A Nutritionist’s Guide to Ditching Cheat Days
As an intuitive eating nutritionist, I help individuals foster a healthy relationship with food and their bodies. I frequently get asked, “What do you think about cheat days?” when working with my clients.
The short answer is that cheat days will be counterproductive if you want to repair your relationship with food or create long term sustainable habits with nutrition. Cheat days encourage the “all or nothing” mentality around food, which can perpetuate the cycle of overeating and restriction.
Here are some of the ways that cheat days interfere with intuitive eating and building a healthy relationship with food:
Cheat days promote the diet mentality.
One thing that a lot of my clients struggle with is constantly feeling like they are “starting over on Monday”. They are constantly beating themselves up about not having enough “willpower” and think they need to be super strict during the week, then allow themselves a cheat day.
Although it might be fine at first, ultimately, cheat days reinforce the idea of restriction followed by indulgence is healthy. Following this cycle leads to guilt, shame, and overindulgence.
Instead of focusing on eating in a way that honors your body’s hunger and fullness cues, cheat days perpetuate the idea that certain foods are “off-limits” until a designated day, which can be mentally and emotionally draining.
Does this cycle below look familiar to you?
Cheat days undermine trust in your body
One of the main things I do as a nutritionist is help my clients understand their body signals. Cheat days encourage us to ignore these signals because there is already a predetermined eating plan.
During cheat days, many people plan to eat more than they usually would of a certain item because it’s off-limits during the week. Over time, this erodes the trust we have in our bodies and interferes with hunger and fullness cues.
Cheat days Reinforce food morality
Cheat days often are comprised of foods that are “bad foods.” This moralization of food can lead to feelings of guilt and shame associated with indulging in foods considered bad, especially if those foods are eaten outside of the planned cheat day. For example, if it’s your birthday and you have a slice of cake and ice cream, this may bring on feelings of failure, shame, or guilt. When making peace with food, it’s important to recognize that all foods can have a place in our diet, and there is no moral value attached to what we eat.
Cheat days often lead to overeating
Cheat days often involve consuming large amounts of food, which can lead to overeating and discomfort in the body. Overindulgence in these foods can leave you feeling unwell, both physically and emotionally. This can lead to irregular eating patterns the following days because you want to restrict based on what you ate on the cheat day. Then, the patterns continue.
Cheat days hinder mindful eating
Intuitive eating promotes mindful eating, which involves being fully present in the moment and savoring your food. Cheat days, with their focus on quantity and indulgence, can divert attention away from the experience of eating itself. Cheat days instead emphasize the need to consume as much as possible, which is a stark contrast to the principles of mindful eating. Often, when I ask clients if they genuinely enjoy their cheat meals, they say, “of course!” but when we start mindful eating, they realize that it may not be as enjoyable as they once thought.
Cheat days cause a significant blood sugar spike
Cheat days cause a significant blood sugar spike that you could avoid by sprinkling in the foods throughout the week
Larger sugar spikes happen when you have a large amount of sugar or carbs in one sitting without pairing it with other foods that contain fiber, nutrient-dense fats, or protein. When I mention this to clients, they often say they do not want to “waste” their cheat day by eating salad or protein because it makes them too full for cheat foods.
They often note feeling terrible on cheat days, which can be largely from an imbalance of foods. If you spaced out treats throughout the week, you can listen to your cravings and enjoy these foods when you WANT them instead of when you planned them.
I know many people believe that they are going to crave these foods nonstop if they don’t have a planned cheat day, but that’s not the truth. When you have balanced, nourishing meals and make peace with food, you will crave these foods way less than you usually do and drop the guilt and shame around eating them.
Ready to make peace with food?
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