In the health and fitness world there’s a common expression that gets tossed around commonly known as a “cheat day”. I’ll start by saying I don’t believe in cheat days, for many reasons. For one, “cheating” is a negative term. If we cheat on a spouse, we might get divorced. If we cheat on a test, we will probably receive a 0. If we cheat in a game, we might get caught and get a slap on the wrist (or ideally, a WS ring taken away…but I’m no expert…). No matter the case, cheating has a very bad connotation. When we say that we are “cheating” on our “diet” (I also hate the word diet, but that’s a post for another day..), or the healthy habits that we’ve established, we’re telling ourselves that we’re bad, undeserving, or immoral. Thinking this way about ourselves and our food choices can lead to distorted thinking patterns which can lead to distorted nutritional patterns. This doesn’t seem like the best way to build a sustainable healthy lifestyle now does it?
Second, a having a whole cheat day might urge someone to eat as much as they want because they can’t typically eat these foods when they’re sticking to their normal “healthy habits”. Not only does this have potential for someone to way over-eat and therefore undo all of the progress they’ve done over the past 6 “healthy” days (think about it, if you’re in a 200cal deficit daily and on your “cheat day” you eat an extra 1200cal…you have now eaten back all of the deficit that you’ve caused over the course of the week..), but it also causes you to dissociate from your physiological cues. Instead of stopping when you feel full, you decide to go back for one more serving because you won’t get the chance for another week.
Third, cheat days construct an “all-or-nothing” type of thinking. If, on a “cheat day”, someone wakes up and has a donut for breakfast they might think the whole day is ruined. Because they didn’t eat their typical breakfast of oatmeal with berries, they feel as if the whole day should be scrapped and they can try again tomorrow. Again, this type of thinking can cause some of the behaviors discussed above.
What I suggest instead of “cheat days” are “flexible days.” A flexible day, just like it sounds, is a day where you stick to your normal habits as much as possible but allow for some flexibility. These are days where you might be going out to dinner with friends, going over to your parents’ house for a celebration, or other type of situations where tracking exactly what you’re eating may not be possible. With a “flexible day”, one might go about their day as normal, tracking their portions when they can, and then tuning in to their bodies and trusting themselves to make smart choices when not tracking. For example, if you’re going out to dinner with friends on a flexible day, you may go about tracking and eating your normal breakfast, lunch and snacks and then allow yourself to go out and enjoy what you want at dinner while still making smart decisions. During this dinner, you will order what sounds good while also being smart with your choices. You will tune in to your body to notice your hunger and fullness cues and listen to these cues to know when to stop eating. Flexible days allow you to know that it is completely OK to not hit your portion targets 100% accurately, and that by allowing yourself some flexibility you won’t kill your progress. This type of thinking allows you to know that any and all foods fit into a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, which will allow you to enjoy these foods in moderation without feeling the need to stuff yourself because they are “off limits”. Flexible days give you the ability to enjoy times with friends and family without feeling like you need to restrict yourself or feel left out.
Do you struggle with the traditional “cheat day” mindset and want to work on giving yourself more flexible days? Let’s chat! Schedule your free initial consultation with me today!