To cheat or not to cheat?

It’s the million dollar question every athlete has for their nutritionist: when is it okay to have a cheat meal? It’s a popular question for a number of reasons. If you’re on a strict diet, like most bodybuilders have to be, then you’re going to want to take some breaks from eating the clean, healthy stuff if only to keep your sanity. Eating clean isn’t necessarily the best thing ever, but it’s best for getting you in shredded form.

There’s a reason that they call it eating clean and eating dirty. Anyone with eyes can see the difference when you compare a pro bodybuilder to a pro powerlifter or strongman. Bodybuilders lift weights just like their powerlifting counter parts, but the food they consumed are broken down precisely into the essential macronutrients. Powerlifters have less of an emphasis on how clean or dirty the food they eat is. But if they did eat, as well as train, like bodybuilders then the difference in their physique would be tremendously overhauled.

So should cheat meals be in your diet? Well we compiled a list of some of the dos and don’ts as well as the pros and cons of partaking in the coveted cheat meal and what it means for your overall development.

Do: Have one cheat meal

A cheat meal once during the week isn’t going to harm your gains. The rule of some is to follow the 90/10 game plan. This means having 90 percent of your meals be clean, while the other 10 percent can be used for some indulgence. Some, not over indulgence.