Are Cheat Days Healthy?
By Randi Morse
A lifestyle change is great for your body. Eating healthier foods and getting more exercise is always beneficial. It can, however, be difficult. Change is almost always hard, especially when you're changing a habit or your entire lifestyle. I've recently made some of those changes and can confirm this! One thing that has helped is having "cheat days." Cheat days are those days when you don't stick as rigidly to the diet you've become accustomed to. But are cheat days actually helpful, or can they cause more harm than good?
The Theory Behind Cheat Days
If everything you've read and seen is telling you that you need to eat only healthy foods, why do some experts recommend cheat days? The theory behind a cheat day is that by allowing yourself to indulge occasionally you will be much more likely to stick to your new lifestyle diet. At first glance the idea makes sense; isn't it easier to eat high protein, low carbohydrate meals during the week if you know you can sneak a piece of cake during the weekend?
The Science Behind Cheat Days
Another benefit of cheat days is that they affect leptin levels. Leptin is a hormone that comes from the fat cells in your body. The main job of this hormone is to tell your brain when you are full. It does this by examining the amount you have eaten and seeing if it is enough energy to get you through the day. When you restrict your calories, which happens during a diet change, these leptin levels can drop. Having a cheat day can help prevent the leptin levels from dropping too frequently or too heavily.
The Problem with Cheat Days
When I told a nutritionist that I allowed myself an occasional treat here and there (usually a soda), he was not very happy with me. He told me that the chance of relapsing and starting to drink more soda was very high. He's not wrong. Some people have a difficult time pushing themselves away from sweets, and if they allow themselves to have it occasionally, they may find themselves sliding down that slippery slope and eating more unhealthily again.
For me, I have found that it is possible to have an occasional treat here and there, that I do not backslide. At least, I haven't yet. When it comes to lifestyle changes it is important that you find something that works. If having a cheat day occasionally works for you, do it. But if you find that you're more likely to slide back into bad habits if you have a cheat day, you may want to avoid them.
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