Here's What a Cheat Day Does to Your Body
Oh, the "cheat day." If it's not famous enough among regularly fit people, it gets a boost from the spectacularly superfit, like The Rock, who regularly Instagrams his (giant bacon cheeseburgers; plates of cookies, brownies, and a cheesecake chaser—check out some of his most famous here), and like Terry Crews, who told us he downs apple fritters, pizza, mac and cheese, and cobbler on his cheat days.
Should you "do" cheat days, too? Unsurprisingly, weight management experts are split about the concept of being restrictive every day but one and then eating anything that's not on your plan on the other day of the week. Some think they're necessary—a little relief from being on a structured eating plan all the time. Others think they can be a disaster for your body and your weight loss and fitness goals.
What's the problem? First off, the term "cheat day" itself doesn't endear itself to experts. It has the connotation that you're "good" if you stick to your plan, "bad" if you don't (if you "cheat"). For instance, Abby Langer, R.D., of Abby Langer Nutrition, doesn't believe in cheat meals because they have a negative connotation psychologically. "Have you ever heard the word 'cheat' in a good context?," she asks. Yet cheat days "work" for plenty of people who have arrived at eating plans that work to support their health, wellness, and fitness goals.
So what’s the deal? Are cheat days harmless—or do they completely negate the hours of sweat you’ve poured into the gym? Here’s what cheat days really do to your body and the best way to approach one if you want to indulge.
What Is a Cheat Day, Anyway?
The idea of a “cheat day” has been around for decades. First, you stick to your eating plan for six days. Your macros and calories are in check and anything that's not on it—like fast food, dessert, and processed snacks—is off the table.
Then you let loose for the seventh day. This is the Friday night beer-and-wings-showdown. It's when you unwrap the cake that's been looking at you from the freezer all week. This is your day to go for it, because what's really the worst that could happen if you break the rules just once a week? The answer is turning out to be: It depends.
How Do Cheat Days Affect Your Body?
Ever wonder what happens inside your body when it's overloaded with carbs, sugar, and fat? If you're healthy and only do it every now and then, nothing that scary happens, explains Langer.
A healthy body knows how to regulate itself, according to Lisa Ganjhu, D.O. at NYU Langone. "If it requires more insulin, it produces more insulin. It’s not going to break. It will take care of business," she says. But you may notice certain things that a cheat day does and doesn't do to your body:
A cheat day won't improve metabolism. Unfortunately, eating more in order to burn more calories isn’t quite how your body works (see how things really do work, here). Your metabolism does increase after you eat, but if you binge on 1,000 calories' worth of pizza or brownies, your metabolism doesn’t ramp up to burn 1,500 calories to handle what you just consumed. “I never recommend cheat days,” explains Jim White, R.D., owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition in Virginia Beach. “I have seen people indulge so much in one day that it ruins their weekly gains.”
You may feel bloated or have a stomach ache. Langer explains that to process high-sugar meals, your pancreas will create more insulin, and this could lead to these bloated feelings. In addition, food will take longer to digest if you're consuming larger portions, which means those cheat meals will sit in your stomach longer (and they're ore likely to create gas and bloating).
Overeating can lead to lower levels of activity. In a study published in the journal Obesity, researchers found that “obesity prone” individuals—based on personal and family weight history—who ate 1.4 times their estimated calorie needs were less likely to move throughout the day after overeating compared to those who were less prone to obesity. This lack of movement could put you at risk for weight gain, and even harm your health overall.
Cheat days might help you stick to your eating plan during the week. In one study, published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, cheat days helped people stick to their eating plans when they still kept their portions in check. They ate different foods, but didn’t stray from their weekly calorie goals.
The Best Way to Approach Cheat Days
The ideal way to approach a cheat day is to know yourself. Figure out what's sustainable for you.
While the single-day binge can be helpful for some people, occasionally indulging in smaller portions of your favorite foods may be more sustainable for the long haul in others. That way, you can treat yourself a few times a week, rather than carving out an entire day to indulge. Because let’s be real: while the idea of sitting down and slamming an entire pizza may sound appealing, the feeling of fullness after you chow down isn’t.
“Loosen up the reins a few times each week for some indulgent foods,” suggests White. “By allowing a couple smaller indulgences you give yourself a break from normal ‘dieting’ without sabotaging your results.” What that would look like: Aim to have treats comprise 10 to 20 percent of your daily calories. If you're an average active guy who needs roughly 2,800 calories a day, 280 to 560 of those can be reserved for your “cheats” two to three times per week. (Find out how many calories you need here.)
But what if those small treats are a slippery slope? If the idea of a small cookie, for example, puts you into a downward spiral of “I ate one, so I should enjoy the entire sleeve,” then the weekly indulgence might be a better approach for you.
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