Quote Originally Posted by djansen View Post
That's awesome your an actual dietitian (or going to be).
Out of curiosity, what are your recommendations for daily protein intake in a non-athletic individual?
The ADA's recommendation is to get .8g/kg of body weight.
and do you have any issues with the current food pyramid?
The food pyramid currently is set just fine. It even works for vegetarians as the dairy group includes soy milks and almond milks and the protein group includes beans, eggs, etc.
and what is wrong in regards to "cheat days"? are you ok with "cheat meals"? is it the overall caloric surplus or probability of low nutrient density?
The whole notion behind "cheat days" can overthrow a week's worth of progress. It of course is okay to have a day where you just overeat here and there, but we are talking holidays, far and few in between.

If you have 1500 calories daily on a weight loss diet, and you are working out, and then all of the sudden you have a cheat day. Let's say you have a large dinner and a large dessert, totaling about 2000 calories (that is being generous for today's portions in restaurants). If you eat healthy the rest of the day, it won't hurt you a ton, if you say have a 200 calorie breakfast and a 300 calorie lunch (eating a little light to make up for your cheat meal, which is still a bit overzealous). I would also recommend a good workout session before dinner on these kind of days, to help your metabolism burn through those extra calories a little more efficiently.

Now, let's say you changed this to a cheat DAY. You have a 1000 calorie all out breakfast and a 1000 calorie all out lunch (again, I'm being generous here, you'd be surprised. And this is assuming with no snacks). That puts you at at least 4,000 calories. While this is not a true overhaul on your diet, it is a lot for your body to handle. Especially as your body adapts to your healthier diet, your body will not react as well to this "cheat day." It would most likely result in gas, upset stomach, lethargy, and the effects will most likely last throughout the next day as you work through your food coma.

In a bigger sense, you are allowing yourself to regress and have bad eating habits. And by allowing yourself a cheat day or even a cheat meal, you are putting on the notion that these foods are cheat foods and are off limits, when really you should just be concerned with moderating portion sizes so that you can still be enjoying them here and there without ruining your diet.

For example, instead of finishing off your cheat meal with a cold stone creamery ice cream in the biggest size (this is trend for cheat meals, ordering the biggest and the best), you have a nice healthy dinner and allow yourself a small portion in a bowl, not offsetting your intake. You worked out hard earlier in the day to make up for it. You feel great. If you had your cheat meal, you will most likely feel awful and stuffed and completely full.

As I mentioned, holidays are the exception, and that is why we only have so many throughout the year. Allow these to be your "cheat days" and don't consider them that. They are holidays, where food is being celebrated instead of being used in a negative tone of voice ("cheat").


I feel like I'm rambling here, but I hope you get what I am trying to say.

It is much more feasible in a healthy lifestyle to allow yourself a treat here and there in a small, reasonable portion size instead of going all out. It is much harder on your body to do that and it is much easier on you to allow yourself to have the foods you like more often, as long as you moderate how much you eat and work them into your calories.