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Cheating is Allowed

By Ed Downes

When you embark on a fitness program, on of the big fears you will face is eating. C’mon, we all love food; at least all normal people love food. I love food, I don’t eat sweets, but I love bread, ice cream, and french fries, all three of which have almost no place in a fitness program.

I know what you are thinking right now, “how can I give up my ….” Well, it is completely up to you what you set as your goals and priorities. But if you want to be fit, you can’t eat all of that shi#. The good news is that, there are some programs that will allow for what is called a cheat day. A cheat day is one day per week where you give yourself a 4 hour window to stuff your face. You can eat everything and anything you want. Our RenuBody clients rely on their cheat day for a few reasons.

First, it gives them a day that they know they will be able to eat junk. This takes the pressure off and makes them feel like they ware back in control. So, if someone get’s a craving, they will add that food to the cheat day list and that helps them to stay on track.

Second, if you restrict caloric intake for an extended period of time, your metabolism will slow down. Now what is going on behind the scenes is interesting to know. Just knowing the behind the scenes helps our RenuBody clients to have some perspective on why we require them to eat in specific patterns. We don’t just make up our eating plans there is a lot of science behind it. So, when you restrict calories, your body goes into a starvation mode. It actually thinks it is starving to death. So the body does exactly what it has evolved to do.

When in a starvation mode, the thyroid starts to go dormant and slow down. Now why is this important to a weight management program? Well, you see, your thyroid regulates the speed and heat of your metabolism by secreting chemicals t3 and 4t. And your metabolism is the process of burning calories to make energy. So your body is fighting to hold onto every pound of fat on your body.

Now a cheat day, tricks the body into thinking that it is not starving and your thyroid keeps on pumping out those chemicals to keep burning calories. So go ahead and enjoy those carbs on your cheat day. You are helping your self both physically and psychologically.

About the Author:

Ed Downes – AFPA - Certified Personal Trainer
Paradise Boot Camp
www.ParadiseBootCamp.com