{"id":134,"date":"2015-06-16T15:46:41","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T15:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/?p=134"},"modified":"2015-06-16T15:46:41","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T15:46:41","slug":"the-importance-of-your-indulgence-meal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/diet\/the-importance-of-your-indulgence-meal\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance Of Your “Indulgence Meal”…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"indulgence<\/a>Among other things, indulgence means: satisfaction, gratification, fulfillment, satiation and appeasement.<\/p>\n

All those words sounds contrary to what you would expect to hear associated with dieting.<\/a><\/p>\n

But, the truth is, eating something you truly enjoy and take pleasure in isn\u2019t bad at all as long as it is done right. In fact, it is something you should allow yourself to do.<\/p>\n

In diet circles, this indulgence in something you enjoy is often called a \u201ccheat\u201d meal. But a better and more complimentary term is \u201cindulgence meal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The word \u201ccheat\u201d already has bad associations in our minds so the easy way around that is to call it something more positive and \u201cindulgence\u201d conjures up all kinds of pleasures in our minds rather than \u201cbad\u201d images.<\/p>\n

Indulgence rather than conferring a negative tone implies some sort of pampering\u2026something good that we are rewarded with because of our \u2018good behavior\u201d and a \u201cjob well done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cindulgence meal\u201d should only come as a reward\/a result of and treat for hard work and effort that we\u2019ve put already put in and we are proceeding to stay the course and stick to the plan.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Indulgence meals like all meals are personal.<\/em> How often you choose to implement them is totally up to you but remember each one will have an effect on how slowly or quickly you move towards reaching your weight loss and fitness goals.<\/p>\n

For many, the indulgence meal becomes an incentive and helps to keep them on track and following their plan the rest of the time. If it works that way for you, then use it as a powerful tool.<\/p>\n

Before you begin incorporating indulgence meals into your diet, you need to consider a few things such as how often you will have it, how close your goals are and how much further you have to go.<\/p>\n

Even if you are one of those who can easily move forward without any type of \u201cindulgence meal\u201d weekly\u2026it\u2019s still a good idea to reward yourself every two weeks or so.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if you struggle to stick to your plan, then enjoying an \u201cindulgence meal\u201d once weekly would probably be a better choice for you\u2026but remember in order to avoid gaining weight during this meal you must pay attention to portion size and keep yourself under control during the entire meal.<\/p>\n

Be aware that your diet <\/a>needs will be in constant flux and changing depending on the results you are seeing.<\/p>\n

You will also need to consider the \u201ctiming\u201d of this indulgence meal and the time of day you plan on eating it.<\/p>\n

There are a few reasons to enjoy this meal as your last meal of the day and they are:<\/strong><\/p>\n

You will relax and enjoy the experience more and won\u2019t be rushing through as though you must get to the next thing scheduled.<\/p>\n

Making it the last meal of the day prevents that \u201cindulgence meal\u201d from becoming an \u201cindulgence day\u201d which often happens to those who \u201cindulge\u201d at lunch or as a mid-afternoon snack.<\/p>\n

Once done, they decide that they\u2019ve blown their diets so they might as well indulge the rest of the day and pick back up on their diets tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Once again\u2026there are no rigid rules<\/a>\u2026you can have an \u201cindulge day\u201d if that\u2019s what you want. But in the end you must still pay the price for the calories consumed and an \u201cindulge day\u201d will work against your efforts with its high calorie count while an \u201cindulgent meal\u201d can actually help you stay the course.<\/p>\n

An indulgent meal should be something you are craving. It\u2019s also smart to take into account trying to eat foods higher in carbohydrates and lower in fats. These foods have a greater influence on the metabolic rate and level of leptin release you\u2019re-experiencing both of which influence the level of fat burning taking place in the body.<\/p>\n

A large hit of carbohydrates helps to boost your metabolism and leptin higher which goes a long way towards maximizing your progress towards fat burning.<\/p>\n

Keeping the fat low helps to keep the calories level under better control keeping you from over consuming a high dose of calories eventually leading to fat gain.<\/p>\n

Done properly, the \u201cindulgence meal\u201d is a great way to boost your level of success and give you a nice mental break from the stressors of dieting as well.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about balance.<\/p>\n

In my \u201cMinimalist Exercise and Nutrition Program\u201d<\/a>\u00a0I coach you on how to maximize both the efficiency and the effectiveness of what you are doing in both the gym and the kitchen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among other things, indulgence means: satisfaction, gratification, fulfillment, satiation and appeasement. All those words sounds contrary to what you would expect to hear associated with dieting. But, the truth is, eating something you truly enjoy and take pleasure in isn\u2019t bad at all as long as it is done right. In fact, it is something […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[47,46],"class_list":["post-134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet","tag-cheat-meal","tag-indulgence-meal","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139,"href":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions\/139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minimalisticfitness.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}