Depending on how much weight you have to lose, you must be willing to stay on a diet program long enough to see results. For real fat loss, this could mean 10-12 weeks or even longer. This is an arduous process for both beginners and dieters alike; There are no tricks or easy ways to lose body fat other than a low calorie diet and plenty of exercise. For a sustained low calorie diet, a cheat meal once a week is a great strategy to help you stick to a program. After perfect dieting for the week, a single meal of whatever you want (portion controlled) provides your body with a calorie boost and does wonders for your brain game. Dieting low in calories day after day for the entire week can cause the body to go into starvation mode, making it difficult to lose weight. A cheat meal with much more calories per ounce/week lets your body know that it’s not starving and that it’s okay to continue losing weight. A cheat meal once a week also helps set a great goal to work towards each week and also helps control food cravings. There is no question as to the effectiveness and logic behind using cheat meals once a week in your diet program. There’s a little warning about cheat meals once a week…

These are cheat meals that last up to 6 hours. After dieting for a long time, the thinner you become, the more hungry you are. At some point, it becomes very difficult to have precise control of your apatite in a ‘whatever you want’ meal. Overeating or sometimes just eating the wrong combination of foods can quickly add 6 to 10 pounds. scale weight. Depending on what you ate, this can take up to 4-6 days to clear up, putting your entire work week back to where you were, zero profit. When using the once a week cheat meal strategy in your diet, try to commit to cheat meals (of anything you want) but with very controlled portions. However, even by following a strict protocol, you will invariably run into a cheat meal that will burst your body with weight. If this happens, read the following paragraphs for tips on how to regain/lose weight faster after a heavy meal. Even if you are not currently following a strict regimen, this system can work well to cleanse the body after any eating event.

Start your first morning after binge eating with intermittent fasting. Don’t eat your first meal until at least 12 noon. If you are used to eating as soon as you get up, don’t do it; wait until at least noon to eat. However, get up several hours earlier and exercise on an empty stomach. Your exercise should be sustained cardio plus a light weights session if there is time. Plan to exercise for at least 1.5-2 hours before your first 12 noon meal. The cardio you do should be double what you normally do. For example, if you normally walk for 30 minutes on the treadmill, you will walk for 1 hour. Then fill the rest of your 2-hour time frame with more cardio, calisthenics, and/or light weight lifting. Weightlifting should use light enough pounds to pump out 10 to 20 reps. Do not lift heavy objects and try to hit the muscle. Pick two exercises that you can use to add extra work for lagging body parts and/or strengthen a weakness you have and superfollow them for 4-5 sets of 10-20 reps. Finally, plan for one more intense cardio session in the evening (about 6 hours later than the first workout, preferably). Try to fill an hour with as much cardio and bodyweight calisthenics as possible.

Eating the day after a cheat meal should be sparse. Not a complete fast recommended here, but also a great diet strategy; the included intermittent fasting is sufficient. Our goal on this day is to eat very lightly and stimulate by pushing the bad food away as quickly as possible. First reduce the number of meals you eat on this day. If you normally eat only 3 meals, you will only get two. If you normally eat 5, you should have 3 plus a protein drink. Make all your meals high in protein with chicken, turkey, fish, lean red meat, eggs and/or buttermilk, at least 25-40 grams/protein per meal and commensurate with your lean body mass. Cut calories from your meals even further on this day by eating more vegetables than starches. If you only get two meals, eat only vegetables for your carbs. Try to include a raw vegetable in at least one of your meals, for example, a large salad, raw broccoli sprigs, carrot sticks, etc. Also keep fats to a minimum on this day. Fats make your food digest slower and we want it to get through. If you are one of those who needs to improve with your water consumption, this is the day to do it. You want to drink as much water as possible the day after a cheat meal to help flush out toxins and sugars and help speed up digestion. Do not take any other drinks other than coffee and water on this day.

The next day (2 days after the cheat meal), you will go back to your program as if nothing happened. Following this eating/training plan should get you back on track on or before Wednesday (if your cheat meal was on Saturday). Results will vary depending on how much damage has occurred to the cheat meal. The best results will be found when cheat food is kept in moderation in the first place. It should also be noted that this program has not been tested on different topics and may only work well for the author regardless of how it is presented to present the technology and concepts. At the time of this writing, the author was also doing 10+ hours of cardio a week (cumulative), lifting weights 3-4 times a week for 1.5+ hour sessions, and following a nutrition program precision bodybuilding seven days a week. If he is not in this form, there is no telling how well this system will work for you. If you are not used to the amount of training described above, the program should be tailored to your individual needs and should not be attempted without first consulting your doctor to ensure you are healthy enough to do so.