Why Cheating on your Diet can be a Good Thing
Following a healthy routine to keep our body fit is a great thing and in current times, people are aware of how to keep themselves in top shape. To lose the excess fat, the people make exercise a part of their daily routine and while trying to reach their goal, people go on a diet to support their exercise routine. But to most of the people going on a diet and maintaining it is a difficult task. But cheating on a diet every once in a while is also a good thing. Some of its reasons are:
Maintaining the diet is tough because one feels punished and frustrated so much that he wishes to end the diet that very moment. Motivation level for continuing the diet is zero. Cheating responsibly during the diet allows gaining control over him and helps him to maintain the diet. But the cheat should be done responsibly; taking small amounts of your desired food causes less damage and the craving for the particular food also decreases.
Being on a diet and exercise also makes us low on energy. In order to continue both the diet and exercise we need to regain our lost energy. For that there should be a cheat meal day every once in a while in order to stay on your feet with full strength and carry out the diet and exercise routine. Otherwise one will be so low on energy that he will not be able to continue the process and achieve his goal. So having a break from diet is necessary to regain the lost stamina.
Fat loss does not occur in a linear line. People must have noticed that the fat loss starts quickly and then it slows down. And the reason behind that is the hormone called Leptin.
Leptin is a protein hormone which plays an important role metabolism, regulating the energy intake and energy expenditure and appetite. So how does it work? Let me explain it to you. When you gain fat, Leptin goes up and when you lose fat, it goes down. It causes fat loss and decreased appetite. It is very important to learn how to control it if you want your body to be in shape.
When the level of Leptin lowers, it lowers our energy levels, causes the metabolic rate to decrease and increases the appetite because of which we get a tough time maintaining our diet. The cheat meal boosts the metabolism as it affects Leptin which kick starts the fat loss.
So now the question is when we can take a break from diet. There should be at least one cheat meal day in a week. Having a cheat meal day does not mean that you could eat all you want. Having control in how to take your food is very important as this helps us to maintain the diet, decreases the craving of having too much at one time and most importantly, fat loss.