This was taken from the Fitnessmadesimple site. The cheat meal paragraphs at the end are the main thing that I wanted to be posted cause I know a lot of people don't believe in cheat meals so this shows some benefits of cheat meals....
THE BENEFITS OF
REST DAYS & CHEAT MEALS
I recently had a conversation with an EMO reader named Michael who had just ordered the Fitness Made Simple video, which highlights the exact time-conserving workout and fat-burning nutritional meal plan I used to finally attain a lean, muscular physique. Michael scheduled a personal phone consultation to tell me that, after only six weeks of following this program, he decreased his
body fat percentage from 25-12 percent. He was excited and shocked to notice the top two "boxes" of his abs... something he said he knew existed but never thought he'd actually see. This represented an amazing accomplishment for him.
You see, Michael had been working out on and off for about seven years, often going through periods of lifting weights several hours a day seven days a week and cutting calories to a level that couldn't sustain a rabbit. This is what he was told he had to do to build muscle and lose fat. Needless to say, the only growth Michael noticed was in his frustration level as his results never equaled his efforts. The Fitness Made Simple video, however, brought up two concepts that were totally alien to him - "rest days" and "cheat meals." Though they sounded too good to be true, once Michael added them to his fitness routine he couldn't believe the positive effects they had both physically and mentally.
Rest days are important for one main reason - muscles grow bigger and stronger while you're resting. Exercise creates the stimulus for muscle growth and the goal of any successful weight training program should be to stimulate your muscles enough so that they'll rebuild bigger and stronger without overstressing them to the point of breakdown. When I first started working out, I fell into the trap of believing the more I trained the more I would gain. Well, whoever coined the phrase "more is always better" certainly wasn't a natural bodybuilder.
Of course, many magazine profiles detail the rigorous daily routines of hardcore bodybuilders, but what they usually don't print is the fact that just about all of these guys are juiced-up on chemical cocktails of
anabolic steroids and other assorted health-risking, illegal drugs. Because many of the muscle-building benefits of steroids are linked to their anti-catabolic powers, they tend to prevent much of the muscle breakdown that occurs with overtraining.
For those of us taking the healthy, natural route, following one of these publicized routines would quickly send us into the downward spiral of overtraining syndrome, marked by continual muscle fiber breakdown and eventual muscle mass loss. That's why, to avoid this fate, I advise short, intense weight-training sessions about an hour per day, 3-4 days weekly, with no more than two consecutive gym days in a row. In terms of visible, physical results, I find "less" often leads to "more" when it comes to pumping iron. In addition to providing muscles with necessary growth time, rest days also give our minds a chance to refocus on our fitness goals and sort out what we must do to accomplish them.
If you're currently a contender for the "Mr. Overtraining" title, you might want to look into what's known as the "anti-overtraining" supplement. It's an amino acid called glutamine and it's probably the most underrated product on the market today. Glutamine is particularly effective for preserving muscle mass when on a cutting-up dietary plan because of the greater stress the body is put under by restricting calories. Glutamine has also been shown to increase growth hormone levels, decrease the catabolic (muscle breakdown) effects of cortisol, reduce body fat deposition and lead to better muscle recovery growth, and protein synthesis.
Unfortunately since a lot of the commercially available, orally ingested glutamine supplements are wasted in the digestive process and don't even reach the bloodstream, little is left over for muscle growth/repair purposes. That's why high (and expensive) amounts are often needed for best results. But a company called Genetic Evolutionary Nutrition (GEN) just came out with a formulation called Glutamine Express which combines glutamine with the patented Liposorb complex to radically increase its absorption rate. This enhanced bioavailability allows benefits of the supplement to be achieved at much lower and affordable doses.
Regarding "cheat meals," contrary to what most people think, I regularly indulge in them and recommend them highly. "How often?" you ask. At least once a week. I even feel guilty if I skip my weekly "cheat" (usually, either Thai chicken pizza or chocolate nut brownies.. . mmmm!). All too frequently, people trying to increase muscle definition - like Michael -set themselves up for failure by practicing monastic-style discipline in their eating habits. They eliminate all their favorite foods in an effort to eat "perfectly." This pointless pursuit of perfection usually backfires in two ways.
First of all, continual deprivation causes a preoccupation with food cravings that usually results in free-for-all binges once the dieter finally gives in. This quickly destroys whatever benefits were derived from strict dieting. Secondly, drastic calorie reduction can lead to substantial muscle moss loss and decreased fat burning. When subjected to a lower calorie meal plan for an extended period of time the body adjusts by lowering metabolism to deal with the "starvation" condition it's facing. To lower metabolism our body can start catabolizing its most metabolically active tissue - muscle. Since muscle burns fat for energy, if we lose muscle our body's ability to burn fat becomes impaired. By adapting to the restrictive diet, our system reaches a point where it stops losing weight even when we drop calories lower and lower. Throwing in the occasional excess calorie cheat meal keeps our body guessing and, in a way, can trick it into keeping our metabolism high.
Think of your nutrition plan as a lifelong journey and not a weekend trip. If you have a craving just satisfy it and get it over with. As long as you make "good eating" the rule and "cheating" the exception, the occasional higher calorie or higher fat treat is going to have little or no detrimental effect on your overall appearance and fitness regimen.
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