What is a cheat meal?
A cheat meal is a planned meal during which a person temporarily deviates from a strict diet and allows himself to eat his favorite, but unhealthy food.
The term “cheat meal” originated in the world of fitness and bodybuilding, where people typically restrict their diet for a long time to achieve their fitness goals. The practice came from bodybuilders back in the 1990s.
According to professional athletes, constant dietary restrictions are stressful for the body, and over time, they slow down the metabolism. At first, strict diets help get rid of the fat layer and achieve the necessary muscle relief, but over time, a plateau effect occurs – despite the restrictions and grueling workouts, the weight does not decrease. The body switches to energy-saving mode and no longer spends valuable reserves.
To trick the body, bodybuilders have come up with special meals during which they are allowed to eat a lot of high-calorie food. Athletes believe that such “breakdowns” help speed up the fat-burning process and achieve the desired athletic results. In addition, thanks to them, a person can emotionally relax, which is also important for further adherence to the diet.
This approach quickly gained many followers, including celebrities who broadcast their cheat meals and impressive appearance to a multi-million audience. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been posting photos of himself with a mountain of food every Sunday for several years now – on his “cheat day.” Sweets, pastries, fast food – you can have everything you’ve missed during the week, Johnson shows. Singer Katy Perry eats fish and meat with vegetables all week, and on Sundays, she allows herself a huge hamburger – this is her weakness.
Wrestler John Cena doesn’t like to “cheat,” he prefers the word “load.” On loading days, he eats pancakes, muffins, and toast, polishing it all off with ice cream, so he doesn’t break down on other days.
Celebrities and athletes believe that cheat meals provide psychological relief and a sense of freedom, temporarily freeing them from dietary restrictions. This motivates them to continue to stick to it. From the environment of professional athletes and celebrities, who are forced to train no less gruelingly, the practice of cheat meals has migrated to people who are trying to lose weight. They also believe that cheat meals help them survive dietary restrictions and even speed up fat burning a little.
Cheat Meal Rules
Usually, when people talk about a cheat meal, they mean one day a week when you can take a break from your diet. Although, in fact, there are no strict restrictions on cheat meals.
If we summarize everything that is known about cheat meals, we can highlight the main principles:
- strictly follow the diet for a week;
- set aside only one meal during which “everything” is allowed;
- consult with a trainer or nutritionist – these specialists will help you calculate how much you can exceed the total calorie intake and what should be more in this meal – carbohydrates or protein;
- planning – this helps to avoid losing control over your diet;
- Maintain balance – after a cheat meal, a person returns to healthy eating, without using it as an excuse to frequently break the diet.
Consequences of cheat meals
The benefits and effectiveness of cheat meals have not been scientifically proven, but doctors and scientists know what this type of diet can lead to on a regular basis. Constantly “cheating” meals can slow down your metabolism and negate your calorie deficit, which will only slow down your weight loss. Cheat meals also often lead to an unhealthy relationship with food, creating the risk of compulsive overeating and other eating disorders.
Cheat meals don’t help you maintain a healthy weight in the long run
The theory behind cheat meals is linked to the hormone leptin, which regulates appetite and energy expenditure in the body. When a person is on a strict diet, leptin levels gradually decrease, which increases hunger and slows down metabolism.
There is evidence that after a cheat meal, metabolism speeds up by 3-10%, but this effect is temporary and lasts only 24 hours. People who stick to a balanced diet on a regular basis lose weight faster than those who break the regimen on the weekends. This happens because constant “indulgences” do not help to maintain the overall calorie deficit necessary for weight loss. Even if a person eats right on weekdays, regular indulgences on weekends compensate for the deficit created during the week and do not allow weight loss. Those who follow the regime on a regular basis maintain a stable calorie deficit, which helps them lose weight approximately 1.5 times faster.
Cheat meals disrupt the digestive system
Regular cheat meals can disrupt the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, especially if they include a large amount of fatty and sweet foods. On a strict diet, the body gets used to a lighter and more balanced diet, so a sudden increase in caloric intake can overload the stomach and intestines, causing heaviness, bloating, and abdominal pain. In addition, digestive enzymes cannot always cope with the processing of large amounts of fats and carbohydrates, which can also lead to digestive disorders.
Compulsive overeating
Some people find that cheat meals help reduce the psychological stress that comes with dieting. A study by Dutch and Portuguese scientists showed that such hedonistic days with a 2,700-calorie load on top of a daily 1,500 helped dieters cope with food restrictions more easily. On the other hand, there are also statistics: in 70% of cases, cheat meals on strict diets lead to episodes of compulsive overeating.
Binge eating disorder is a disorder in which a person regularly and uncontrollably consumes large amounts of food, even when not hungry. At such moments, the person seems to lose control and then experiences severe psychological discomfort and blames himself for eating too much. Unlike bulimia, with binge eating disorder, the person does not attempt to get rid of what he has eaten (for example, by vomiting).
Cheat meals contribute to compulsive overeating for several reasons. They cause people to unconsciously divide food into “good” and “bad.” As a result, they look forward to the day of the cheat meal and lose control, allowing themselves to overeat because “today is okay.” Constantly waiting for the day when “everything is okay” disrupts natural mechanisms and dulls the feeling of hunger and satiety.
In addition, cheat meals often include high-calorie and highly processed foods that activate the brain’s reward system. Such foods stimulate the production of the hormone dopamine, which is responsible for the feeling of pleasure and causes a real addiction to food.
Regular cheat meals can also form a habit of emotional overeating, when a person associates certain foods with pleasure or comfort. That is, they eat not to satisfy hunger, but to relieve stress or improve their mood.
How to Choose a Safe Alternative to a Cheat Meal
To choose a safe alternative to a cheat meal, it is important to focus on balanced and controlled ways to satisfy the desire to eat something tasty without risking your health and diet. Instead of having “breakdowns,” you can use several approaches, such as integrating small portions of your favorite treats into your daily meals. This will reduce the psychological pressure of the diet. You can follow the 80/20 rule, that is, try to eat a balanced and varied diet 80% of the time, and allow yourself to eat foods with added sugar and trans fats the remaining 20%.
You can also find healthier versions of your favorite dishes, like swapping store-bought pizza for a homemade version with healthy ingredients or making a low-calorie fruit dessert.
It is important to remember that sometimes the desire to eat something unhealthy is associated with emotional experiences. To avoid constantly eating under stress, it makes sense to find alternative ways to relieve it, such as taking a walk, doing yoga, or meeting with friends.
If a person maintains a high-quality, balanced diet day after day, then their craving for unhealthy food is significantly reduced, and their weight remains stable.