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"Cheating" is the act of deceiving others or being dishonest. The word conjures up images of copying someone else's answers during an exam, fudging your taxes, or counting cards. Needless to say, these are not positive activities. But does the same negative connotation apply to a cheat meal (or day) for a person on a diet? Can "cheating" on one's diet be beneficial—even fun—or is it just setting the stage for dieting disaster? As a registered dietitian, I am often asked about cheat meals and cheat days. Usually the dieter seems to be asking the question out of desperation. He or she often mentions feeling obsessed and exhausted of counting calories. "I want to have a cheat day once a week where I can eat whatever I want without worrying about my calories," they often say. "But will this cheat day hurt my weight loss?" In other cases, people eat so "clean" (i.e. perfect) on their diets that they simply can't keep up with it day in and day out. They feel that they "need" a cheat meal or day to look forward to and keep them accountable to their strict diet all the other days. I think everyone would agree that even though it has been documented to help people lose weight, daily calorie counting is a big pain in the butt. You have to read labels, measure portions and keep track of so many details. Food selection is constantly on your mind. Focusing so much on calories makes it easy to get into the trap of trying to eat a strict diet of "good" foods, then falling off the wagon and overeating the "bad" foods you tried to avoid. Your vocabulary and thoughts are consumed with extremes: good foods vs. bad foods, cheating vs. being good, restricting vs. overindulging. It is easy to see why you'd want to "cheat" on a system like this. But is cheating on your diet really the answer? Scientifically speaking, "cheating" has not been studied enough for me to give you a clear-cut answer on whether or not it works in the short-term or the long-term. However, the science of caloric intake, as well as the psychological implications of cutting and counting calories, has been extensively researched. So let's explore what we do know and apply it to the idea of cheat days. "Calories in vs. calories out" is the golden rule for effective weight loss. To lose weight, a person must eat fewer calories than he or she burns. Let's assume you are cutting a total of 3,500 over the course of a week to lose 1 pound. In this example, your daily calorie intake is about 1,200-1,500 calories. (Calculate your daily calorie needs for weight loss here.) Say you choose to eat right in the middle of your recommended range: 1,350 calories per day. How would an innocent "cheat" day affect your progress?
This simple example illustrates how a cheat day can easily derail your weight loss efforts. If you eat with reckless abandon and no real plan (or calorie counting), as in scenario #2, you'll stall your weight loss. But scenario #1 shows how the occasional higher calorie day can still fit into a weight-loss plan when it's properly planned and somewhat controlled. Planning for that little indulgence on occasion is easier than you may think and uses the weight loss technique that I call "calorie banking." Continued › |
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Nutrition Articles › Healthy HabitsCan You 'Cheat' on Your Diet and Still Lose Weight?How Cheat Meals and Cheat Days Affect Your Weight Loss-- By Becky Hand, Registered DietitianSparkPeople advertisers help keep the site free! Learn more
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Becky Hand
Becky is a registered and licensed dietitian with almost 20 years of experience. Through her company, An Ounce of Prevention, she makes nutrition principles practical, easy to apply and fun. See all of Becky's articles. |
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Member Comments
I think I am more lazy than anything else. Starting in high school, if someone put a pizza in front of me, I would eat a large pie in one sitting. My laziness was really my Achilles Heel. Now, I have my "cheat" meal since my family likes pizza once a week and I plan for it in my other meals. I also try to drink a big zero cal/caffeine free drink first so that I don't get too far out of control. One day, I'll plan it better and get a salad made in advance to keep me in check. - 2/6/2013 8:13:49 AM
I had a "Cheat Day" that was unplanned and it spiraled out of control (also unplanned), it left me broken.
I equate the experience to driving...if I plan on getting somewhere safety I need my hands on the wheel. Just because I can drive with my knees, doesn't mean I should. - 2/5/2013 10:12:00 PM
For example, I did something really bad the other day, and bought myself a coupe of bags of crisps.
Now using the word "bad" could scar me.
However, I ate some of each of the bags of crisps, that day, and thoroughly enjoyed them - having not had any crisps for about a year.
(Sorry - crisps = chips.)
I then had a handful of crisps the following evening.
And now, several days later, I still have the 2 bags with at least a third of their contents.
I had something that I really fancied, that was not in my diet plan for the day. I didn't beat myself up about it, just let myself really enjoy the novelty. And I have the remainder there - had some the second day, and I'm not needing any more just yet.
So I didn't and I don't feel naughty. I don't feel that I've cheated - the only person I can cheat is me, and I gave myself permission to enjoy. I didn't let myself feel negative about eating "bad" stuff. I even bought myself some dips just to make sure that i enjoyed my time out. I can't say that I will eat any dips like that again for a hugely long time - the tray went into the bin later that night, with at least half the contents still in it. But I enjoyed my wee binge, and I remembered why I don't do it any more, because the dips are so full of all the stuff I have rarely eaten in years - like chemicals.
Yes, my evening will have had an effect in my journey. But it is a positive effect, because (a) i enjoyed myself, for a small increase in stuff, and (b) I was reminded why I don't eat some of these things any more.
Negative ideas lead to more negativity. That is something we in SparkPeople do not need.
So pleasde - let's cut the negative comments and concentrate on the positive. - 2/5/2013 7:41:11 PM
It seems the better option would be to have a number of cheat meals in your calendar. I plan 42 meals in the week (3 meals, 3 snacks per day) and 2 to 3 are cheat meals. That may or may not mean they are bad for me. But they mean I won't include them in the NUTRITION plan for the week. Everything I need to make my goals is in my plan. Those 2 or 3 are wild cards. They might still be healthy or might not. Maybe it is a church dinner, or the movies, or meal with a client.... whatever. But I know they are wild cards because I am not making the meal... so I plan for it. - 2/5/2013 2:22:59 PM
There is a theory that says that, to an extent, we spend pretty much as many calories as we consume. That means that on days when we consume fewer calories, we are more likely to be less active. On days when we consume more calories, we tend to be more active.
We all have seen the extra energy being burned off by children, right after they eat something that contains sugar. We wouldn't burn off a 3000 calorie meal that way, but if we talk about the range below 1500 calories per day, the theory seems plausible.
I am not sure that calorie intake versus expenditure works on a 7-day cycle rather than day-by-day. So, I prefer not to "bank" on banking calories to allow for a binge. - 2/5/2013 1:00:38 PM
I've recently been having days where I cheat on tracking--I eat as I would any other day, but I don't worry about tracking it all. This works for me, and the joy in it is that I get a day off from thinking so hard about what I'm eating. - 2/5/2013 12:06:39 PM