Should You Have Cheat Meals or Cheat Days?

Cheating on a diet is the concept of giving yourself a break from your diet so that you can eat some of the foods you typically have to restrict. Following your diet plan for 7 days of the week and then choosing one meal or one day of the week to eat anything you want is a popular practice.

• Cheat meal: Meal that may contain rich or indulgent foods that you would not ordinarily consume when dieting. Cheat meal calories and/or macros are often not tracked because the whole point of eating a cheat meal is to take a small break from your diet.
• Cheat day: Whole day in which you can eat anything you want. No calories are counted, and no macronutrients are recorded.

The idea behind the strategy is that allowing yourself to indulge once in a while will make you more likely to stick to your diet most of the time.

When it comes to weight loss, everybody responds differently to different strategies. Cheating on a diet may work for you if you are still able to maintain an overall calorie deficit. Reasons cheat meals or days may work include:

May improve metabolic function

When you maintain a calorie deficit, your hormone levels gradually adjust to handle fewer calories. Over time, this can result in a weight loss plateau. There is some evidence that a cheat meal can help reset your hormones and rev up your metabolism.

Some experts suggest that incorporating cheating into diets can have an effect on specific hormones that help with weight loss. Studies are mixed, but there is scientific evidence that may support the effectiveness of cheat meals or days.

Leptin is a hormone that signals fullness and satisfaction. Calorie deficits can lower leptin levels, making you hungry and increasing the risk of overeating, which can lead to rebound weight gain. Cheating in a diet may help your body temporarily produce more leptin and therefore trick your body into feeling less hungry.

Indulgence can be a motivator

It can be especially challenging to stay motivated to stick to a diet or fitness plan. Studies have shown that most people give up within 2 weeks for various reasons. 

Cheat days or meals can be a powerful motivator since they can help you resist temptation throughout the week and have a reward to look forward to.

Gives you a mental break

Maintaining a strict diet and fitness plan can wear you down mentally. Having a cheat meal or day can provide you with much-needed respite and the comfort of not having to think about calories or food choices.

May help you avoid quitting

Since following a rigorous healthy eating plan with no breaks is unsustainable for most people, incorporating cheat meals or cheat days can help you break the negative cycle of starting a diet and quitting because you “failed.” Cheating in a diet can help you view occasional indulgences as a planned part of your diet rather than a failure. 

May reinvigorate your workouts

If you are on a low-calorie diet for a long period of time, it can make you feel tired and depleted. An occasional high-calorie meal can give you a boost of energy to prepare for a strenuous workout. 

Although a cheat day or meal may help satisfy your cravings and stick to your diet in the long run, there are also some downsides to consider.

• Failure to adapt: When you start a diet, your body begins to adapt to it. Cheating prevents your body from completing this metabolic adaptation. 
• Feeding the addiction: If you are addicted to junk food, continued consumption of these foods just fuels the addiction. One cheat day can become two, which becomes a week, and before you know it, you're completely off your diet. 
• Canceling the effects of the diet: A single cheat meal or day can undo the results of an entire week of clean eating. Trans fats, seed oils, and gluten stay a long time in the body. You will never be completely free of them if you continue to consume them. 
• Guilt and fatigue: While cheating can give you instant gratification, you may end up feeling guilty, bloated, and tired after indulging in unhealthy foods. If you have a history of unhealthy eating behaviors, cheat meals or days can encourage or worsen these behaviors.

If planned properly, incorporating occasional cheating into your diet may help you stick to your diet. 

However, before planning a cheat meal or day, consider the potential downsides and make sure you are prepared for them.