What are free meals? Is that the same as a cheat meal?
In this article, I will attempt to clarify what free meals, and cheat meals, are, how to go about structuring them, if you have fat loss goals, and how they can work into your lifestyle.
Definitions
Free meals, and cheat meals, in my opinion, are used interchangeably. They are in essence the same thing.
If one word over the other makes you feel better emotionally about what you are eating, then go ahead use that word.
Free meals/cheat meals are meals that are not part of your regular eating habits, and in essence, are considered ‘off plan’.
Therefore, free meals/cheat meals can be defined as “a meal that is not on your regular everyday nutrition plan“.
Purpose a Free Meal
Free meals, allow you to stay compliant to the meal plan the other 6 days of the week.
Knowing that once per week, you are allowed to experience foods, that are not always on your everyday meals, can keep you on track, and serves, as a little bit of mental break.
Most social events include eating foods, that are often considered treats. You are able to taste and experience other foods, while being social at the same time.
It can help you feel spontaneous in your eating choices, without having to plan, prepare, and prep your everyday nutrition plan.
Do you need a free meal? Not necessarily.
What I encourage is for you to eat them as per your individual choices, rather than having one to simply have one. If you are not being social, in the mood, for anything in particular your current nutrition plan will support your training, and your health.
Free meals/cheat meals, except for some small circumstances, are not necessary to achieve your fitness goals.
Considerations
This meal is one meal, with a few limitations, however, is not a binge fest.
It is a time to enjoy something you would not normally eat on an everyday meal.
Binge eating is another mindset.
If you have binge eating tendencies, such as [insert food here] it is best to do a free meal or have additions, to your regular eating with something other than, that food, as it might open the floodgates to uncontrolled eating.
Suggestions on Free Meals
Eat person defines for themselves, what they considered a free meal or a cheat meal.
Some clients report eating more of the foods, that they normal do, but with no restriction.
Others have tastes of various foods, but not a full portion. Some go all out, and hamburger and fries, with ice cream.
Other free meals clients have reported:
- pizza
- pasta with the family
- a vegetarian client of mine eats her lentil loaf
- 1-2 glasses wine with her meal
- licorices
The choice of foods, is up to you.
Guidelines
Here are a few guidelines, if you are a little confused about the amount and what to eat, when you have some more options in nutrition.
This should be filed under best case scenario.
Your free meals lands on a day you train, or the day before you train. Both would be optimal.
This helps channel those extra calories, into energy to help get you strong, and build muscle.
Make it the last meal of the day.
Free meals tend to be higher in fat and carbs, and often lack nutrition. The increase in carbs, fats, and calories, (increased insulin response) can make you feel sleepy or lethargic. This is not good in the middle of the day however at the end of the day, it might make for a good night’s sleep.
At the end of the day, you are less likely to blow off the entire day to poor eating.
Keep in mind, this is a free meal not a free day of uncontrolled eating. Two days of really poor eating can throw off a weeks work.
Two slices of pizza will not throw you off your fitness goals. Two cookies, are okay, the whole row of cookies, is binge session.
Buy only one serving size, not large portions.
That way it won’t be laying around the house to ‘tempt’ you later.
Do not shop for that one meal in order to stock up.
This isn’t a time to plan how you are going to ‘waste’ your calories thinking you saved them up for the day.
It is just a time to relax slightly and have something be that it may be controlled – off the regular meal plan.
If it does not taste amazing, stop eating it.
Nothing like wasting all your calories on something that is not absolutely amazing.You work too hard, to just throw it away on some day old brownie, that really was not DDD = drop dead delicious.
Closing Thoughts
If after your free meal you feel absolutely terrible physically, time to re-evaluate what you are eating for your free meal, or perhaps make it slightly more modest.
As we age, sometimes those thing we used to love, and digest, now we cannot tolerate them in our bodies. It happens.
Free meals/cheat meals are a break from the mundane, allows us to be spontaneous at times when we are monitor what we eat, in order to nourish our bodies and perform optimally in our lives.
Living the lifestyle, is to be able to balanced good quality eating, with having a few meals, off-plan, while moving forward, towards your fitness goals.
Update | 12 June 2021
Original | 16 Oct 2019
