Cheat Days and You

We all have them. 

Those days when absolutely nothing is off-limits. Donuts for breakfast, Italian subs for lunch, burger and fries for dinner, and any number of cookies, chips and cheese in between.

When the only downside is that your stomach is not big enough to fit in more food.

I WILL eat all of those donuts in one sitting.

Cheat days are a blessing and a curse. For one, you finally get to eat everything you were dreaming of while eating your 5^th spinach salad of the week (no dressing).

However, it only takes the dawn of a new day to make you instantly regret your binge and worry over how much of your hard work you’ve undone.

For some, the guilt even becomes an obsession. And that is NOT healthy.

I get it.

It is completely understandable to feel guilty, or angry with yourself, or like you’ve just gone backwards after a cheat day. Or heck, even after a single cheat meal! It’s almost as if you’ve failed.

You commence the self-berating and hours of extra cardio, maybe even cut back an extra 100, 200, 500 calories to compensate. Which ends up just making you upset, tired, and hungry.

And what do you do when you’re upset, tired, hungry, and feeling like you’ve failed?

You give up on your healthy lifestyle and continue eating things you know are bad for you. It’s a vicious cycle, and it needs to be broken.

 Take a deep breath.

Listen to me: your mental health is worth far more than your weight. Did you get that? Maybe you’ve heard it before, but let’s go over it again.

How you feel about yourself and your attitude about life is exponentially more important than how you look or how much you weigh.

Do not throw away your self-confidence and happiness because you indulged in  ate some “bad for you” foods. Give yourself a break! Your healthy lifestyle (did you notice how I never use the word “diet”?) is an ongoing process. Bumps in the road happen. Don’t let them derail you, and don’t you dare let them shake your own relationship with yourself. Just get back on your path and carry on.

Think of the big picture.

Unless you’re training for a bodybuilding competition or you’re a professional model, there is no end-date. Yes, you’re striving for a better body, or better health, but you’re not going to be fired or “lose” if you don’t have a 24-inch waist by Friday.

You’re in this for the long run, which (depending on your age) could be anywhere between 10 and 100 years. For the sake of argument, let’s say you’re looking at another 60 years of life. Do you know how many days are in 60 years? 21,900. 1 day is .0046% of your lifetime. Do you honestly think that’s going to have a large effect on your lifetime health?

Let’s put it another way. If you are shooting for 1800 calories a day, that’s 54,000 in a typical month. If you have a cheat day twice a month, where you eat 3500 calories (and I bet you don't), that means you add an extra 3400 calories to your month, not even enough to gain a single pound.

Plus, how many of us are too full after a cheat day to eat our full allotment of calories the next day anyway?

My point is: The damage is minimal, and it all evens out.

You deserve a break.

If you’re anything like me, nutrition is a big deal; an obsession, almost. You measure calories day in and day out. You own a digital food scale. You know exactly how many grams of protein are in a cup of 2% yogurt, and how many grams of fat are in an average sized avocado. Sugar is a no-no, even when there’s free cake at work. How many people do you know who actually eat as healthy as you do nearly every day? You are the 1%.

Although this dedication is to be admired, it tends to weigh on your psyche. Cheat days are necessary to keep your sanity (and they might actually be useful for your weight loss. We’ll talk about “refeeds” another time). Embrace them! Eat that cupcake! Have that hamburger! Because we all know that you will go back to eating healthy the next day, and the day after that, and the next few days after that.

80/20 rule, people. If you’re eating well 80% of the time, that 20% that you spend enjoying “bad” food won’t hurt you. Remember: health is a marathon, not a sprint, and your mental health is just as important as your physical.

Let me know what you think about cheat days, or if you have any questions for me!

katy.widmer3@gmail.com

Lift. Eat. Love. Repeat.