Okay, let's now talk about one of the most controversial topics there is in fitness and nutrition, and that is cheat days and cheat meals. I will start with the smaller version of the to the cheat meal. Let's assume you've been eating clean for most of the week consuming healthy foods like chicken breast, fish, oatmeal, rice and veggies. And now you're wondering if it would be okay to sneak in that chocolate bar or cheeseburger at the end of the week without compromising your results. This is what's typically known as a cheat meal, a small amount of junk food that you include in your diet as a reward for the hard work you've been putting in. So our cheat meals Okay, is having some high sugar high fat foods here and they're going to have any negative effect on your muscle building or fat burning progress.

The short answer is no as long as you keep your calories and macros in check. Remember what I taught throughout the course calorie balance and macronutrients are the most important aspects of your diet. Your body does not view your diet within the context of individual food items. It does not distinguish between a piece of fish, a potato, a cup of broccoli and a Snickers bar. All it sees is the entire diet as a whole, the total calories, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, fibers and micronutrients all combined into one giant ball of chewed up glue. If you're eating clean the majority of the time and then have a slice of pizza.

It's not as if a giant red light begins flashing within your body. fat storage doesn't go into overdrive and your health and energy levels will not plummet. Remember the proper nutrition is all about the big picture. The key is simply moderation and tracking. That's why I always tell my students that 80 to 90% of the diet should be coming from traditional clean and healthy foods and the remaining 10 to 20% can come from whatever foods they like as long as they fit their total daily calories and proteins carbs and fats. This will ensure that your needs are being fully met when it comes to quality protein fiber and micronutrients.

But it also leaves you with 10 to 20% of your total calories to play around with however you like. As long as you stick to the basics of correct dieting, cheat meals are not going to magically cause you to get fat or lose muscle. I know that a lot of fitness gurus on Instagram or YouTube preach that they can eat clean 24 seven, and that's fine if they have the time and energy to do that. But the average person is often under a lot of stress and requires a more flexible approach to dieting. Just remember that this isn't a free ticket to begin eating tons of ice cream and pizza. The flexible foods that you include still need to reasonably fit into your overall diet as a whole in terms of calories, proteins, carbs and fats.

And that's the problem with cheat days instead of cheat meals, cheat days or entire days. We don't watch your calories and macros intake and just eat whatever you like, in its simplest form possible. always comes down to a numbers game based on your total calorie intake versus your total calorie expenditure. In other words in the big picture over the course of a few days and weeks, you must maintain a net calorie deficit by burning more calories than you consume. If you don't have a proper calorie deficit in place, you aren't going to lose any fat at all. Individual cheat meals won't significantly affect us, but entire days can.

For example, let's say we're following a standard deficit of 500 calories below your maintenance level. This would mean that over the course of six days, you have created a total deficit of 3000 calories. If you now go ahead with your cheat day on the seventh day, every calorie that you consume above your maintenance level will be directly counteracting that 3000 calorie deficit you have in place. Everyone is different, of course and has different appetites. But trust me when I say that you can easily eat 1500 calories above maintenance on your cheat day. That would already cut your weekly deficit in half.

Now imagine going all out and eating 2000 or even 3000 calories above maintenance. That way you basically lose all the progress you made throughout the week. All it takes is a couple high calorie restaurant meals, some cake and some ice cream for dessert. So to wrap things up, always keep an eye on your daily and weekly calories to lose fat. Make sure that you stay at a deficit. And as long as you account for the right proteins, carbs and fats, you will be fine.

Cheat meals probably won't affect us but cheat days most definitely can. At the end of the best approach is always to develop a flexible diet that fits your individual lifestyle and preferences.