A cheat day is a day when you dare to increase your calorie intake during the "stagnation period" when you do not lose weight easily while you are on a diet.
Only on the day you decide on a cheat day, enjoy your favorite meal while considering the nutritional balance, not the usual stoic diet menu. It may seem surprising, but it is said that setting a day like this makes it easier for you to lose weight.
In this article, we'll explain why you need a cheat day and the benefits of doing so. In addition, we have summarized the points to note when conducting a cheat day, so please read it if you are on a diet or if you are about to start a diet.
What is Cheet Day?
"Cheat day" is a word that overlaps "cheat" and "day", which means "fool", and literally translates to "fool day".
The diet day is "a day when you temporarily consume a lot of calories in order to efficiently promote weight loss by giving a false perception that you are not starving" to a "body who thinks you are starving". And so on.
Why Cheet Day is Effective for Dieting
In the first place, let's know why Cheet Day is effective for dieting.
If you continue to limit your calorie intake with a diet menu, your body will unknowingly perceive you as "starved" and consume less energy to prioritize life support. This is one of the causes of the stagnation period that comes during a diet.
That's where Cheet Day comes in. By daring to increase the calorie intake, you tell the body that you are hungry that you are not hungry. By getting enough nutrition, your body can switch from energy saving mode to normal mode and get out of the stagnation period.
Benefits of having a cheat day
The main merits of Cheet Day are the following three points.
I will explain each merit in order.
Increases metabolism
Once the body has entered a stagnation period, the basal metabolism is in a lowered state. If starvation continues due to restrictions on calorie intake, many people feel anxiety and impatience that the stagnation period continues for a long time and they cannot lose weight even if they suppress their diet.
By performing a cheat day and resetting the starvation state of the body once, it can be expected to work to restore the basal metabolism that has fallen.
Condition your nutrition
During a diet, nutrients that tend to be deficient come out. Another advantage of Cheet Day is that you can balance your nutrition by taking in the missing nutrients on Cheet Day.
Relieves stress (but be careful of eating)
When you are on a diet, you tend to get stress about food. A cheat day where you can eat what you like to your heart's content will be a great stress relief for those who like to eat.
Especially in the stagnation period when the results are hard to come out even though you are trying hard on your diet, it can be said that the role of Cheet Day is great because the stress becomes even greater.
However, be careful that Cheet Day is not just a “burnt eater”. If you become sick, your appetite that you had suppressed until then will be released, and you may not be able to return to your usual diet menu at a later date.
How to cheat day
Cheet Day is not just a "day to eat a lot". You need to plan your diet so that you don't break the rhythm of your diet on a cheat day and continue to eat slurping afterwards.
Here's a summary of how to make a successful diet day.
[Before Cheet Day]
・ Lose weight to some extent
Cheet Day is a weight loss technique to get rid of the stagnation period when it is difficult to lose weight. It doesn't make sense to do it when you're losing weight and you're not on a diet.
[Cheet Day Implementation Date]
・ Set the period to only one day
There is only one day to have a cheat day. Forget the stress of painful weight loss only on that day, and think of it as a "one-day reward day" and enjoy your meal to your heart's content. Don't forget to maintain your weight loss before and after your cheat day.
・ Eat what you like while paying attention to the calorie intake
Cheet Day aims to get more energy than you normally eat. When converting to calories, it is a good idea to enjoy your meal while using your weight x 40-45 kcal as a guide. Just keep this calorie count in mind and eat whatever you like!
・ Enjoy your meal to the fullest
On Cheet Day, try to eat what you really want to eat, such as the meat dishes you put up with while you were on a diet and your favorite sweets, so that you can truly enjoy your meal. By enjoying your meal, you can release the stress that you have accumulated in your diet and motivate yourself to resume your diet the next day.
[After the cheat day]
・ Change the frequency of cheat days by gaining or losing weight
It is generally considered that the frequency of cheat days is once a week or once every two weeks. Check your weight diligently after the exercise, and if it has decreased, leave it as it is, and re-execute the cheat day when the decrease is no longer seen, and adjust the frequency.
Precautions for implementing Cheet Day
From here, let's take a look at the points to note when conducting a cheat day.
What to eat the day after Cheet Day
The day after the cheat day, be sure to eat your traditional diet. It is important to make the body recognize that it is "sufficient in nutrition" by adding a sharpness to the diet and cheat day diets.
Cheet day cycle and frequency
It's a good idea to have a cheat day only during the stagnation of your diet and only once every one or two weeks. If you don't limit the number of days, you may end up eating too much and your diet may fail.
In addition, retrofitting such as "make the day you overeat a cheat day" can also cause your diet to fail. Let's carry out the cheat day systematically and approach with the idea of "working hard on the diet with the encouragement of the cheat day".
Recommended menu and calorie calculation for Cheet Day
Introducing the meal menu of Cheet Day and how to calculate the calorie intake.
Recommended menu for Cheet Day
On a cheat day, it is preferable to take in the nutrients that were reduced during the diet. In particular, we recommend consuming carbohydrates that you tend to refrain from eating on a diet. In addition, you may actively eat the dishes and ingredients that you endure while you are on a diet.
Keep in mind the minimum nutritional balance and calorie intake, take in nutrients that tend to be deficient, and increase the calories considerably compared to the diet while you are on a diet.
・ Yakiniku / Steak
Meat is high in protein and vitamins. Eat it with lettuce or salad. Depending on the part of the meat, there is a lot of fat, so it is best to choose lean meat that is low in fat.
·sushi
When you are on a diet, you tend to refrain from carbohydrates. Be sure to get carbs on your cheat day. Sushi is recommended because it is a menu where you can get carbohydrates and protein of seafood together. As a reward for your usual diet, you can enjoy a special sense of luxury.
·Curry and rice
Curry rice is also a menu that can increase metabolism with spices while ingesting carbohydrates. Capsaicin, the pungent ingredient of chili peppers, also has a body fat burning effect. It's a curry that you tend to refrain from when you're on a diet, but don't put up with it on a cheat day and eat it.
・ Rye bread and bagels
Rye bread, which is low in fat and high in dietary fiber, and bagels, which are low in fat and cholesterol, are recommended breads to eat when dieting. You can keep calories low while consuming carbohydrates.
・ Japanese sweets
Many people will put up with sweets when they are on a diet. Eat the sweets you normally put up with on Cheet Day to relieve stress. Japanese sweets with high carbohydrates and low fats are recommended among the sweets.
How to calculate calories for Cheet Day
Next, I will explain how to calculate the calories you should consume on Cheet Day. There are various calculation methods, so choose the one that is easy for you to carry out.
If you choose method 2, first find out your basal metabolic rate. Please refer to the website of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for the basal metabolism of each age group.
By the way, it is said that the average basal metabolism of men in their twenties is 1,520 kcal, and that of women in their twenties is 1,110 kcal. For method 2, men in their 20s take 4,560-7,600 kcal, and women in their 20s take 3,330-5,550 kcal on a cheat day.
No matter which calculation method you look at, you can see that you have to consume a lot of calories on Cheet Day. To get this much calories in a day, if you have a small diet, you need to think and eat fairly well.
Points to avoid cheat day failure
There are a few things to keep in mind when incorporating and practicing Cheet Day into your diet. Know what you need to be aware of so that you don't get pulled by a cheat day and your diet fails.
■ If you weigh more than a certain amount, you don't need a cheat day
It is said that the effect of Cheet Day is weak when the body fat percentage is 25% or more for men and 35% for women. Until your body fat percentage falls below these values, let's start with a steady diet menu.
■ Adjust the interval according to the weight gain or loss
I explained that the frequency of cheat days is preferably about one day a week, but it is more effective to adjust the interval according to the weight gain and loss. Please check the correspondence between body fat percentage and frequency of cheat days by gender.
| Frequency of cheat days | male | woman |
|---|---|---|
| Once every two weeks | About 20% | 30-35% |
| Once every 10 days | About 15% | 25-30% |
| Once a week | About 10% | 20-25% |
| Once every 4 days | About 7% | Less than 20% |
If you have a high percentage of body fat, a cheat day frequency of once every two weeks is sufficient. Be aware that more cheat days will interfere with your diet.
■ Eat stoic meals on days other than Cheet Day
As explained in the above-mentioned cheat day method, please plan the cheat day for one day only.
If you adopt Cheet Day halfway, you will lose the temptation of food and your diet will fail in a blink of an eye. Eat a particularly stoic meal the day before and the day after your cheat day, and be aware that you are currently on a diet.
Cheet day will be effective only if you plan it
Cheet Day is a method that can be expected to be effective by doing it systematically only during the stagnation period of the diet.
However, if you lose the temptation to eat on a cheat day where you enjoy your meal a lot, you will fail to diet. Make sure you understand the mechanism of the cheat day, overcome the stagnation period of the diet, and continue your diet until you reach your target weight.