We all know that eating clean comes with its difficulties, particularly when you’re trying to fight against those unwanted sugar cravings. It’s even more of a challenge not to eat everything and anything calorific in sight after waiting all week for your ‘cheat day’ to arrive. Back2Fitness founder and strength & conditioning coach, Sam Yassin, tells us why you might want to reconsider your mindset when it comes to having a ‘cheat day,’ as your current habits might be having detrimental effects on your overall goals.
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- Many people think that ‘cheat days’ are about cramming as many indulgent foods you can into one day. Instead you should think about re-setting your mindset with a ‘flexible’ (take note that it is not labelled as bad) meal so that you can go into the next week feeling ready and knowing that you’ve not overdone it.
- The term ‘cheat day’ can create a negative assumption as it tricks people into thinking that it’s something bad and that it’s not to be done regularly. We think it should be rebranded as a ‘re-set’ day, as it has more of a positive undertone which is important for a healthy mindset.
- If a ‘cheat day’ falls on a Friday, it’s quite common for people to let it escalate into a weekend, but be mindful of the fact that it will take you a while to recover from the sugar come down. Mondays are already tough enough without having to deal with a food hangover on top of it. Strangely enough a sugar overload can leave you with the same fatigued feeling you get after consuming alcohol.
- Whilst having a ‘cheat day’ will allow your body to realise what’s good and what’s bad, going too crazy will only undo all the good work you’ve put in during the week, and will set you back further than you may realise.
- Eating too much will not only undo all your hard work, it may also stay on your conscience and leave you feeling guilty for what you’ve done – not good for your mental wellbeing!
- A healthy diet should be well balanced so that you don’t feel like certain ingredients are missing. Be clever with your choices by including substitutes in your day-to-day routine which have nutritional value and are also kind to your taste buds.
- If you do find that your cravings are more overbearing than subtle, it may be worth looking at your diet to see what you’re lacking. One flexible meal should be enough to satisfy your cravings such as a desert or a meal out at a restaurant.
- Building healthy habits with food is the most important reason out of them all. It’s about maintaining healthy relationships with food, as your mental wellness is just as important as the physical element.
Back2Fitness is a 12-week exercise and nutrition plan that aims to engage with professional businessmen, average Joes and former sportsmen that have let their fitness levels dwindle due to injury or family and work commitments. Co-founded by England rugby legend, Neil Back MBE and leading strength & conditioning coach, Sam Yassin. To find out more about Back2Fitness please visit www.back2fitness.co