Q:  When I first began bodybuilding, I used to have “cheat meals” in the middle of my diets, and then would maintain a “one cheat meal per week” schedule all year long. In the scheme of effectiveness, now that I’m older, what is the best time to have a cheat meal? Morning or night? Weekend or weekday?

A: The best advice is to listen to your body. If the times you want to cheat are in the late afternoon and early evening, do that. If it’s in the morning or on a Sunday afternoon, choose that time. There’s so much about food that is attached to emotion and memory, that it’s hard to detach oneself from eating history.

However, strategic eating is important to the competitive bodybuilder. My personal choice, in that case, would be either at breakfast, or just after a hard training session, provided that isn’t 8 or 9 p.m. Make the limit 6 or 7 p.m. And choose your cheat wisely. We’d all like to feast on empty carbs, but will you be satisfied with something tasty, but not totally obliterating to your diet? In my opinion, a few slices of pizza or a hamburger is a better cheat than pancakes and syrup or giant King-sized candy bars. Even ice cream is better than the latter two.

Personally, I try to find compromise cheats and full-out cheats. I draw a line down the middle of a page. On the left is nasty, full-out cheat foods – such as candy or gooey ice cream sundaes – and on the right is compromise cheat food. If I have been low carb for awhile, a compromise cheat might be a big bowl of oatmeal with nuts and Nutrasweet, plus a little nonfat milk or some museli or granola.

Trust me, it doesn’t have to be as elaborate as you may think. Make sure you take vanadyl sulfate and chromium, as well as Omega-3s like fish oil, GLA and ALA to temper insulin response. I advocate cheat meals – I think they are healthy for your constitution and for your body. Cheats are the embodiment of the very same principles you use when you train – you shake things up occasionally. This is a great way to do that, and have a meal you love to avoid feeling deprived.

If you like this article, click here to share: