Us human beings are the only species that seem to never know what to eat, and when we do have a healthy regimen to follow we end up living only for the glorious “cheat day”. I want to be part of the narrative that tells you to STOP having cheat days.
Before you grab your pitchforks and run me out of town for saying you aren’t allowed to indulge in some of your favourite foods hear me out. I used to be that coach that would prescribe cheat days to clients, heck I even had them myself. I held tight to the belief that this was the way to go if you wanted to lose weight. And it was effective…until it wasn’t.
The function of the prescribed cheat day was two fold; to give clients a day to satisfy any cravings built up over the week, and having a “carb load” day to assist in weight loss by raising the metabolism and increasing the hormone leptin in the body which is a hormone that sends the signal that you are no longer hungry. Many coaches use this strategy in weight loss programs because prolonged periods of low calories and low carb intake can actually slow down your metabolism and the weight loss process.
When my focus finally went from weight loss to holistic healthy weight loss I realized I had to take into account the mental health of me and my clients when making meal plans. I went from the classic trainer who viewed food as fuel to a coach that understands that it is actually so much more. Food is as much a social activity and source of comfort as it is fuel and that’s okay. The fact that food is so much more means having one day a week where you are allowed to enjoy food is not realistic. God forbid your cheat day is Sunday and then you have a social function to go to on Wednesday. Cue the anxiety. You may tell yourself you’ll just swap Wednesday for Sunday, but then you also have to cue the sadness on Sunday when you remember it is no longer your cheat day. What a mental mess.
That being said, here are the reasons I no longer think cheat days are healthy:
- Cheat days are taxing on your willpower which is a finite resource. And it’s not like you have different stores of willpower for different things. It’s one willpower battery for everything. So if you had to use willpower dealing with your boss, your kids, to not smoke etc. all of that will be reflected in how much willpower you have left to stick to a diet and wait for your “cheat day”.
- The word cheat has a culturally negative connotation which places some sort of morality on food and thus judgement on yourself for what you do and don’t eat. This really isn’t healthy. Being hard on yourself for eating a muffin is more likely to create the mindset that will cause you to continue making poor eating choices because you go into “what’s the point now” mode. Food is neither good or bad in and of itself. Over indulging in certain foods may not be in line with your health goals but that’s about it. The easier you are on yourself the better your mindset to make the choices that are in line with what you want.
- Cheat days have the potential for disordered eating. I know this first hand. You eat healthy all week only to go into a complete binge on your cheat day, often times sabotaging all the effort you put in the prior 6 days, preventing you from losing the weight. That’s because what you resist persists. The more you actively resist what you don’t want the stronger the desire for it, and knowing one day and one day alone will be your only opportunity to indulge will often times send people over the deep end on their cheat day.
- Eating becomes a source of stress. As I mentioned above, food is not just about nourishment, you are allowed to have enjoyment as well.
So what’s the alternative?
I’m certainly not suggesting eating whatever you want if you have specific health and weight goals. You should still plan ahead for meals and have tasty healthy snacks on hand to prevent everyday mindless eating (emphasis on the tasty so that you can feel satisfied). You should be positively connected to your future desired weight and health so that it becomes the driving force for your eating decisions, and you feel like your choices are leading you to something desirable rather than always feeling like you are sacrificing.
However a general rule I use is 90/10 of healthy food vs treat meals which usually ends up being more like 80/20. I set the bar a bit higher but due to natural human tendencies I end up in a range that I’m still happy with. It’s like my old Muay Thai coach who would train me to protect my face with my hands way above my chin, when I asked him why, he told me it was because when I fight I will actually end up dropping them to where they should be (at my chin). If he would have trained me with my hands at my chin I’d drop them to below my chin and leave myself open. Another analogy is like shooting for the moon but landing amongst the stars (which is still a great place to be). The fact is I often do still eat 90/10 so it works out great.
I want to note that I’m talking meals not days. For example if I eat 3 meals a day 7 days a week that ends up being about being about 3-4 portioned controlled meals a week that I can eat whatever I want. I feel like the portion control had to be mentioned because a whole pizza is not a meal.
This is a better, more sustainable approach to satisfying my sweet tooth and eliminating the panic attacks at the thought of a work lunch in the middle of the week where everyone eats burgers while I munch on garden salad. It’s also worth noting that I am not counting to make sure its exactly 4 meals a week that I’m eating treats. Some weeks it’s only 3, and because I’m no longer depriving myself and desperate for that sugar fix, some weeks it’s only 1 meal. Once in awhile depending on the circumstances, like being on vacation it may be 5 treat meals. Sometimes my indulgence may only be for a few snacks here and there rather than full meals. The point is I’m NOT STRESSING IT. I’m living life as a healthy person and health includes allowing myself to eat the things I like at times.
As long as you understand that if you eat healthy 80% of the time, eat single serving portions when you indulge, and make your food choices from a place of healthy values rather than sacrifice to get to some future external goal you will be just fine and much happier.
