The people who go to the gym are the ones who feel the brunt of not being able to eat delicious food daily. They have to follow a strict diet routine to complement their efforts in the gym. Due to this, they have to avoid intake of food which contains large amounts of fat or has too much oil in them. If they don’t make sure that they eat only the food which is in their diet, all the efforts put by them toward weight loss will be unfruitful.
But they are also humans so they also want to have delicious food and to satisfy them once in a while are the cheat days which usually fall on Sundays.
The difficult route toward weight loss is probably only made simple by cheat meals. Although your trainer or nutritionist may encourage you to forgo cheat meals to prevent gaining weight again, this is easier said than done. Everyone does, after all, deserve that one reward (or occasionally more) for working out so diligently all week at the gym. Therefore, we wouldn’t hold it against you if you occasionally indulge in cheat meals.
We also talked to several experts to provide you with some healthy cheat meal options that taste the same but contain fewer calories because we understand how crucial these cheat meals are for keeping you motivated in your fitness quest. This will satisfy your cravings, keep you inspired to exercise, and help you keep your weight under control.
Here are some cheat meals for your cheat day-
1. Zoodle Pasta
Zoodle pasta (zucchini spiralized to make zoodles) can be used in place of conventional cheesy pasta. Zoodle pasta is sauteed with vegetables and olive oil before being combined with cheese and a quarter cup of white sauce. A bowl of homemade zoodle pasta has only about 150 calories, but a bowl of your typical cheesy spaghetti has roughly 361 calories. Zoodle pasta is primarily made of zucchini, which is high in antioxidants, low in carbohydrates, and has a mild flavour. This makes it an ideal substrate for absorbing and blending in other flavours and textures.
2. Wheat Pizza
Even though pizza is one of your favourite cheat meals, a single piece has roughly 272 kcals. Pizza is heavy in calories and is also produced using white flour. If you simply cannot live without pizza, you might substitute whole wheat bread for the white flour base. Toppings suggestions include pineapple, meat, sundried tomatoes, olives, pickles, or simple dollops of salsa. Grill the pizza until it’s crisp, then cover it with hung curd instead of cheese. A whole wheat bread pizza, for example, would only have roughly 163 kcals.
3. Chia Pudding
If you truly want to satisfy your sweet appetite, chia pudding is a healthy alternative to caramel pudding. Simply substitute your conventional milk with almond or coconut milk and top it with chia seeds, which are high in fibre. This meal is also suitable for lactose intolerant persons, and the fibre in chia seeds helps manage insulin levels better than a sugary snack. Chia pudding dessert has just about 106 kcals per 100 gm.
4. Pav Bhaji with mixed veggie mash
According to Coutinho, one of the most famous street foods may be simply transformed into a healthy dish by adding extra nutrition. Pav bhaji is typically made with potatoes, butter, and colouring chemicals to make it look appealing. This is then accompanied by white bread. To make the bhaji more balanced and nutritious, a range of vegetables such as peas, tomatoes, pumpkin, sweet potato, beetroot, bottle gourd, and mashed cooked sprouts can be used. To make it a truly nutritious cheat dinner, replace the white bread with sourdough bread or a simple whole-grain paratha.
5. Green Moong Dal Pakoras
Pakoras can be a very appealing snack, especially when fried and served hot during the monsoon season. Coutinho suggests trying green moong dal pakoras next time if you want to eat something healthier. To make the dish, soak the green moong dal overnight, rinse it the next morning, and let it dry before dry grinding it with ginger, garlic, coriander, asafoetida, turmeric, and onions. Add 2 teaspoons of sattu powder to it, roll it into balls with your fingers, and shallow fry it in a skillet with cold-pressed coconut oil. To the mixture, you might also add chopped spinach and fenugreek leaves.
6. Sourdough Burger mixed with Bean Tikki
Instead of burgers made of refined wheat with fillings that have been deep fried in refined oils, have little or no vegetables inside, and are slathered with extremely inflammatory cheese and mayonnaise, try a healthier version of burgers, “Sourdough bread slices that have Tikki/cutlet made out of mixed beans (kidney bean, garbanzo beans, black beans), veggies like tomato, cucumber, onion slices, and hung curd dip in between.” This dish is not only easy to digest, but it is also nutritionally balanced due to its high fibre and vegetarian protein content. “Sourdough bread is also wonderful for diabetics because it is pre-digested due to fermentation.”
7. Zucchini Chips
Potato chips are by far the most appealing snack, but they’re also the most unhealthy because they’re deep-fried. 50 gm of potato chips contains 268 kcals, which could derail your diet. Zucchini chips, on the other hand, are a far healthier cheat meal alternative because they are baked, can be produced fast, and are dressed in olive oil, which easily blends with flavours of salt and pepper. Furthermore, 50 g of zucchini chips has only eight calories.
Now that we have told you some of the cheat meals which you can have on Sundays and will not affect your health in the same manner as others, we hope that your journey to a fitter self will be much easier.