All you need to know about Cheat Days in your Diet Regime

With an increase in the obesity epidemic, the search for efficient weight loss tactics has become all the more fervent. Although being able to choose the right regimen can be an achievement in itself, what’s even bigger a challenge is sticking to the new habits that take you closer to your weight loss goals without missing on the foods you are in love with!

While the idea of cheat meals or cheat days has remained popular among fitness enthusiasts for quite some time now, the trend has become a part of mainstream diet culture, all thanks to social media. Here’s everything you ought to know about incorporating cheat days in your diet regime:

Why Cheat?

When you indulge in dieting for fat loss, you reduce carbohydrate and calorie intake. This drops your metabolism over time as your body gets into the realization that it is consuming fewer calories than it is burning. Hence, simply dieting isn’t recommended if fat loss is your goal. Cheat days, on the other hand, trick your body into a realization that it’s receiving enough calories, hence igniting the fat burning metabolism.

Physical Effects of Cheat Days

Cheat days help you realize your weight loss goals by boosting up the production of leptin. This leads your body to burn more calories after overeating. Hence, overeating is said to boost your metabolism by 3-10 % over a period of 24 hours. Moreover, following a strict diet since long is a clear indication that the glycogen stores in your muscles are considerably low. This can be bad for your workout performance and can make you fatigued more quickly than usual. With the help of cheat meal or cheat day, however, the glycogen stores get replenished that can prove fruitful during a strenuous workout.

Psychological Effects of Cheat Days

Human mind responds to cheat days in both positive and negative manner. While some might consider it useful to stick to a strict diet, others might not be able to take the guilt after eating so much. For the people belonging to the former category, cheat days help stop food cravings while for those belonging to the latter that’s the only thing that they can think about ultimately getting into an eating disorder. To be on a safer end, consume enriched bread in limited quantities with eggs or something that your diet allows to neither fall into the guilt trap nor feel calorie deficient.

Is It Okay to Cheat Regularly?

Occasional indulgences are always fine if you are trying to lose some weight. If you regularly eat whatever gets in your sight, you end with a lot more calories than required, feel bloated and often guilty.  This isn’t what you are looking for, right? Hence, cheat days are probably much better. Multigrainbread can be a perfect bet for those who are looking for something that’s healthy and fulfilling at the same time.