a little planning you can use cheat days or cheat meals to your advantage and actually have them help with your fat loss and lean muscle gains. In the 21-Day Fast Mass Building Program we purposely cycle our diet from low calorie primer phases to high calorie overload phases for the purpose of maximizing lean muscle growth and minimizing bodyfat.

Before competition bodybuilders and other athletes will often “carb deplete” and then “carb load” in order to maximize glycogen storage in the muscle cells.

And many fat loss diet programs incorporate high carb days, re-feed days, or just plain old cheat days to help prevent slowing down of your metabolism and to optimize your metabolic hormones such as insulin, thyroid, leptin, testosterone, etc.

So how do you make the best use of a “Cheat Day” in a way
that helps your progress, rather than setting you back?

Simple, when you know that you are going to “cheat” (i.e. birthday party, Sunday dinner with the family, BBQ, Christmas dinner, etc.) just diet extra strict for the week leading up to your planned cheat day. Cut back on your carbohydrate intake and increase your cardio that week. This will deplete your glycogen stores and make your muscle cells more receptive to the influx of calories that you are going to provide during your “cheat day” (i.e. the calories will be more likely to get stored as glycogen rather than bodyfat).

Then right after your cheat day get right back on your bodybuilding diet ASAP. If you do this than your cheat meal / cheat day will actually help move you closer to your fitness and fat loss goals, rather than hindering you from reaching them. Not only that but it’s a lot easier and more fun to attend family & social functions when you can enjoy the food like a normal human being.

Keep this in mind for the next time you have a big event planned that revolves around food, just plan ahead, enjoy yourself, and move yourself closer to reaching your fitness & physique goals.




P.S.
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“Bodybuilding Nutrition Made Simple”
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So that’s why I’ve put together this easy to follow bodybuilding nutritional guide to help simplify the process and make eating for a lean muscular physique as easy and pain free as possible.

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About The Author

leehayward

Lee Hayward is a former competitive bodybuilder and muscle building coach who has been online coaching people since 1997. His work has been featured in several international magazines such as: FLEX, Muscle Insider, Muscle Mag International, Testosterone, Ironmag, and Forbes. Lee's main focus right now is with helping men over 40 - who don't want to be fat anymore - lose the gut, build muscle, and get back in shape. If you're ready to "Start Again" for the last time and finally build a lean healthy body that you can be proud of, just e-mail Lee to discuss a realistic action plan that's right for you... lee@leehayward.com

1 Comment

  • Alvin@Flexible Fat Burn

    That sounds like a really good idea, compensating for your cheat day BEFORE your cheat day. Most people do it after; clearly that is a terrible idea.