What Do I Think About “Cheat DAys”?
“Free” day. “Cheat” day. “Treat” day. “Refeed” day. No matter what it’s called, you’ve likely heard of this phenomenon where you pick one day each week with no limitation or restriction. A day to eat whatever you want. You may expect me to sit here and tell you my disbelief in such an approach to eating. You know what though? I think many of us practice one ourselves. And that’s okay to me! The key lies in how we approach it.
I personally find myself managing my eating with such a day each week. During the week, when in my regular routines, I eat numerous healthy meals.
Oats for breakfast…
…fruits, nuts, yogurt, etc for snacks…
…and a variety of meals that include veggies, whole grains, and quality proteins.
On the weekend, typically Saturdays, I find myself indulging a lot more readily though.
We have dinners out…
…hit up dessert as a way to relax together…
…attend social events with lots of food…
…and sneak in little extra treats that somehow appear in our shopping carts. *cough*
Recently, Katy posted about the “refeed” days included in the 4 Hour Body eating plan she reviewed. It got me really considering the pros and cons of eating more openly a particular time each week. Right now, this style fits into my balanced relationship with food because it comes as my natural eating routine. I have also experienced the detrimental side when I allowed the following to happen:
- No wiggle room. If something happened, like a dinner with friends, on a night that wasn’t my specified day, I would get anxious and end up going overboard because I didn’t “stick with the plan”.
- Too restrictive at other times. When it wasn’t my “treat day” I did not allow a single thing to pass my lips that you could consider a treat in any sense of the word. This only led to intense cravings that I would tally up in my mind to get my grubby hands on every Saturday. As you can imagine, this always led to a binge and eating way, way too much junk from morning until night .
- Not enjoying food. This turned the food I ate regularly during the week into things I '”had to” eat and not that I wanted to eat. I lost pleasure in eating. I also lost my understanding of my body, because I would be either hungry during the week or stuffed on my treat day.
These three issues caused numerous binges and a very messed up relationship with food. So, how can I say I still view a “free” day each week as reasonable?
It’s about not labeling it so and it coming as part of balance and moderation. It’s about not feeling guilty when I have times during the week that I find myself in situations where I don’t eat optimally health-wise. I strive to eat healthfully 80% of the time. For my life, this ends up with eating balanced meals during the week when I cook and being okay with splurging a bit when we go out to eat or get together with friends. I still allow small treats basically every day. For example, I love my coffee and square of dark chocolate during the kiddos’ naps. I no longer label days or food as cheats or treats. They are food and I can enjoy them as I wish any day, but will have to keep in mind how they affect my body, my energy, my goals, etc. I go with cravings and take the time to savor them so I end up more satisfied eating one cream egg than five.
All in all, I think the negative connotation that comes with “treat/free/cheat/off/refeed/willy nilly/etc” days is unnecessary. I would say the majority of us do it. We just have to step with caution in our view of eating at different times.
Question of the Day – Do you eat differently some days during the week? Have you ever actively deemed a day as a “treat day”?
Reminder - Atlanta Blogger Meet-Up NEXT SATURDAY for dinner. Email me [tina @ faithfitnessfun dot com] if interested.
