Better Living Staff Writer
Whether or not a
cheat day works for you depends on how you define a cheat day. For me, cheat
days are a disaster. I will use a cheat day as an excuse to eat pastry for
breakfast, pizza for lunch, and cake for dinner.
However, some people
need a weekly cheat day to keep going. Healthy eating requires willpower to
keep yourself from forbidden foods. Rewarding restraint with a scheduled day
per week can help satisfy cravings and replenish your willpower. Some studies
suggest that cheat days increase your production of the hunger-dampening
hormone leptin while boosting metabolism.
But when we label
certain foods as “cheat” foods, the negative name doesn’t help us practice
restraint. In fact, off-limits foods can develop an emotional charge. On the
flipside, labeling foods as “healthy” can also backfire. It can make us forgo
portion control and overdo it. This is yet another place where moderation is
key.
When deciding whether
or not a cheat day is right for you, ask yourself what a cheat day means to you.
If it’s a day of indulgence, then you should avoid the cheat day altogether
(unless it’s your birthday- you should totally go for it on your birthday). If
a cheat day means having a small dessert when you usually avoid sweets, then you
can handle the cheat day without ruining a week’s worth of hard work.
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