Sometimes it’s good to cheat.

The current prevalence of obesity is estimated in approximately 400 million people worldwide. The main issue with dieting is that its easy to lose weight, but keeping it off is the bigger issue.  Lets face it, dieting sucks.  For years, the concept of dieting has always been to stick to your diet, no matter what.  Over the last few years, the concept of dieting has changed and previous research has found that incorporating periodic cheat meals in your diet not only helps out psychologically, but it can also boost your metabolism, you can also use tools and calculators like TDEE Calculators to find out your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and no need is sticking to a calorically restricted diet year round sound advice.

Cheat meals improve leptin production levels. Leptin is the hormone that encourages metabolism of fat and at the same time, it manages appetite. Normally, the leptin level in the body is reduced after one week of dieting, however,  this level is restored to the normal level during cheat days. Therefore, the body is once again prepared to burn fat and to contain appetite for the next diet week. Cheat meals also lessen cravings during non-cheat days. Foods that can be eaten during cheat days reduce the desire to eat the same foods when dieting. Cheat meals are designed to keep you sane, as our natural compulsions usually take the better of us, a cheat meal helps normalize cravings and keeps you on track with your diet plan or exercise regime.

A cheat meal is a meal that has been designated to one day of any type of food you like.  Some cheat meals include pizza, cakes and other foods that make eating and dieting more exciting. Previous research has shown that while on a caloric restricted diet, metabolic rate often drops but when a high caloric meal is consumed, metabolism increases.  Strict weight loss diet works better if you bend the rules occasionally.

A new study demonstrates how powerful cheat meals can be to helping you achieve weight loss.  The researchers did trials with two groups each of 37 women with a BMI of 25-37. The women were aged between 26 and 50.

Find out how you can use cheat meals to lose weight on page 2!