How to Properly Use “Cheat Meals” to Lose Fat Faster (Do it This Way)

By Adrian| April 11th, 2023

What are “Cheat Meals?”

Cheat meals – the idea of scheduling meals that include indulging foods you normally wouldn’t have in your diet has been a concept popularised by bodybuilders and has been around for decades.

Some people swear by it claiming there are health benefits to having a ‘cheat meal.’

Others claim it’s an excuse people make for themselves to eat junk food.

I give my take on the concept of ‘cheat meals’ below and my own approach in this are.

Foods don’t have Morals

Firstly, I don’t like using the term ‘cheat meal.’ It brings with it negative connotations around food. Foods don’t have morals. There is no good or bad food per se.

Categorise foods as low nutrient or high nutrient. Low calorie or high calorie.

The idea that you’re ‘cheating’ can make people feel somewhat guilty afterwards because they’ve gone off track (even if you had planned and scheduled for it).

I prefer the term ‘free meal’ – the concept is the same but using free instead of cheat evokes a different mindset without the guilt or shame attached.

Free Meals – My Take on Them

I think free meals can be a useful tool to help people stay on track – particularly those who are starting out and have never gone more than a few days without reaching for a slice of pizza or ordering a takeaway.

If you’re eating say 4 meals a day x7 days a week, that’s 28 total meals in one week.

If 27/28 of those meals consist of nutrient dense foods with some lean protein, veggies & healthy fats, one free meal shouldn’t have a major impact on your long-term results and progress.

In fact, if you schedule them in and don’t go over-board, they can increase your compliance your diet – your ability to stick to it.

After all, compliance and adherence to a plan is the most important thing for long term results.

However, the danger of free meals is they can turn into a free day or days if you let it!

And that’s where you need to be careful. Eating high sugar and low nutrient foods send signals to the brain that make us crave more.

And if you’re someone who finds it hard to manage those cravings or if you’ve a history of binge eating, one meal can easily turn into one full day!

Having rules and routines in place when implementing “free meals” can be helpful

Dr Jordan Feiganbaum from Barbell Medicine gave great advice around implementing them:

• Eat out at a restaurant because the amount of food available to you at home is likely endless!

• Have your free meal with a friend because you’re more likely to enjoy the experience and eat less.

• It should last no longer than an hour so it doesn’t turn into a full day of eating.

An Alternative Approach to Free Meals

Some people love the idea of having one free meal a week and then being super disciplined for the rest of the week.

Others find it difficult to go one day without a sugar hit and would struggle to wait til the end of the week before they have their free meal.

If this is you, firstly I would look out for some triggers which may cause these cravings.

For example, research has indicated that starting your day off with a good quality source of protein helps regulate sugar cravings throughout the day.

However, I often find, before I get working with my clients on a 1:1 basis, their breakfasts often consist of fruit only, a form of granola or fruit flavoured yogurt or even just a cappuccino and croissant!

These foods generally trigger more sugar cravings throughout the day.

So my first piece of advice is to identify why you’re constantly craving sugar.

Alternatively, if your nutrition is on point but you still like a small treat here and there, I like the idea of micro-dosing some small treats or snacks within your day.

Personally, I enjoy having a serving of chocolate every evening and having a slightly larger meal at the weekend.

This is my preferred approach because when you can include foods like chocolate and sweets into your overall daily calories and macros, in the words of one of my clients “it doesn’t even feel like a diet – more of a lifestyle approach.”

On top of this, deprivation-based eating does not work long-term. And if you’re constantly putting your full week on hold for happy hour once a week, that doesn’t sound very sustainable, does it?

The funny thing is, when you start building good nutrition habits and essentially change your lifestyle, you no longer crave the foods as much which you previously would’ve taken without thought.

A prime example of this is from one of my clients who would’ve went to the deli for a roll or jambon everyday for breakfast.

Since we started working together, he now laughs at the idea of getting a breakfast roll or jambon in the deli and has swapped that with some chocolate protein oats which “tastes like dessert” in his own words.

In 12 weeks, he lost 10Kg/25lbs which all started with one small change – addressing his breakfast and building good habits from there.

The Most Important Factor – Your Weekly Budget

Free meal or no free meal, your overall weekly caloric target is and always will be the most important factor for you when it comes to getting results.

Think of your total weekly calories as a budget. Say you earn €600 a week. This is your budget.

If you’re foolish you might spend your entire pay cheque on pay day and be broke for the rest of the week (we’ve all been there).

Or, you could plan out your week in advance and realise you have some fun events planned for the weekend with your friends that you’ll need to save some money for.

Your total weekly calories work the exact same way. Staying debt-free is the most important thing (not going over your weekly budget).

Let’s just say calculated your maintenance level of calories (the amount of calories you need to maintain your current bodyweight) and they are 2,500 calories per day.

But, if you want to tone up and wear your clothes with confidence, you decide you’re going to eat 2,000 calories per day. Let’s do the math.

• 2,000 x7 (days in a week) = 14,000 total calories for the week

This means, you could eat all 14,000 calories in one day (although I wouldn’t advise it unless you’re filming a YouTube video!) or balance it out accordingly during the week.

Provided you don’t go over your budget, you can still continue to make progress.

And this is the most important factor when having a free-meal or if you like to micro-dose your treats throughout the week.

The graph here demonstrates how a client of mine managed to lose weight steadily while eating foods he enjoyed.

How to enjoy Saturday Night’s without Losing Progress

Using the above numbers as an example, if you know you’re going out for drinks at the weekend, and on average you drink a respectable 5 vodkas and whites (my personal favourite) on a night out, this means 5 vodka’s & white’s at approximately 140 calories per drink = 700 Kcals you need to save up from alcohol alone.

Now that 700 Kcals doesn’t include food at all.

It’s not a good idea to starve yourself, especially on a night out so let’s just say you eat 1,800 calories of food before you even start drinking alcohol.

• Saturday night: 1,800 calories (your food) + 700 calories (your alcohol) = 2,500 total calories

(Side note: Do you see how going for a takeaway after or eating pringles and bars of chocolates beforehand can put you well over 4,000 calories in a single day? )

Now that you know you need to save 2,500 Kcals in the bank for Saturday night, take this amount from your total weekly calories.

• 14,000 (total weekly calories) – 2,500 (Saturday night boogie) = 11,500 calories left for the remaining 6 days of the week.

• 11,500 ÷ 6 (days) = approximately. 1920 calories for the other 6 days.

Knowing this alone is worth the (free) price of admission!

This is the key to balancing your social and fitness life. Period.

Both can be done, just be smart about it and don’t be afraid to against the grain and say no to the massive fry or takeaway you get offered the next day.

Enjoy your night out. Get back on track the next day.

Aren’t You a Fitness Coach?

Before anyone accuses me of promoting people to drink alcohol, I’m not.

But what I am also is realistic.

And I know that if you’re reading this, you probably want to look good, feel more confident in your clothes but you also want to be able to enjoy yourself and socialise.

While being healthy and fit is important, being able to socialise and enjoy yourself at the weekend is also.

Are you going to make progress as fast? Probably not. Is it optimal to drink alcohol every week? Absolutely not.

But we know alcohol isn’t good for our health and we drink it anyways.

So, if you are going to do drink alcohol, limit its damage and do it right.

However, what this does mean is you really have to think twice about grabbing a twix for lunch or eating the cheesecake for dessert after dinner during the week.

Save that for your Saturday night and focus on good quality foods throughout the week.

The Takeaway!

• Free meals is my preferred term over ‘cheat’ meals - remember it’s ok to treat yourself.

• If you choose to have a free meal, eat it in a restaurant with a friend & it should last no longer than an hour.

• Check-in with yourself after every meal and consider which foods act as ‘triggers’ to you.

• Instead of having one big free-meal a week, an alternative approach is to micro-dose some small treats into your day and perhaps have one slightly larger meal at the weekend (my preferred approach).

• Your overall calorie expenditure is the most important factor for fat loss.

Thank you for reading – I hope you learned something new and got some value from this.

Free 3-Day Total Body Training Program:

Depending on your goal, I have some free resources which might be of benefit to you.

If you’d like a copy of my free, 3-day Total Body Transformation Program click HERE! (Enjoy the core finisher!).

If you’d like a copy of my Free Living Lean Cookbook to prove to you that it’s possible to eat foods you enjoy and get results, click HERE.

(Try out some EPIC protein pancakes!).

And if you’d like access to my Free 7 Day Fat Loss Accelerator (which has helped some members drop up to 7lbs inside 7 days),
click HERE and it will be sent straight to your email.

I hope these free resources help you!

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About Adrian McDonnell & McLifestyle Fitness:

IAdrian McDonnell is a highly specialised Personal Trainer & Online Fitness Coach from outside of Tuam, Co.Galway, Ireland.

Previously a primary school teacher for almost 5 years, Adrian followed his passion and pursued a career in fitness after seeing first hands the results he could achieve with himself.

Although Adrian is a Personal Trainer & now Full-Time Online Transformation Fitness Coach from outside of Tuam, Co.Galway – he not only coaches clients locally, but also nationally and internationally.

Adrian specialises in helping working professionals:


- Be confident in themselves·
- Feel more comfortable in their clothes·
- Look better in the mirror·
- Increase their energy and go for more promotions at work·
- Get fitter, leaner & stronger without following rigid meal plans·
- Go on more dates (this is a common one)·
- And feel proud of themselves for doing something they never thought was possible!

To date he has helped Transform over 500 Clients into fitter, more toned & confident individuals.

Transforming people’s lives through proper fitness, sustainable & enjoyable nutrition practices & mindset mentoring is something Adrian is truly passionate about and this is his mission in life.

Want to find out more? Contact me today & I’ll answer any questions you have.

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