Dante Carrillo
The notion of cheat days has become increasingly popular for those dieting or trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. A cheat day is a scheduled break in a diet where a dieter can eat whatever they want for an entire day. The idea is that having a cheat day will boost your metabolism, causing you to burn more calories and help you stick to your diet. However, there is no rigorous scientific research to support this, and cheat days can have negative effects, such as slowing or reversing progress and reinforcing outdated ways of thinking about food and weight loss. Ultimately, the decision to incorporate a cheat day into your diet depends on your health goals and how your body responds to your diet.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | A cheat day is a temporary break in a diet, where a person consumes any food they want over an entire day. |
| Purpose | Cheat days are believed to boost metabolism, increase leptin levels, suppress hunger, and help people stick to their diets. |
| Effectiveness | There is no rigorous scientific research supporting the effectiveness of cheat days. Some evidence suggests they may increase metabolism in the short term, but they are also associated with disordered eating. |
| Recommendations | Nutritionists recommend indulging in cravings but on a workout day to burn off the extra calories. The 80/20 rule suggests 80% of meals should be healthy, with 20% for indulgences. |
| Considerations | Cheat days may not be suitable for all diets, such as the ketogenic diet. They may slow, impede, or reverse progress, especially if they lead to excessive overeating. |
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What You'll Learn
Cheat days may increase metabolism and burn more calories
Cheat days are a scheduled break in a diet where, for one day a week, a dieter can eat whatever they want. The idea of cheat days emerged around the same time as 'clean eating'. Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson is well known for his cheat day posts on Instagram.
There are two main motivations for cheat days. Firstly, cheat days are thought to boost your metabolism, causing you to burn more calories. When you restrict your calorie intake, your body eventually adapts and resets your metabolism to your new lower intake, but cheat days are thought to reduce or prevent this. Secondly, cheat days are supposed to help you stick to your diet. Your levels of leptin, the hormone responsible for suppressing feelings of hunger, fall when you diet, and this can make it harder to resist eating. Cheat days are thought to keep your leptin levels up.
However, there is little rigorous scientific research to support the idea that cheat days increase metabolism. While cheat days may increase metabolism in the very short term, this increase is not long enough to make a significant difference. Any benefit to metabolism would be so short-lived that it wouldn't even "move the needle". Furthermore, the metabolic increase is unlikely to outweigh the excess calories consumed.
Nutritionists recommend that if you plan to consume a larger amount of calories, you should do so on a day when you can burn them off, such as the day of an intense workout.
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They can help you stick to your diet
Cheat days can help you stick to your diet by boosting your metabolism, causing you to burn more calories. When you restrict your calorie intake, your body eventually adapts and resets your metabolism to a new, lower intake. However, cheat days can prevent this reset and boost your metabolism, causing you to burn more calories.
Cheat days can also help you stick to your diet by suppressing feelings of hunger. When you diet, your levels of leptin—the hormone responsible for suppressing feelings of hunger—decrease, making it harder to resist eating. Cheat days can help keep your leptin levels up, making it easier to stick to your diet.
Additionally, cheat days can be a helpful tool to keep binge eating at bay. For those on a highly restrictive, low-calorie diet, cheat meals allow individuals to eat better throughout the week. By allowing yourself to indulge in foods not usually permitted on your diet, you may be more motivated to stick to your planned diet most of the time.
However, it is important to note that cheat days may not work for everyone. Some diets, such as the ketogenic diet, require strict adherence with no room for cheating. Additionally, cheat days can be associated with disordered eating and may not be appropriate for those who struggle with emotional eating, food addiction, or eating disorders.
To make the most of cheat days and ensure they help you stick to your diet, it is recommended to plan them in advance and not think of them as "cheating," but rather as a meal that you earned and should enjoy without guilt. Nutritionists also recommend following the 80/20 rule, where 80% of your meals are healthy and adhere to your diet plan, while the remaining 20% give you flexibility to satisfy your cravings.
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They can be harmful to vulnerable populations
The concept of cheat days in dieting has gained popularity, especially on social media, with celebrities like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson posting about their cheat day indulgences. A cheat day is a scheduled break in a diet where a person can eat whatever they want for an entire day. While some people argue that cheat days can boost metabolism and help stick to a diet, others believe that they can be harmful and stall progress.
The idea of cheat days can be harmful to vulnerable populations, especially those struggling with emotional eating, food addiction, or eating disorders. The excessive focus on physical appearance and the unrealistic portrayal of body image propagated by celebrities and influencers on social media can negatively impact vulnerable individuals, especially younger women. The emphasis on superficial aspects of weight loss can enhance feelings of anxiety and encourage disordered eating tendencies. A study published in the Journal of Eating Disorders found that among adolescents, cheat meals were linked to greater eating disorder behaviours and psychopathology, including binge-eating episodes.
Additionally, cheat days can reinforce outdated ways of thinking about food and weight loss. Labelling certain foods as "good" or "bad" adds moral baggage to food choices and encourages an extreme, black-or-white approach to dieting. This can be detrimental to individuals struggling with disordered eating or those who need to adjust their eating habits due to chronic health conditions.
Furthermore, cheat days may not be suitable for all diet styles. For example, diets like the ketogenic diet require strict adherence, and a cheat day could kick someone out of ketosis, derailing their weight loss efforts. Cheat days can also be challenging for those on low-carb diets, as they may lead to a sudden increase in simple carbohydrates, causing blood sugar spikes and resulting in fatigue, irritability, and decreased alertness.
While cheat days can provide a psychological boost and help individuals stick to their diets, they must be approached with caution, especially for vulnerable populations. It is essential to maintain a healthy mindset, realistic goals, and expectations that support both mental and physical health when considering incorporating cheat days into one's diet.
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Cheat days can slow, impede, and reverse progress
The effectiveness of cheat days depends on several factors, including caloric intake and frequency. If cheat days involve excessive calorie consumption, they can easily erase the progress made during the week. For example, a single fast-food meal can contain 1000-1500 calories, undoing 2-3 days of diligent dieting. Additionally, cheat days that include a sudden increase in simple carbohydrates can cause blood sugar spikes and subsequent crashes, leading to fatigue, irritability, headaches, and decreased alertness.
The impact of cheat days on metabolism is debated. Some people believe that cheat days boost metabolism and help burn more calories. However, nutritionist Fiona Hunter states that there is no rigorous scientific research to support this claim. While there is evidence of a short-term metabolic increase after a cheat meal, it is unlikely to outweigh the excess calories consumed during a cheat day.
Cheat days can also reinforce an unhealthy mindset around food and weight loss. Labeling certain foods as "good" or "bad" adds moral baggage to food choices and encourages an extreme, black-or-white approach to dieting. Additionally, the social media culture surrounding cheat days can propagate an unrealistic body image, enhancing feelings of anxiety and encouraging disordered eating, especially in vulnerable populations.
Furthermore, cheat days may not be suitable for all diet styles. For example, a ketogenic diet requires strict adherence, and a cheat day could kick someone out of ketosis, derailing weight loss efforts for several days.
In conclusion, while cheat days can provide a psychological boost and help manage cravings, they should be approached with caution. It is essential to maintain self-control during cheat meals and not view them as a free pass to overeat. Instead of thinking of cheat days as "cheating," it is better to frame them as earned meals to be enjoyed without guilt as part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
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They can be a reflection of a restrictive and unenjoyable diet
Cheat days have become popular among fitness enthusiasts and are now making their way into mainstream diet culture, largely due to social media. The idea of a cheat day is that it is a scheduled break from your diet, where you can eat whatever you want.
However, wanting a cheat day can be a reflection of a restrictive and unenjoyable diet. If you are craving a cheat day, it may be a sign that your current eating plan, and perhaps your relationship with food, needs rethinking. Cheat days can be helpful for some people, but they can also reinforce outdated ways of thinking about food and weight loss. They imply a good/bad, black-or-white approach to dieting, which can be damaging and is not sustainable.
Instead of thinking about your diet in this way, it is better to find a healthy dietary pattern that is compatible with what you like to eat and your lifestyle. It is about finding what works for you. If you are craving a particular food, it is better to indulge in moderation than to restrict yourself and risk bingeing.
If you are on a highly restrictive, low-calorie diet, a cheat meal can be a helpful tool to eat better throughout the week. It can be a planned splurge that prevents you from giving in to unplanned meals that could throw you off course. However, cheat days can also slow, impede, and even reverse your progress. If you eat too many calories, you may end up undoing your prior weight loss efforts.
It is important to approach cheat days with a healthy mindset and realistic goals and expectations. They should not be seen as a free ticket to excessive overeating.
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Frequently asked questions
A cheat day is a scheduled break from your diet, where you allow yourself to consume any foods you want over an entire day.
There is no rigorous scientific research to support the idea that cheat days are good for your metabolism. However, there is some evidence to suggest that cheat days may increase your metabolism in the very short term.
The frequency of cheat days depends on how close you are to your health goals. Someone trying to maintain their weight may be able to have cheat days more often than someone just starting a diet.
Cheat days can be bad for your health if they lead to binge eating or disordered eating behaviours. Cheat days can also reinforce outdated ways of thinking about food and weight loss, such as labelling certain foods as "good" or "bad".
To have a cheat day without undoing your progress, it's important to maintain self-control and not overeat excessively. Nutritionists recommend satisfying a single craving instead of devoting an entire day to indulgences.
