Cheat Day: Good or Bad?

Author: Matthew Oliver

We all have those cravings where we look up to the ceiling and tell yourself I could really go for some pizza and ice-cream right now. So why not have a cheat day?

Cheat days are simple; 1 day in a month, week or fortnight where you can spurge on all your favourite junk food guilt free and then return to your diet. Sounds good? Well actually it is. When you are dieting you are considered cutting; at cutting hormonal changes take place in the body where it shifts energy intakes to catabolism. That means your body will start taking breaking down fat or protein. The longer you start in a cutting phase the longer the profund these effects on your body take a place.

By introducing a cheat meal you can reset the state of catabolism which is a great benefit for gaining a sly bit of muscle mass that has been taken out from cutting.  So in short, Cheat Days are good… but remember weight loss is ultimately a numbers name; if you eat too many calories you lose. So if you have a cheat day just don’t go ultimately crazy. To a large extent cheat days are a psychological benefit to keep you sane throughout your healthy diet. 

Check out Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Cheat Day Prep

References:
The Rock Pancakes Image - https://peopledotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/the-rock-pancakes.jpg?w=600
The Rock Reveals Ridiculous Diet for 'Cheat Days' Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w6bOOq--AU