{"id":99191,"date":"2017-03-01T02:00:48","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/?p=99191"},"modified":"2017-03-03T17:41:28","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T01:41:28","slug":"why-you-need-cheat-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/why-you-need-cheat-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Need to Have Cheat Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wanted to write a post about balance and how important it is today. Sometimes when I meet people for the first time, or when I\u2019m talking to people via social media, they seem to think that I eat healthy 100% of the time and that I\u2019m working out 24\/7! I think a lot of fitness enthusiasts get this rep — and for good reason because living a healthy lifestyle is totally crucial. But I disagree when people think that it\u2019s all or nothing. No<\/em> one is perfect and no<\/em> one (at least that I know) only eats incredibly nourishing meals and works out every single day. Maybe people training specifically for something, but that doesn\u2019t last forever.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually very<\/em>\u00a0important to give your body a break and to provide it with balance. Now, I don\u2019t think I can argue that donuts or chocolate chips are ever good<\/em>\u00a0for your body, but they are absolutely good for our mind…in moderation! Starving yourself of your favorite foods or break days isn\u2019t healthy — and having one cheat meal (or day!) and skipping a workout to rest will not ruin all the work you\u2019ve put in. Don’t worry!<\/p>\n

I definitely have cheat meals and I take one rest day a week. Some of my favorite cheat meals are\u00a0uni udon, creamy alfredo pasta, In-N-Out cheeseburger and fries, and ice cream and popcorn for dessert. I do limit these meals to once or twice a week because more than that and I start feeling sluggish\/feel like it’s counteracting the nourishment. But my soul needs these meals and I 100 percent don’t regret it because I put in the effort the whole week \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

It can be hard to say no to yummy meals and to resist french fries when they are staring at you in the face, so here are a few ways I stick to balance:<\/p>\n

Choosing healthy restaurants.<\/strong> I love, love, love to eat out, but that doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m constantly having to avoid temptation. There are tons of healthy options — you sometimes just have to plan ahead. I like to look on Yelp to not only see the menu items but also pictures to plan what I’ll get. Having some ideas of what I want to eat\/what\u2019s healthy beforehand saves me from giving into temptation.<\/p>\n

Meeting friends at the gym and then going to lunch or dinner!<\/strong> I have dates with my friends for a BBG session or a hike and then usually we crave something healthy afterward! It’s a win-win.<\/p>\n

Stocking my fridge.<\/strong> I try to grocery shop at least once a week so that I always have healthy options. I like to save my cheat meals for something I\u2019m really craving and not just because I\u2019m lazy — and having food at my house helps. I\u2019ll make a big batch of different healthy meals or juices and can grab those whenever.<\/p>\n

Screenshotting\/pinning new recipes.<\/strong> I\u2019ve noticed that when I\u2019m bored of recipes, I start craving something bad. To nix that boredom, I love going on Pinterest or cooking sites to find new healthy recipes. Cooking makes me so happy but I have to switch it up! I love having new things to look forward to.<\/p>\n

So don\u2019t get down on yourself next time you have a \u201ccheat meal\u201d and remember that everything is OK in moderation. Living a healthy life includes taking care of your happiness, giving in to your favorite things, and taking the\u00a0time to restore your muscles!<\/p>\n

Do you guys do any of those things on my list? How do you deal with cheat meals and balance?<\/p>\n

xx, Remi<\/p>\n

For the latest and greatest info on health and fitness, be sure to check out\u00a0rrayyme.com<\/a><\/em>!<\/p>\n

\n

This story was written by a fab member of our\u00a0Ambassador Network.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":"I wanted to write a post about balance and how important it is today. Sometimes ...","author":617204,"featured_media":99193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,5,268],"tags":[],"thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/static.fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/01100044\/download-1-660x400.jpg","thumbnail_url_middle_card":"https:\/\/static.fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/01100044\/download-1.jpg","formated_date":"March 1, 2017","category_name":"Wellness","category_icon":"https:\/\/d3vodd1ws13xud.cloudfront.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/10113835\/health-2.svg","author_name":"","trending":false,"sponsored":false,"random_color":"#dd0d30","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/617204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}