For anyone passionate about exercise, nutrition, health, and wellness, the term “cheat day” can be controversial.
A cheat day is essentially a day when someone abandons his or her diet or disciplined eating and eats one or more items that are not very healthy.
Eating pizza, ice cream, donuts, or burgers and fries are just a few examples of good cheat day foods.
With that in mind, and since Wednesday is National Eat What You Want Day, we consulted with an expert to talk about cheat days.
dr Michael Lowe, Professor of Psychology and Brain Sciences at Drexel University, shared some insights into key questions about Cheat Days.
What are the benefits of cheat days?
Famous actor Dwayne Johnson, aka “The Rock”, is known to post on Instagram “cheat meals” which he eats from time to time amidst his rigorous workouts that take him to films etc.
According to Northwest medicine, eating cheat meals can boost your metabolism, which causes calories to be burned faster. It can also increase levels of leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cells and responsible for maintaining energy in the body.
On article on cooklight.com said Cheat days can be good psychologically because they prevent binges, reduce cravings, and provide a mental break from dieting when, with caveats, cheat days must be done in moderation.
Lowe doesn’t think having a cheat day is a good idea, but he says it can work for some.
“If someone is at a healthy weight, has a system where they eat healthy, they’ve been at a healthy weight for a while and it’s part of their system where it helps them blow off some steam and it helps their desire to eat for the rest of the month, then they’ve shown that the system works for them,” Lowe said. “I wouldn’t object to that.”
What are the disadvantages of cheat days?
The obvious downside to cheat days is that in the long run, it can create yet another temptation to eat unhealthy foods and throw someone off a diet entirely.
It can also lead to abdominal pain or other illnesses, as well as a lower level of activity. according to Men’s Health.
Lowe, for example, doesn’t think cheat days are worth the trouble.
“We usually drive 55 or 65 on the freeway,” Lowe said. “How about one day a year when we all drive 100? How much damage will that do? Why did you even come up with the idea of inventing something like this? If most of us are overfed to begin with, why do we have an excuse to overfeed more?”
How often should you have cheat days?
This depends on the person and what a regimen is, but it can vary. Some people can have cheat days once a week, others can do it once a month, while others should limit them even further.
Lowe suggests that once a year is good because people don’t know how many calories they’re consuming each day.
“We live in a nutritional environment that is very encouraging to eat more than what our bodies need on a daily basis,” he said.
Do you think cheat days are a good idea? Let us know in the comments below.
