Cheat meals, calories and your workout. Yes, MAXIM fitness guru ALEXA TOWERSEY gives you the lowdown on diet control and how to get wasted without wasting your gains…
Some would say that if you have to “cheat” on your diet, then you’re on the wrong diet. However, cheat meals – or Treat Meals as I refer to them – can actually be planned. Kind of like a reward for being a good dieter, and also a much needed mental break from eating the same chicken and broccoli day in day out. Plus, everything you eat on your birthday is calorie free, right?! As a general rule, if you’re already lean then you have less to worry about. And even if you’re not, a couple of cheat meals won’t break the scales or the mirror for that matter. But if you’re eating a cheat meal every meal of every day, then it’s not a cheat meal pal – it’s a binge.
TO CHEAT OR NOT TO CHEAT
Your body is all about procreation and survival, not getting party pumped for the beach, even though one could argue that this would most likely increase your chances for procreation. If you restrict calories for a long period of time, the body will make adjustments to some key metabolic functions leading to you holding on to fat so that essentially you die at a slower rate – it’s a protective thing. On top of this, dieting can be pretty stressful. When you’re chronically stressed the hormone cortisol is elevated again, making fat loss more difficult.
The mental break, and increased energy intake of a cheat meal, can help to moderate cortisol and reassure the body it’s no longer being starved so your metabolism can get back on track and start performing efficiently again. Regardless of how we respond to “overfeeding” (it’s inevitable at some point), for the most part, it’s not the actual “binge” that’s the problem, it’s the management afterwards. So, let’s talk Damage Control…
NUTRITION
Before the event: Since you’ll be taking in more calories on average during this day, week or maybe even month of the year, why not use it to your advantage? Instead of fat loss, focus on building. Funnel that energy into a solid training session, after all muscle needs energy to grow. Get those extra calories from those KFC Party Packs, and enjoy them all guilt free – it defeats the purpose of having a cheat meal if it stresses you out.
During the event: The basic “limit” guideline for ANY cheat (either meal or day) is to not push past the point of satiety. Eat whatever you want, but don’t intentionally stuff yourself. Stop eating when you’re nice and full, not uncomfortable.
After the event: One popular strategy would be to have a fast day to follow the cheat. This will create a caloric deficit following a caloric overload. Essentially, by pairing a “feast” with a fast, they negate each other, and you get the best of both worlds. You can have your cake and eat it too!
TRAINING
The best way to help your body use those calories is by depleting muscle glycogen. If your workout comes before your big meal, all the extra carbs from the meal will go to restoring muscle glycogen post workout. If the workout comes after that big meal, your metabolic rate should be burning hot in a bid to use the energy, and you can expect to be able to pump out more reps than usual – make the most of it.
If you have to make a choice between exercising before or after the meal, after is the way to go. But if you have the day free, and plan on eating enough for a small army, you can really control the damage by hitting the second workout as soon as you can button up your pants again. Think a 15-30 minute interval training session before and/or a 30-60 minute weight training bout after.
TOP TIP
Since most cheat meals are loaded with carbohydrates and sodium, water retention is usually a consequence. Step away from the scales. You can counteract this by drinking mild, natural diuretics like Dandelion Tea.
THE LIFTER’S GUIDE TO GETTING WASTED
While abstaining from alcohol is your best bet for muscle growth, if you’re going to have drink, then at least have a workout and a protein shake before hand to counteract as much of the negative effects of alcohol as you can.
Minimise fat intake on D Day: As acetate (the final byproduct of alcohol) enters your blood, fat burning is majorly suppressed throughout the body. As a result most of the fatty acids in your blood are stored, not to mention that acetate can also be converted to fat if it’s not used for energy.
Pick your poison: Alcohol isn’t the only toxin you have to worry about. Other sneaky little fermentation products called congeners are toxic as well – while they won’t get you drunk, they will exacerbate your hangover. As a general rule of thumb across the board – beer is for amateurs. Pros drink clear spirits.
Prepare for the alcohol munchies: Alcohol increases your appetite, and coupled with the poor life choices you’ll be more inclined to make, it’s easy to overeat when you’re drunk. Anyone else woken up from an alcohol induced slumber with a half eaten kebab as a cuddle buddy? Food prep isn’t just for bodybuilding comps – think ahead and keep a filling, high protein meal easily accessible for when you finally arrive home.
(breakout)
STALLING MANOEUVRES
In his book, “The 4-Hour Body”, bestselling author Timothy Ferriss suggests engaging in brief muscular contractions throughout your binge. Based off research originally done on rats, he surmised that following short bursts of high intensity exercise, more glucose transporters were brought to the surface of muscle cells opening more gates for calories to flow into. The more of these muscular gates that are open before insulin triggers the same response on the surface of fat cells – the more calories we can put in muscle instead of fat. He encourages performing 60-120 seconds of air squats and wall presses immediately prior to eating your main course, and for additional effect 1 ½ hours after finishing your meal.
TOP TIP
If you’re out at dinner, you might want to take your training from the table to the toilet stall. And if you absolutely can’t leave the table, you can practice isometrically contracting your legs all the while trying to look casual, not constipated.
For the full article grab the August 2021 issue of MAXIM Australia from newsagents and convenience locations. Subscribe here.
