Why "Cheat Days" Are Sabotaging Your Relationship with Food

We need to talk about cheat days.

You’ve probably heard someone say it — maybe even said it yourself:

“I’m being good all week so I can cheat on Saturday.”

But here’s the truth: “Cheat days” aren’t just unhelpful — they’re harmful. Not necessarily because of what you eat, but because of what the term represents.

Let’s break down why this common dieting practice does more damage than people realise, and what to do instead.

1. Cheat Days Create a Toxic Morality Around Food

When you call certain foods “good” and others “bad,” and then label eating those “bad” foods a cheat, you’re turning food into a moral issue.

Eat chicken and broccoli? You’re disciplined.

Eat pizza? You’ve sinned.

This kind of language fuels guilt, shame, and an all-or-nothing mindset — the same one that causes so many people to swing between rigid dieting and uncontrolled binges.

Newsflash: You can’t “cheat” on food. You’re not in a relationship with your meals. You’re not breaking a law by eating dessert. You’re just... eating.

2. It Disconnects You From Your Body

Cheat days teach you to override your body’s natural cues — hunger, fullness, cravings — and instead follow a rigid calendar where indulgence is only allowed on certain days.

The result? You ignore your body during the week and then overeat when “permission” is granted.

This disconnection leads to problems including:

• Eating past fullness.

• Feeling sick or bloated.

• Believing you "ruined everything" and falling into a cycle of restriction and compensation.

Nutrition should be about supporting your body, not fighting it.

3. It Encourages Binge Behaviour

If you know you’ve only got one “cheat day” per week, what do you do?

You load up. You eat everything you’ve been depriving yourself of. You go into scarcity mode — because Monday, it’s back to chicken and sadness.

This often turns a single indulgent meal into a full-day (or weekend-long) binge. Not because your body needs that much food, but because your brain is reacting to the pressure of time-limited freedom.

This cycle isn’t just tough on your digestion — it’s mentally exhausting.

4. It Keeps You in a Restrictive Mindset

Most people turn to cheat days because their regular eating is overly restrictive. They’re white-knuckling through the week, counting calories to the gram, and clinging to discipline like a badge of honor.

But sustainability doesn’t come from restriction. It comes from balance.

You can’t build a healthy lifestyle on rules you have to break to stay sane.

If you constantly need to escape your diet, that’s a sign the diet isn’t working for you — no matter what the scale says. Besides, diets in themselves are problematic.

5. It Prevents You From Developing Real Food Freedom

The ultimate goal should be freedom — not just around food, but in your life. Freedom to eat a cookie on a Wednesday without spiralling. Freedom to enjoy dinner out without “making up for it” later. Freedom to nourish your body most of the time and indulge without guilt when it feels right.

But cheat days don’t teach freedom. They teach pendulum swings.

So... What’s the Alternative?

The answer is flexibility. Not perfection. Not “cheating.”

Here’s what that might look like:

• Incorporating small amounts of processed, highly palatable foods regularly instead of saving them all for one day.

• Listening to your hunger and satisfaction cues.

• Making food choices from a place of intention, not compensation.

• Seeing all food as neutral — not good or bad, just different in function.

When you approach food without guilt or restriction, you no longer need cheat days — because nothing feels forbidden.

Final Thoughts

If you want long-term results — in performance, body composition, or overall well-being — you need a nutrition strategy you don’t feel the need to escape from.

That starts with dropping the cheat day mentality.

Stop cheating. Start choosing.

Choose nourishment. Choose balance. Choose a way of eating you can live with — and thrive with — for life.

Have thoughts on this? Struggling to let go of the cheat day mindset? Drop a comment or reach out — I’d love to hear your story.