TRUTH ABOUT CHEAT DAYS

So I get the question “are cheat days really bad?” a lot. I am here to tell you they can and will be the difference between success or failure. I am all for treating yourself to something you love every now and then, but taking a full day off of your nutrition and throwing caution to the wind will always equal doom!! There is a huge difference between treating yourself to a burger at lunch VERSUS having biscuits and gravy for breakfast, a burger for lunch, and pizza and beer for dinner!! If you are one that allows themselves to have a full cheat day on a weekly basis chances are you are not seeing the results you want, which in my experience always leads to people giving up and quitting.

So lets get down to the bottom of cheat days and see why they can be the deciding factor if you reach your goals or not. So lets pretend you want to drop 10 pounds of body fat. You want to lose 2 pounds per week for 5 weeks….which is a weekly deficit of 7,000 calories (3,500 for each pound of fat) In this scenario we will use easy math.

So let’s say you burn an average of 2,500 calories per day. Let’s not include any calories burned with exercise or activities to simplify things. Obviously if you are in one of my groups or hit the gym it will affect total calories burned….but again, to keep things simple lets just say 2,500 total calories burned per day. So below is what your nutrition should look like to hit your goal of 2 pounds of fat loss per week.

Mon: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit) Tue: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit) Wed: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit) Thu: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit) Fri: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit) Sat: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit) Sun: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit)

That is without a cheat day.

Here’s what a lot of people wind up doing by adding a cheat day on Sat (or Sun).

Mon: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit) Tue: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit) Wed: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit) Thu: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit wiped out) Fri: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit wiped out) Sat: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit wiped out) Sun: 5,500 calories (3,000 calorie surplus)

That cheat day wipes out 3 days of hard work and dedication to your nutrition. If I am being honest this is a best case scenario and most people either eat more than the 5,500 calories on their cheat day or are cheating more than they say.

Here’s what I see happening all the time when people want to lose 2 pounds per week.

Mon: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit wiped out) Tue: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit wiped out) Wed: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit wiped out) Thu: 1,500 calories (1,000 calorie deficit wiped out) Fri: 2,500 calories (even) Sat: 3,500 calories (1,000 calorie surplus) Sun: 5,500 calories (3,000 calorie surplus)

Note: The 2,500 on Friday is due to a few drinks after work. Saturday is loose and means it is pretty easy to hit 3,500 calories. Then they need to have their cheat day and blow it up on Sunday!! Again this is what I see happen most of the time and eating and cheating this way will never, never lead to results.

So there you have it all, why cheat days will never work no matter how bad you want them to. Again allowing yourself to have something you enjoy will not hurt and I encourage that. We should never completely give up the things we love. But we cant continue to eat the way we used to or want to!! Eating that way is what got us here in the first place right? It will always be a vicious cycle if we are unable to change our thinking and eating, especially when it comes to a so called justified cheat day.

As always if you like this article please share it and if you have been thinking of taking that first step to a fitter, healthier and happier you please contact me and we can get started today.