Store
Home > Blog > Diet > How Cheat Day Dieting Can Help You Eat Healthier

How Cheat Day Dieting Can Help You Eat Healthier

With health issues like obesity on the rise, it’s no surprise that people are trying to learn how to eat better. Because of this, many people decide to try putting themselves on a strict diet regimen. The problem is, most of these diets end up doing more harm than good. In fact, strict diets can even trigger or worsen chronic stress. Hence, some experts are now claiming that incorporating cheat day dieting into your strict diet plan is better for the body. This way, a person can still enjoy foods they like and keep excess weight off at the same time.

The Link Between Strict Dieting, Stress, and Obesity

When a person decides to live a healthier life, he or she often adopts a rather restrictive diet. For many people, becoming healthier means losing a significant amount of weight initially. Because of this, they make the conscious decision to lower their caloric consumption. That means drastically cutting back on certain foods that they are used to eating quite regularly. Meanwhile, other dieters go one step further and remove certain foods from their daily diet completely.

In the end, however, putting yourself on a strict diet for an extremely long period of time has counterintuitive results. In fact, some even argue that strict dieting results in further weight gain in the long-run. In some ways, this is due to stress.

When you prevent your body from eating something that it wants, you essentially stress it out. The same can be said when you consciously decide to reduce the amount of food that you eat even though you don’t feel satiated. Your body comes to believe it is starving and goes into survival mode.

NEM Bioenergetics CircuitAnd when your body experiences stress, it necessitates response from the NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) Stress Response system. This is composed of six organ or system circuits that work independently and interdependently to respond to stress. The said system circuits include the Hormone, Bioenergetics, Neuroaffective, Cardionomic, Inflammation and Detoxification circuits.

In the Bioenergetics circuit, the pancreas, liver, and thyroid work together to carry out certain chemical reactions and responses that allow consumed food to be converted into energy for the cells. The Bioenergetics circuit is also responsible for ensuring a continuous supply of glucose to the brain. This is important for making sure that the brain functions appropriately while dealing with stress. In addition, the Bioenergetics circuit is also responsible for ensuring that toxins are removed from the body through the liver. It also aids in regulating the body’s inflammatory responses.

Typically, once the stressful episode has passed, all the body systems involved in the NEM stress response system return to normal function. However, when a person chooses to undergo a strict, long-term diet, the stress also becomes prolonged.

When this happens, the NEM stress response system is forced to continue with its response. And as it does this, the entire system eventually begins to dysregulate as all the involved body systems become overworked.

When the Bioenergetics circuit becomes weak and overworked, a person can end up experiencing an imbalance in the GI microbiome. At the same time, the body often no longer has enough energy to address stress effectively.

As part of the NEM stress response system, the adrenal glands in the Hormone circuit produce the primary stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol, in turn, supplies the body with glucose, tapping into the body’s protein stores through gluconeogenesis in the liver. With continuous stress, the adrenals are forced to increase the production of cortisol. This, in turn, causes elevated blood sugar levels, which hampers the functionality of the Bioenergetics circuit further.

In addition, having an excessive amount of glucose in the body can affect the functional connectivity of the brain. This has a tendency to affect one’s cognitive function. In fact, one study in Virginia linked hyperglycemia with mild cognitive dysfunction. Excessive glucose also leads to an altered mood state, characterized by increased anxiety and sadness, and has been linked to metabolic problems and inflammation in the body. All of these conditions only further worsen stress and overwork the NEM stress response system.

Due to chronic stress, the adrenals continue to produce cortisol and other stress hormones until they can no longer keep up with the demand. At this point, it is no longer able to produce enough, and the body undergoes a state of hormonal imbalance. It is this condition that triggers Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS).

Symptoms of adrenal fatigue include depression, irritability, muscle weakness, extreme fatigue, heart palpitations, consistently low blood pressure, foggy thinking, inability to handle stressful situations, low thyroid function and many others. Adrenal fatigue can also trigger a craving for fatty and salty foods. And when you end up consuming too much of these foods, it can result in unhealthy weight gain.

This effect of stress may explain why obesity rates are climbing across the U.S. In 2018, it was found that obesity rates across seven states in the U.S.exceeded 35 percent. This is despite an estimated 45 million Americans going on a diet each year.

To avoid stress, and subsequently adrenal fatigue, you may want to consider incorporating cheat day dieting into your meals. This helps prevent stress due to the restrictions you have placed on the foods that you can eat. Hence, it also goes a long way towards helping you eat what your body needs to recover from adrenal fatigue while keeping stress levels low.

What is a Cheat Day Diet?

An image of a young lady with a guilty look on her face while eating a sweet treatIn cheat day dieting, you allow yourself to indulge in certain foods that you enjoy. However, instead of having these treats with every meal, you identify a regular period when you do so. For instance, you can designate your weekend lunches as your cheat day meal. On this day, you can have some of your favorites but relatively less healthy foods such as a small amount of organic ice cream, chocolate, or foods that might be more processed than usual. And when you do this, the idea is that your body will become less stressed and the reward system in your brain will be satisfied.

Keep in mind that those with food sensitivities should be very careful on their cheat day as they might actually feel worse when taking in foods that they love but their bodies are allergic to.

Why Cheat Day Dieting Can Help

By having a regular schedule of cheat diet eating, you are essentially able to keep your body from stressing about food. This helps calm your body, keep it out of starvation mode, and can even help your mood. Allowing yourself to have a cheat day provides you with a better sense of balance. This helps sustain your self-control during the strict days of your diet and having a day with the pressure off also helps you feel more motivated to maintain the diet long-term. In fact, a study in Portugal and The Netherlands found that planned “hedonic deviations” from a strict diet improved motivation, the ability to stick with the diet, and resulted in as much weight loss as strict dieting.

Easy Cheat Day Dieting Guidelines

Now that you know the downsides of strict dieting, it’s time to find out how to do cheat day dieting. With these tips, you can have a better idea of how to indulge in some of your favorite foods without unwanted weight gain or getting so stressed trying to stick to a strict plan that you eventually give up.

However, it is advisable to consult with your physician and/or nutritionist first before you get started on cheat day dieting. Some people have conditions which can be worsened by strict dieting or binging on certain foods that are relatively unhealthy. Many people suffering from adrenal fatigue find themselves having more and more food sensitivities, which is a good reason to consult a professional first before getting started on cheat day dieting. There is also a balance in adrenal fatigue between giving your body the right amount of food to help the recovery process versus giving your body the nutrients it needs, which is why it is important to seek out a specialist who can help guide you through that delicate balance.

That said, here are some guidelines to help you get the most out of cheat day dieting:

Plan your cheat day dieting out.

The key to having a beneficial cheat meal is to make sure that it is always well planned. The first thing you need to do is decide when you are going to have your cheat meal. Some people do one cheat meal shift per week, while others do a whole cheat day. You can also choose to do your cheat meal during the weekend or on a special occasion.

It’s a good idea to plan out exactly what kind of foods you are going to have in your cheat meal. This helps to ensure you are picking out your favorite foods, allows you to anticipate your meal all week, prevents overeating, and makes your cheat day more satisfying.

Get in some exercise before you eat.

An image of a middle-aged man exercising before his mealYou have to view your cheat meal just like any other important undertaking. It requires preparation, and in this case, that means getting some exercise.

As you may know, regular exercise helps improve your body’s metabolism. This helps increase your body’s ability to convert food into energy. With improved metabolism, any cheat day food you eat can be processed more effectively, reducing the chance of gaining weight.

Never cheat when you’re hungry.

When you are already feeling starved, allowing yourself to have a cheat meal can have unwanted consequences. This is because hunger leads to reduced self-control. Because of this, you may end up eating more cheat diet foods than you had originally intended. This can lead to unwanted weight gain. Even worse, it can also trigger anxiety and stress later on when you get mad at yourself for losing control.

Cheat using only the best quality foods.

If you plan to have a cheat meal, it helps to be pickier with the quality of food that you eat. That means choosing indulgent foods that are organically made. For instance, instead of having artificially colored and flavored strawberry ice cream, how about getting artisanal ice cream with fresh strawberries instead?

Make sure you sit and enjoy it.

You may not realize it, but how you eat your cheat meal matters. For instance, if you enjoy your food while watching television, you end up becoming a distracted eater. And when you are distracted, there is a tendency to eat more than you had originally planned. In fact, a United Kingdom study found that food intake increases with decreased meal attention. Sitting and focusing on your special meal also lets you really enjoy it.

Conclusion

An image of a calendar with a cheat meal day scheduledAll of these tips can help you get the most out of your cheat meal. Remember, the key to incorporating cheat day dieting into your lifestyle is by striving for balance. Give yourself permission to indulge, but don’t overdo it. This way, your treat day won’t end up making you anxious about having too many unhealthy treats in your body. Sometimes relaxing your strict control over your diet is just the boost you need to keep working towards your health goals while reducing your stress levels.

 
© Copyright 2020 Michael Lam, M.D. All Rights Reserved.


Dr. Lam's Key Question

Cheat day dieting is a practice that allows you to indulge in certain relatively unhealthy foods at certain meals or during certain periods of time. This helps reduce stress over having to resist these foods. In theory, this helps you become calmer, happier, and less anxious.

Ready to Start Your
Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Journey?
FREE HEALTH CONSULTATION
Dr. Lam Coaching is rated 4.7 / 5 average from 70+ reviews on Google
userphone-handsetmap-markermagnifiercrossmenu