Can You Have A Cheat Day on Keto Diet? (and is It Advisable?
As with most diets, low-carb eating can often leave us asking these kinds of questions. While Keto diet can be restrictive and crave forbidden carbs can become addictive; therefore, we often look forward to revisiting favorite carb-laden treats when on keto.
Keto cheat meals can be something to look forward to as an indulgence and tasty reward for all of your hard work.
But is a cheat day really worth the sacrifice? Read on to find out whether a treat day could be suitable for you.
Cheating On Your Diet
Cheating is an unnerving concept when it comes to diets.
Cheating, according to the dictionary, means to deprive or influence someone through deceit or fraud.
Diets, however, are not living things; they cannot be fooled.
Keto dieters don’t try to deceive anyone when eating pasta; rather, they make an intentional decision regarding what food to consume.
Food choices you make on the Keto diet affect only you; being honest about this will allow for better food decisions in the future.
Why Do People Take Cheat Days?
Everyone seeks greater happiness in life; this fundamental truth explains why so many take cheat days.
By taking a cheat day on Keto, you know it will bring more fulfillment than sticking to your regular regimen. Simply put.
This logic applies to most Keto cheating scenarios. Here are four examples:
At family gatherings, it can be easy to succumb to politeness by eating cake just to be nice; (Underlying reason: fear of hurting relatives’ feelings). Snacking on chocolate-covered almonds impulsively may provide relief from stress; stopping at fast-food joints because you didn’t pack Keto-friendly meals might alleviate hunger; planning out an entire day of pizza, pasta and bread consumption may even bring happiness!
But just because your intention is to increase happiness (or decrease discomfort), doesn’t guarantee that cheating will have positive outcomes on your health, happiness and overall well-being. Each meal or day spent cheating has different repercussions for our body and mind that will depend on its actual consequences.
Let’s examine both the pros and cons of taking cheat days on Keto diet.
Pros of Cheating on Keto
One popular argument for cheating on Keto is its long-term effectiveness; specifically, that giving yourself the flexibility to indulge in occasional indulgence will increase the chances that you remain Keto for good.
Do I believe what they’ve said? Unfortunately, we lack sufficient data to answer that question definitively.
Dependence depends on both mental and physical state of dieter; some can eat off-plan for meals, days, or weeks and then return easily; for others however, falling off can become permanent.
Your diet status should be fairly clear to you by now. If returning to it can be accomplished easily after taking a temporary pause in eating healthy is possible – then by all means go for it!
But if that fails, consider altering your strategy – more on that shortly!
Cons of Cheating on Keto
Eating habits have lasting repercussions; both positive and negative.
Here are the downsides of eating high-carb and high-sugar foods on Keto:
Reduce Fat-Burning
Consuming too many carbohydrates could put your body out of ketosis. (Carbs raise blood sugar and insulin levels, meaning fat-burning stops as well as production of ketones). Unfortunately, this could thwart your weight loss, fat burning or other Keto-related goals.
What will force me out of ketosis? That depends on your carb tolerance – some people can tolerate up to 100 grams a day while still burning fat, while for others their daily maximum could range between 10-20 grams – so there can be wide variation.
Cheat Meals Can Cause More Energy Swings
A cheat meal high in carbs will quickly elevate blood sugar, followed by energy swings when blood sugar inevitably decreases; hence the term blood sugar rollercoaster! Refined carbohydrates provide you with your ticket onto this ride.
Low-carb diets not only help regulate your blood sugar, but they can also regulate hunger hormones such as ghrelin and neuropeptide Y to allow you to sail through your day without constantly feeling peckish.
Cut back on carbs and you may restore hunger as well.
Cravings Are You Craving More Carbs or Sugar? Food cravings could be more than a passing fad; they could be telltale signs of an addiction problem.
Researchers have even drawn comparisons between sugar addiction and cocaine dependency – and sugar may even prove more rewarding!
Cheating can strengthen these pathways and make it harder to forgo sugary treats in the future.
Guilt can often be overlooked when considering Keto cheat meals, so ask yourself whether the meal will cause further guilt and whether the cheat meal was worth your while.
Keto Cheating in its Worst Form
Not straying too far from the Keto diet may have far-reaching repercussions, and here’s one scenario in particular where this could happen:
One key characteristic of this scenario would be bingeing (or overeating) on cheat days. Even when choosing healthy options as cheat foods, overeating can still cause weight gain and digestive issues.
One study with 248 young adults demonstrated a strong correlation between frequent cheat meal consumption and episodes of overeating; and vice versa. Simply stated: the more we cheat with our diets, the more likely we are to overindulge.
Food quality is another major consideration; generally speaking, the more refined sugar you consume during a cheat day, the worse its effects will be for your health.
Better to consume high-quality carbs such as yams or potatoes. Or “cheat” by choosing low-carb alternatives (which really isn’t cheating at all).
Planning A Keto Cheat Day
Are You Planning On Indulging In Cheat Days Properly To maintain optimal health during Keto cheat days, follow these guidelines.
Substitute Keto-friendly foods in place of traditional ones. Instead of reaching for chocolate chip cookies, opt for Keto chocolate chip cookies; rather than reaching for wheat pasta, opt for low-carb zucchini pasta… You get the idea. Keep portions small to avoid overeating. Oppose willpower with caution by restricting seconds from easy reach and spacing out your cheat days regularly – the less often you indulge, the lower your likelihood is of developing bad eating habits; make every meal count; don’t waste it on half-eaten tortilla chips! Eat what you miss most, such as that special holiday dessert. Stay away from sugar, as sugar-filled cheat meals will only fuel sugar addiction and increase cravings in the future. Opt for long-term solutions such as using keto-friendly sweeteners such as erythritol, stevia or monk fruit sweeteners; additionally exercise increases insulin sensitivity (your ability to manage carbs faster). Return quickly to eating Keto; the longer it takes before returning back on track can become even harder!
Don’t beat yourself up if you find yourself cheating on Keto; what matters now, not what happened yesterday.
Return to healthy eating now, and your future will look bright.
