[Trav876]

Hey All,

First off, I know everyone's body is different, and people all have different goals, but just out of curiosity...

I know PN recommends cheat meals, 10% of the time. You don't want to displace healthy foods, but rather add the cheat on top of a regular meal. Is a cheat physiologically beneficial? I came across this post about the now Gladiator Val:

"An anecdote that the board may get a smile out of is that when Val strays from her eating plan, a 'cheat meal' is extra flax seed or greens powder. Seriously."

Would that hypothetically be the best way to go? Simply not have a cheat meal? Or in other words to count it as a cheat meal if you go like 100 g over your daily intake with healthy foods? I thought maybe it would be good for your body to get a good 400-500 (or more) kcals every once in a while to throw things off a bit, but apparently Val did not do this at the time, and obviously her body is about as good as it gets.

[Krisaiken]

I think the quote you are referencing is more of a statement about the kind of will power someone with a physique like Val's possesses. Not necessarily that you should keep your cheats small.

If you have not already, check out this thread entitled cheat to lose, it might shed some more light on the subject for you: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/me...ead.php?t=8374

Cheers,

Kris

[Trav876]

Thanks Kris, that was an interesting read.

I understand the context of the quote about Val, which is amazing. But also wasn't sure if that was ideal. I see now that it's probably beneficial to have a moderately sized cheat meal, as long as you're 90% or better. However I haven't read the book, so I don't want to jump to conclusions!

[Tyron]

Hi Kris,

A client asked me this so I just wanted to get yours and John's opinion.

In regards to cheats with PN, would using honey instead of sugar in a cup of coffee be considered a cheat? Also, is it considered 2 cheats if an individual has a tortilla with breakfast and a coffee with sugar in it as they are two separate items or is it that since they are both with the same meal just considered one cheat?

Thanks!

[Morkai]

I know honey instead of sugar won't make any difference. There is nothing special or healthy about honey, it is just sugar made by bees not man :) Treat it exactly the same as you do normal sugar.

I would count the tortilla and coffee as one cheat.

[Jason Bonn]

Hey. Honey contains antioxidants. So that's a much better choice. For what it's worth, I agree with Morkai as far as counting it as one cheat.

Hope that helps.

[Morkai]

Sorry Jay, You are right it does carry some extra benefits over sugar in regards to its makeup. I didn't word that quite how I intended it meant.

For PN compliancy we aren't supposed to be drinking calories at all so using sugar or honey in coffee period is 'cheating'. Unless you meant sweetner not sugar? That thought did occur to me. In that respect the honey/sugar is no different and is what my brain was trying to articulate. Honey would definitely be a better choice from a nutrient perspective though.

[Trav876]

Also, even though we aren't supposed to be drinking calories, honey seems a much better choice over "zero-calorie" artificial sweeteners. Check this out.

[Kyle Sommer]

Hey,

I wouldn't be so hasty to demonize artificial sweeteners. Nothing has really been proven - there are simply correlations between people who drink diet soda and obesity.

I drank diet soda when I lost my original weight. Tons of it. Am I recommending this? No. But the metabolic effects are overstated - it probably does cause addiction and cravings, but ultimately the willpower is up to the person.

Artificial sweeteners are in Metabolic Drive and Surge, recommended by John Berardi. I would argue that there are correlations with those products and people being muscular, strong, lean, and healthy.

Worrying about artificial sweetener content is MINUTIA. Odds are it will not have a significant positive or negative effective unless it is taken to the extreme. Just like sweetening coffee with honey or sugar; unless you use an entire honey comb, it just plain doesn't matter.

That being said, I do "cheat" with diet sodas occasionally, and I use CoachMike's Egg recipe with splenda, and have seen no ill effects. The ultimate point is: Do what works for you.