I used to have cheat days and cheat meals. The bridge from being on a perpetual diet to a more relaxed routine involved a lot of tests. I would eat “clean” food throughout the week, but come Saturday, I would indulge in something that I considered “bad.” This practice may seem harmless, but it’s actually regressive for anyone seeking a good relationship with food. With the cheat meals, I thought I was progressing. In actuality, I was just widening the gap between me and a balanced diet. I’ll try to explain as best as possible, but remember I’m not a professional. I’m just a guy who’s been there before.
The whole concept is pretty simple. A cheat day implies that you are doing something wrong. Even though you are granting yourself some sort of dietary hall pass, the central premise is that the guilt around consuming food should still exist. Cheat days and meals can perpetuate dangerous or regressive dieting habits. It can deeper entrench a person in eating disorder behavior.
There is merit to a cheat meal if your career is fitness-based. Professional athletes adhere to strict diets to maintain peak performance and physique. A cheat meal serves as their reprieve from the ordinary. But they are making money; their life’s work depends on this diet. If you are constantly dieting as a civilian and using a cheat day as a reprieve, I’d argue that this harms your health. By continuing a dieting cycle, you move further away from real life.
Most people aren’t professional athletes. Living up to the dietary standards of a bodybuilder or NBA player daily is the opposite of realistic. I’m sure people can keep it up for years. Speaking from experience, I kept up diet cycles for years. But I don’t think there’s anything healthy about regimented meals at all times with almost no room for deviation. You sacrifice relationships and peace of mind and alienate yourself from a healthy view of food.
I just remember the stress I would feel when I had to make an unplanned deviation from my diet. These situations are inevitable, proving the unsustainable nature of diets with cheat days. Vacations weren’t even fun because I would stress so much about having to eat “unsafe foods.” I would refuse to order exciting menu items because they weren’t clean. It was too much to handle.
I think the main point is this; food can just be food. There are foods that everyone should prioritize over others because they are more nutritious. But the idea that you need to make a particular time to enjoy a cookie or a hamburger shouldn’t exist. Unless your career depends on it, start prioritizing the things you want. A sustainable diet involves the incorporation of all foods. Food should be an experience. You should enjoy what you eat and be grateful for it. If you have a craving, honor it. The more you deny yourself that food, the more you want it and the further away from sustainability you stray.
I wonder if some of these articles are repetitive. But I think they each address something important precisely while following a theme. Cheat days are regressive. If you suffer from an eating disorder or want a better relationship with food, this can be an opportunity. I have never felt happier as I try to implement these strategies into my routine. Once you allow yourself to eat everything, stress disappears. It’s challenging and seems counterintuitive. But once you give yourself permission to start viewing food as just food, you can begin a path to a normal relationship with it.
Cheat days demonize food. They hinder progress for anyone chasing a healthy life. Have the pizza for dinner on a Tuesday. Just enjoy the process and everything you eat. It will be ok. You can enjoy food in a way you never have before. You can be healthy and eat dessert every night. Just remember to honor what you want and keep the balance. It’s not going to be easy, and I’m not going to pretend it’s easy for me. But just say it with me. Unless your finances depend on it (and even then, maybe reevaluate), no more cheat days.
