By Brent Botros Tree House Staff

When incorporating a healthy diet into your regimen, it can seem difficult to remove all unhealthy eating habits. Some of the junk food that tastes so good can often tempt us. One of the most important parts of having a healthy diet, in my opinion, is also implementing some kind of reward for hard work. This actually triggers the brain’s reward system and conditions us into developing and maintaining healthy eating habits, because we know that there is a reward coming at the end of our hard work. I believe that it is absolutely necessary to have cheat meals in our diet.

What is a cheat meal?

Well, this is a meal that we reward ourselves with that can consist of any kind of heavily processed, high carb, high fat food, such as pizza, ice cream, any form of dessert or candy.

When should I implement a cheat meal?

Well, what I try to do is take a look at my schedule first, determining when I need to maintain a healthy diet for optimal performance. I usually remain pretty healthy throughout the week, Monday through Friday, when I train the most, and have the highest workload. During these days, I keep my diet strictly unprocessed and natural. Toward the end of the week, I usually let my guard down. Either Friday night or Saturday, I usually order pizza, grab a pint of ice cream, or some candy or other desserts, and go to town.

What are the benefits of cheat meals?

As I mentioned before, when designating a cheat day, we give ourselves a reward for our hard work, providing us with more reason to maintain that hard work. When I kick back to enjoy my cheat meal for the week, I do it out of love for myself.

Tree House Recovery is a men’s treatment program located in Portland, Oregon. Creating sustainable recovery through sustainable change, our programs help men learn how to live sober with adventurous lives. Call us today for information: (503) 850-2474