I had a really great week of dieting. A few weeks ago I went on vacation and packed on a couple lbs. So I spent the next two weeks digging myself out of that hole. I actually dropped five this past week to hit a new low of 221.5. Pretty damn good if I do say so myself.
Now if you asked me, I would have deserved a cheat meal. Yeah, too bad it's not up to me. It's up to Mike Mastell. He's the one who has been in charge of my macros for the past nine months. I forwarded him my good news and I was full expecting a nice big high carb day or cheat meal this week. Nope, he said everything looked great and to stick to the plan with no changes.
The rationale is, I am looking to compete in the 198 class in June and it would be best to get me down closer to around 212 before the 12 week meet training cycle begins. It makes perfect sense. A lot of times a high carb day or cheat meal can just push you further back from your goal.
Before any of you start freaking out, I am very aware cheat meals serve a purpose for hormonal and psychological reasons. However, in my opinion and personal experience, the cheat meal is often misunderstood, overused, and definitely abused. First, we don't always deserve a cheat meal for doing what we are supposed to do on a diet - lose weight. Second, it's certainly not something that needs to be done every week either.
The cheat meal is to dieting what the deload is to training. You don't always need it and a lot of people simply use it as an excuse. If you are in a really good groove and feeling great, just keep pushing forward.
So next time you are planning on a cheat meal ask yourself a few of theses questions "Did I really earn this?" "Is this going to help me reach my goal?" "Does my body truly need it at this time?" The answer might be yes a lot of times, but sometimes it will be no. When it is "no," don't cave and endure. It's a good thing to test your will. Plus, you will get to your goal faster.
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