::oxygen:mag::

One of my most favorite fitness magazines is Oxygen by Robert Kennedy. I am not too sure if they sell this mag in the States but I am sooo happy that we get it here in Canada. 

There are so many clean recipes by Kennedy's wife Tosca Reno and have frequent articles by fitness buffs such as my all-time favorite Ava Cowan, Jamie Eason, Amber Elizabeth and Alicia Marie. I just loooove this magazine and one of my greatest friends got me a year back-issue subscription of the mag. 

It's just jam packed with information. 

It's  a Sunday afternoon and it's cooold out today and looks like it is just about to rain. My allergies are running rampant and I am sitting here in my nice warm {brand new!} bed while the bf is setting up curtains. A lovely Sunday morning so far. It's not even 11am! 

I am going to share as much as I can today. Some recipes, editorials, health articles that I found in older magazines that I threw out, etc. 

Right now I am going to share an article that I found on the Oxygen website. 

I am sure a lot of you out there will be interesting in reading it...omg. I just wrote eating instead of reading. Ha ha. You will get it shortly enough. ;)

Should You Cheat?

How cheating on your diet can be good for your mind and figure. 

By Jennifer Sygo, MSc, RD

Striking a balance that works for you is the key to avoiding the pitfalls of eating too perfectly. Just like you need to build a rest and recovery into your workout routine, finding a way to enjoy some of your favorite, or even forbidden foods in moderation, is an important tool to keep you on track in the long run. 

How often you choose to indulge depends on a few variables, including your personality, your goals, and the types of foods that you tend to crave. If you are weeks away from your first fitness competition, then keeping cheats to a bare minimum is probably best. On the other hand, if it's a regular day or a regular week, then enjoying a planned cheat meal or favorite snack can help keep you on track. While some prefer to enjoy a small treat every day, others do better by having one "free" meal per week, or enjoying an extra glass of wine or a dessert when they go out socially. 

As for the size of the cheat you can afford, that depends on a few factors. We know that cutting calories can help you to lose weight, but being too restrictive for too long can actually slow down your progress by making it difficult for your body to build all-important lean muscle. If you know that you're consistently eating much less than you are burning {by 500 calories per day or more}, then you might add a cheat food to help you to meet your daily needs. In these cases, you will want to make your cheats a bit healthier, since you'll be eating them often. If you have less wiggle room in your diet, then you might want to limit your cheats to a few times per week or keep the portions or calories lower when you do indulge. 

On the other end of the spectrum, full-out cheat days or weekends can be risky in the long run, especially if you throw all common sense out the window. In the end, you're better off having a pasta dinner or dessert on Saturday night than spending two whole days gorging on candy and fast food, followed by a week trying to undo the damage.

And if you don't feel the need to cheat, that's okay, too - there is no need to force yourself to indulge if you are comfortable with your current routine. The most important thing is that you maintain a routine that is stable, and sustainable, for you. 

Let me know what you guys think about this article. ;)

-S.*

{Source: Article from Oxygen Website / Images from Google Images}