Do Cheat Meals Work?

I know that you’ve heard the term before. It’s a “cheat meal” or someone is “cheating” on their diet. I won’t speak for everyone, but at least for me, it’s extremely toxic.

So, do cheat meals actually work? Let’s talk about why they may be doing more harm than good, and what you can do instead.

It Starts With Restriction

If you’ve never heard of cheat meals, they’re usually a meal with foods that are deemed “bad” by diet culture. Some examples are pasta, burgers, ice cream, etc. When someone is on a diet, they’ll usually reward themselves with a cheat meal.

Thinking of the term “cheat meal,” it has a negative connotation. You’re cheating on something, which implies that you’re doing something wrong. Let’s start off by saying that there’s nothing wrong with eating the food you truly want.

When you need to have a cheat meal, it automatically means that you’re restricting. I don’t care if you tell me that it’s a lifestyle and not a diet, or that you actually enjoy it. If you feel that you’re cheating on your diet or yourself, there is extreme restriction happening.

The cycle goes like this. You restrict your food all week and eat nothing but vegetables. Then, you have a cheat meal planned in your head of a burger and fries out on Saturday. All you can fixate on is this meal. The meal comes around, and maybe it’s as good as you imagined, but usually it’s not. Then what happens after? Back to restriction.

My point is, that you shouldn’t be restricting anything from your diet unless there is a medical reason. That restriction will ultimately just lead to a binge, which is disguised as a “cheat meal.” A cheat meal and a binge are usually synonymous. Hate to break it to you.

Are You Even Enjoying It?

Then there’s another piece to a cheat meal, and that’s if the person is actually enjoying it or not. Usually, there tends to be tons of guilt and stress surrounding it.

When I was in my dark dieting days, I would have cheat meals. I can tell you right now that I didn’t enjoy them. My mind was already thinking about what I would have to eat and how I would have to exercise to “make up” for it.

If you’re on a restrictive diet and having cheat meals, you probably don’t understand what true satisfaction with eating feels like. Maybe you do enjoy the foods you’re eating on your diet (which I highly doubt). Maybe you are truly present when you’re having your cheat meal. But again, what kind of life is it to live where you’re constantly eating foods you don’t want in order to live up to this one meal? That’s a lot of pressure for one innocent cheeseburger or slice of pizza.

I talk about your “why” all the time when it comes to all aspects of life. What is your reason for the choices you make? In this case, why are you having a cheat meal or dieting? Is it to change your body? Validation from others? Diet culture is strong in your head? These are all valid reasons, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

All Foods Fit

The line speaks for itself, all foods fit! You may be thinking that if you don’t have cheat meals anymore, won’t you want to eat those foods all the time? Maybe, but probably not.

It’s important to think of how foods actually make us feel. For example, if you had that cheeseburger and french fries every night, you probably wouldn’t feel the best physically. BUT, there’s no reason why you have to save up calories and work out extra hard to eat one. It can fit in your life without any compromise.

My body feels the best when I feed it foods that nourish it, like lots of fruit, protein, etc. It also feels best when I have chocolate and ice cream whenever I want. I was out by myself recently and it was an extremely hot day. Ice cream sounded amazing, so I went and got some. Was this a cheat meal? NOPE! Nothing changed before or after that would be considered “wrong.”

Again, if I had ice cream for lunch everyday, my body wouldn’t feel great. I know that about myself, but it takes time. You may have to go through a period of literally eating ice cream for lunch to understand how it makes you feel. Maybe you feel great! But, maybe you don’t. It’s all a trial and error, but all the foods fit into it.

I hope that this has opened your eyes to cheat meals, and why they don’t work. It’s just a constant cycle of restriction and binge that goes around and around. Food shouldn’t rule our life. Show it who’s boss by eating what you want everyday!

xoxo