Imagine you’re trying to save money for a beach vacation. Every day, you turn over every penny, longingly look into shop windows, but never treat yourself to anything. Then comes a day when you decide not to save and allow yourself to spend as you please. You go to a shopping center and come home with five pairs of trousers that don’t even fit you and a new TV you don’t have space for. Once the excitement of shopping fades, you regret spending so much money on things that don’t bring you that much joy. The next day, you go back to strict saving mode again.
In the world of diets, the phenomenon of so-called cheat days is popular. It’s a principle where you strictly follow a diet all week but designate one day a week when you forget the diet and eat anything you want. Just like a day of reckless spending doesn’t make sense when you’re trying to save for a vacation, one day of breaking your diet is not an ideal system either.
You may have heard me say “truly healthy eating is not a diet,” and I will repeat it like a mantra because this difference is crucial. If you want to eat healthily, you need to set rules that are sustainable in the long term. These rules will look different for everyone, but the important common denominator is that no food is off-limits. If you know what’s good for you and these foods form the basis of your diet, it’s okay to have something that’s not as good for you as long as it’s a conscious decision in the given moment.
If you’re on a diet where you feel so restricted that you can’t stick to it every day and need a break from it, there’s a high probability that on your cheat day, you’ll “go off the rails” and eat much more unhealthy food than you intended, trying to make up for the entire week of deprivation.
Another possible scenario is that you wake up on the designated cheat day full of energy and a natural craving for something healthy, but you know it’s your only chance to have fries, so you order them preemptively to avoid feeling deprived during the week. You end up eating unhealthy foods just because it’s predetermined, not because you genuinely want them in that moment.
I must also mention that a part of healthy eating should include psychological well-being and joy from food. If your diet restricts you, you’ll be stressed, and stress is also very unhealthy for your body. Not to mention the guilt that likely follows at the end of an intense cheat day. If you approach your diet with joy and ease, knowing that you can indulge in anything anytime, it will be much easier to make decisions that benefit your health.
Your savings will be greater if you are cautious with money but occasionally treat yourself to something small, rather than scrimping every penny but occasionally making impulsive purchases. Similarly, your overall health will be better if you eat healthily and occasionally indulge without guilt, rather than following a strict diet and making a planned sugar binge once a week.
I am a mother of three with a passion for cooking and healthy lifestyle. My goal is to show all families that it’s actually really simple to cook healthy, everybody can eat great food, feel great and never stress about food.
