How To Lose Weight Fast Cheating

I often tell people that it’s fine to eat whatever your belly desires sometimes, as long as you are able to keep a good routine most of the time.

So, how do you lose cheat day weight fast? The best way to lose cheat day weight is by being disciplined and consistent with your diet before and after a cheat day. If you return to your usual calories, eat less processed foods, and keep hydrated, your weight will return to your pre-cheat day weight within 1-2 days.

If you want to lose that weight (and keep it off long-term), it is important to have the right mindset around cheat days to avoid going overboard. Often cheat days can lead to an “all or nothing” mentality, hindering progress.

Weight Loss Cheat Sheet

Depending on how much extra you eat (whether it’s a cheat meal or a cheat day), you will notice a smaller or bigger weight increase on the scales.

This weight increase is very normal. It’s caused by your body holding onto more water because you probably ate more food (including lots of carbs and salt) than your usual amount.

The amount of water you retain and how quickly you can lose it will differ from person to person, as it depends on the quantity of excess salt and carbs you eat.

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However, as weight gained from a cheat day is water weight (and not fat), the good news is that it can be lost fairly quickly. Within approximately 24-48 hours your body can get rid of that excess water weight.

This means that often the number on the scales might be a false indication of your exact weight, making it challenging to track your progress.

The important thing is to consistently adhere to your calorie deficit, ensuring that you don’t overindulge again until your next planned cheat day.

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For example, let’s say you have a cheat meal or day once a week on a Saturday. On Sunday you revert back to your diet plan following this as consistently as possible until the following week.

If you eat less of these foods following cheat day, then your body will hold onto less water. This will help to reduce water weight quickly.

It is important not to exceed 2, 300 mg of sodium per day, which is equivalent to one teaspoon of salt per day. One pizza or a ready meal likely contains half of this amount.

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As such, aim to eat more whole foods like fruits and veggies that naturally have less sodium content and high fiber content.

In fact, you should be consuming 14 g dietary fiber per 1, 000 kcal, or 25 g for adult women and 38 g for adult men.

Drinking more water is a way to help remove that excess sodium (salt) from the body. This means that by drinking more, you will reduce excess water weight.

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The American Dietetic Association recommends that men should consume at least 2, 900 mL (12 c) fluid per day, and women at least 2, 200 mL (9 c) fluid per day. Those who regularly exercise require higher amounts than this.

If you struggle with drinking this amount of water in a day, consider that things like soups, broth soup, fruit or yogurt smoothies, and milk count towards your fluid intake too.

If you want to lose cheat day weight, do not overindulge the days after cheat day because you feel like you ruined everything by having a cheat day.

Why You Should Take A Cheat Day From Your Diet, And How Many Calories To Eat

Having a good relationship with food is important if you want to avoid falling into your cravings the subsequent days after cheat day.

However, often people associate cheat days/meals with “bad” foods. It is important to stay away from this mindset, which can often happen after indulging into cravings or fatty/sugary foods.

“Cheating implies that you’re doing something dishonest or undesirable, when in fact, you’re just eating for pleasure. Eating for pleasure is totally healthy and normal, and we all do it sometimes”. Samantha Cassetty, MS, RD

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As such, there are no “good” or “bad” foods. So you may want to move away from the all-or-nothing mindset, allowing yourself to enjoy your cheat day without feeling guilty afterwards.

Don’t reduce your calories the next day to “compensate” for the extra calories you ate on cheat day. If you add more restrictions to your diet, it can increase the chances of going overboard on another occasion.

However, if you feel uncomfortable because you have eaten too much on your cheat day, you could try to incorporate more movement post cheat day, for example by going for a walk and increasing your steps.

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The important concept here is that as your cheat day is a planned day of eating above your maintenance calories, you don’t need to make up for those calories the next day to balance things out.

For example, if you eat 1000 calories over your normal target on cheat day, but over the course of the week you are still in a calorie deficit, then overall you are still losing weight.

There are some benefits to having a cheat day if you are trying to lose fat. These benefits will also help you keep that weight off in the long term.

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The reason why cheat days support fat loss is that during this dieting phase you usually are quite strict with calories and macros, as you will be in a calorie deficit.

So, eating a bit more on occasion can boost your satiety hormones temporarily (these hormones, called leptin, send signals to your brain to say you are full).

Although this occasional boost in satiety hormones is only temporary, over a period of restrictive eating and dieting, it will help you lose fat in the long term.

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Key Takeaway: If you integrate occasional cheat days in your diet, this will allow you to eat better throughout your period of diet restriction. By adding this planned time of calorie indulgence, you will be able to refrain from going overboard on other occasions, as going overboard is easy and could put you off track.

Bankir L, Perucca J, Norsk P, Bouby N, Damgaard M. Relationship between Sodium Intake and Water Intake: The False and the True. Ann Nutr Metab. 2017;70 Suppl 1:51-61. doi: 10.1159/000463831. Epub 2017 Jun 15. PMID: 28614828.

Giulia Rossetto is a qualified Dietitian and Nutritionist. She holds a Masters in Human Nutrition (University of Sheffield, UK) and more recently graduated as a Dietitian (University of Malta). Giulia aims to translate evidence-based science to the public through teaching and writing content. She has worked 4+ years in clinical settings and has also published articles in academic journals. She is into running, swimming and weight lifting, and enjoys spending time in the mountains (she has a soft spot for hiking and skiing in the Italian Dolomites).

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We’re a team of athletes, nutrition coaches, and registered dieticians who love to share our passion for working out and eating healthy.Kickstart your weight loss and get healthy with these simple and easy weight loss hacks. These healthy eating hacks will help you to reach your healthy eating goals without feeling deprived of delicious foods......because food is amazing and should be enjoyed!

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New beginnings are never easy. They can be scary, full of uncertainty, and overwhelming. But the feeling of doing something that you always wanted to do – whether that’s losing weight or living a healthy lifestyle – is definitely worth it.

If you've followed me for any amount of time, you probably already know I’m a firm believer that eating healthy doesn’t have to be complicated. I just don’t believe you should hate your food just to be healthy. In my opinion and experience, that will never work because living a tasteless and bland life doesn’t sound good to anyone and just can't really be sustainable for the long haul.

In this post, I've shared my best weight loss tips and healthy eating tricks so you’ll be able to reach your healthy eating or weight loss goals without giving up tasty foods and snacks. You’ll just have to learn some simple healthy food hacks and implement them in your life.It’s as simple as it sounds!

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In an ideal world, we would have time for prepping and cooking balanced meals every day and we would be surrounded by healthy food options. Sadly, we don’t live in an ideal world – we live in a busy world and we’re surrounded by junk food and other food options that are not nutritious, healthy or good for us. So we need weight loss hacks to keep us on track with our healthy lifestyle. We also need weight loss tips and food hacks for how to get healthy.

But, you