DON'T CHEAT On Your Diet 

Mike never ceases to amaze me with his ability to explain good scientific facts in easily digestible videos while being funny as hell

Dr Mike is 100% telling the truth. I did the weird blink thing and we ended having pizza with the FBI and he saved me

Instead of binge eating on the weekends, I now binge watch Dr. Mike. It has had a profoundly positive affect on my health. Thanks, Dr. Mike!

This actually makes a lot of sense - I've been finding it remarkably difficult to return to my training diet after a cheat day. It often seems to ignite cravings rather than satiating them.

I just noticed how much effort goes into these videos to make them this educational. Mike could have stated the facts within a minute but instead he is creating analogies and metaphors and uses other didactic devices to really hammer the information, its context and its relevance into your dumb brain. Kudos Doc Mike and people behind the scenes who are contributing to this.

Dr. Mike casually explaining how refeeds work and how to break world-class spies in 10 minutes. Amazing. Taking notes btw…

Came in for a lesson on cutting, walked out with a masterclass on KGB torture techniques.

Chinese food secret is MSG. But MAN. Sesame oil is a GAME CHANGER for most at-home Asian dishes. Along with crushed nuts (cashew, peanuts), some acid (rice vinegar, lime), and some sweetness (honey, sugar). MOOAH *finger kiss*

Really needed this- ten weeks into a cut now and I had a cheat meal two weeks ago. It honestly just made it way more difficult to adhere to the diet. My first cut, which had barely any cheating, was way easier by comparison. Gonna keep grinding!

We all can appreciate your scientific approach to exercise and diet. In a word filled with misinformation and scammers, it’s refreshing to find someone who’s truthful and accurate. Mike, keep up the good work!

This couldn't be closer to truth for me a. Been ~10 week on a diet,and every time I've done a "cheat meal" I've realized that if I just ate more "normal food" for few days, it would make me feel better both mentally and physically. I don't think cheat meals do either of those (well, mentally for maybe 1 hour and physically well... not really at all :D), and it REALLY do increase the cravings and all you can think about is the next cheat meas. That's the hardest part in a diet for me - to be able to keep myself away from those "oopsies". Hungry-me is so different than the standard me. Whoops

This advice blew my mind. Thank you, Dr. Mike.

This video is gold! Thank you Dr. Mike!

Cheat meals absolutely fuck up my cravings. It can be tough sometimes if there’s birthdays or holidays or other social events, but even if I keep my cheat meal relatively constrained, it becomes a huge struggle to go back to being healthy the next day.

I could listen to Dr Mike explain anything…the content is amazing and the delivery is world class! Thanks Doc!💪

This is dead on!!! Your so right!

Great information always Mike. Thanks a lot.

man i really needed this video, thanks Dr. Mike!

Thnks dr. mike, sounds like a good idea, will give it a go on sat & sun in the spring cut.

Thank you for putting a smile on my face, Mike!

Man. You're fun. Nice tips, good info and laugh. You got a new suscriber.

Hilarious. I frickin love Mike's humour, and on top of that, some seriously on point advise for the psychological and fatigue managing side of dieting. Its the mental burn out which has always kept me from ever getting below 15% BF. This year will be different. I feel better equipped than ever.

I like this idea, will give it a shot, I totally needed it, I am at a point where I have dieted the hell down and I am almost not losing any fat anymore. Will give it a shot.

‘Doctor Mike blinks, the weird ones I do’ The amount of self awareness you have is terrific

Great breakdown of the psychology behind the cheat meal. I’ve fell into the trap many times before and finally know better these days.

That quantum tunnelling eye blink bit was super funny - thanks Dr Mike!

I love you Dr. Mike. Keep doing you.

Naively, I thought it was just me! 🙂Thanks for articulating a plan to counter these urges so well.

Thank you for another great video:)

I always love a Mike's quick tip in my day 🔥

Damn... Truer words have never been spoken. Thank you for this video my good sir.

I agree with everything Mike said, i Def get more craving after a cheat meal, but the next day im all good even more motivated to diet. A tip that works for me if you gonna cheat, make it your last meal of the day. Stay strong

There's a lot of great advice here (as usual). I think it's all about expectations and knowing yourself and your strengths/weaknesses. I dropped about a hundred pounds between 2019-2020 with a routine that included weekly cheat days, and I've kept it off much the same way Ideally I'd prefer a diet structured around cheat meals rather than days, but I haven't had success with cheat meals for some of the reasons Mike discussed. Mostly the food doesn't feel worth it, and it really didn't satisfy my cravings; I wanted to eat more after an hour or two, and almost always craved junk and mentally justified it. Cheat days, on the other hand, give me a big window to tackle my cravings and usually make the following week of dieting pretty easy The food obsession can be very real. Often Thursday rolls around and I'm already planning Saturday's culinary experience. But I'm pretty solid when it comes to dieting for 5-6 days at a time. This is just my experience. I imagine many people who struggled with cheat meals would have even more trouble with entire cheat days and the diet would be done

As someone who has been strict on nutrition and only cheated a handful of times over a year, you are so correct. It is never worth it. Instead of crazy cheat meals just to have one, I save those days for situations where it is very hard to avoid overeating or eating what I consider healthy - like family events or parties. Even then I make every attempt to eat smart.

That point when Mike has to talk about cheat meals, while being on cut. Brave man. My respect :)

The robots that made me made sure I had those simulations uploaded 😂😂. Classic Dr Mike humor mixed with awesome scientific fact.

Best fitness analogies out there 👊

I have to go to a birthday event this weekend and I’m honestly dreading it because I know how much it’s going to throw me off my diet mentally and how much inner turmoil I’ll have to go through the next few days when I’m heavier and looking worse and feeling like I lost my hard earned progress.

This is the best diet information I've ever received

Needed this😂

I just did a 12 week cut and only cheated a couple times. All I could think was, "what a rip off. I just feel like crud, I took in 2 or 3 meals worth of calories, and I'm still hungry". It made it easier not to cheat anymore when I had a cheat meal.

So great, thanks!

I cheated yesterday on my bulk , i had rice and broccoli i feel really bad for it

Nice to see the channel is doing well

Omg thank you thank you. After a cheat meal I go through the exact thing you said.

When I try to cheat I have an inner voice that sounds like Dave Goggins that hounds me as I eat.

Dr. Mike referencing The Sopranos just made my day :D

This information is a game changer!

This is exactly how I do things. Now that I’m super lean, I get fatigued very quickly if I don’t eat a whole lot for a few days. When I was larger, I could go days and days without eating a single thing and still go out and run 15 miles if I wanted to, but now ever since I started hovering around 10% body fat year around. I’m glad I’ve finally seen someone in this field say this, because I generally hear people talk about doing just a big cheat meal, but that normally just makes me feel like shit, or have like one really good workout.

excellent content

The nice thing about MSG is it's perfectly benign (unless you're one of the people with a sensitivity, in which case I feel sorry for you) so you can just put it on your diet food

Man this is fantastic

I just started a cut, so this has given me a boost in confidence in my ability to get this done efficiently and effectively

My cheat meals used to be a 4.5 kg schnitzel with toppings and chips (it was actually a tonne of smaller schnitzels). Idk how but i was still losing like a kg a week.

My first year seriously dieting and cutting I had NO cheat meals for the first months when I was actually cutting. I even got to the extreme of spitting out any white bread or stuff that I now know cause me insane cravings if I ever eat in a cheat meal. I had NO issues controlling my cravings during those first months, unlike the following years until today when Im rather fit now and can fit one or two cheat meals per week. Now my cravings are insane and I cannot stop myself from eating an entire loaf of bread or whatever the fuck Im craving for. I cant agree with Mike any more regarding the topic of cheat meals. Theyre bad, and if you want to have an easier time with cravings, avoid them completely until the end of your cutting phase.

No, Dr. Mike, you cannot teleport to Friday because that's not what teleportation does. Boy am I glad I didn't commission you to build me a teleportation device.

“It makes you happier...for the five minutes you’re wolfing it down”. Exactly; it’s the same for crack and all forms of gluttony and addiction.

Dr. Mike hit it spot on! Some of us can have cheat meals and some of us just go completely off the rails. You need to know yourself very well. I like his suggestion of just going to maintenance calories for 3 to 4 days! I will try this next time.

I didn’t need to be told, but I know 100% one ‘dirty’ cheat meal often derails me when I’m fairly deep into a cut, and your approach re: refeeding at maintenance for a few days has really worked well for me too.

Literally me everything u said. Flexible dieting saved me from all the issues

Thank you.

The interrogation analogy has to be the best one yet.

I find when I’m on a healthy, but bland diet, things like an occasional strawberry start to taste as good as chocolate mousse.

Jesus this hits home man, when I’m on my diet while cutting IM ON MY DIET, and when I’m a bit off with my diet IM OFF MY DIET 😂😭

Food just tastes sooo much better when you're deprived. Don't cheat.

I have always found it easy for me to have one cheat meal in a week, and then go right back to my diet. My weight is trending the way I want to, and the only downside to that meal is that I usually can't count the protein contribution.

THE GOAT

Current diet model: lose half a pound a week calorie rate, eat 1500 over my TDEE one day a week, never gain or lose weight and also not progress on any lifts during the week.

This is so true. For example. I have been living with very low testosterone for years(and had no idea), had some mild symptoms but never enough to go to the doctor. Had bloodwork done for some other reason and when my doctor told me I need TRT, my symptoms of low T just went through the roof. Its like since I suddenly knew that I was living disadvantaged that my mind finally allowed me to feel the pain of it. Our brain is so fascinating.

This video came at the perfect time. I'm stalling out after losing 10lbs, and now I'm snacking again. I know I need to stop but my brain is so happy. Here's to 5 more lbs

It's MSG Dr.Mike👍🏼 I got you

We need more Italian Mike!!! 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

That comparison to being a kid and being bummed your parents were going to pick you up was SPOT ON not to mention hilarious!!

Dang this couldn’t be anymore dead on!!!.

I completely agree. Diet breaks where you go back to maintaining for a couple days to a week then back to your cut is way more beneficial and way more sustainable then cheat meals. Not too mention, "cheat meals" more often than not promote unhealthy eating habits like binging.

This is the best damn advice I've heard regarding dieting and cheat meals. I'm 100% the guy who loves the cheat meal, then hates himself after and then it sucks for days getting over the cravings I introduced during the cheat meal. working this angle into my new diet plan

Truth!

Could you do a video about cheat meals on a lean bulk?

Hey mike they use msg to make it taste good i dont know if you knew that but now you do! Good that the teacher can even learn

I feel you. But the issue is how to deal with it. I will try maintenance tactic.

LETS GOOOOO

thank u

4:08 this point is why I really never WANTED a cheat meal. I knew it would only increase my expectations of another one. So I always did just fine with maximizing my enjoyment of the meals that fit into my diet protocol and then allowed that to be my baseline of joy, and that was fine.

Very easy for me not to cheat on my diet. My problem is beer. So hard on a beautiful day or on the weekend not to have a beer or two… or three… or six.

In all my preps I crave clean foods as a cheat. Like Ezekiel Bread toasted with strawberry jam. My coaches rarely have guys like that. Just starting to get into my summer diet phase. Once I'm in deep I'll carb cycle or so a few clean high days like you mentioned.

I really could hang out with this guy.

i´m 49 and eat very very healthy, work out 4 times a week and use some gear but every 2 or 3 weeks i need/i want a cheat day (i call it fun day!) and i´m loving it with no regrette because it´s part of my diet and my lifestyle...i enjoy this day and knowing that i will gain some weight, some fat etc but that´s part of it...and when you know this side effects and you also accept these side effects then everything is only half as bad and you deal with the whole situation much more relaxed and easier and can enjoy life much better! :-) greetings from austria!!!

I fell of the chair laughing at Italian Mike "GabbaGula" XD

0:40 same thoughts different cuisines but always at the same time 🤣

As an Italian American on an RP cut who lives with a Chinese family, I feel this video 😭 🤜

I'm still waiting for the portal to emerge and Dr. Mike to venture through with two double cheese pizzas.

Too late 😫

0:48 This is when Mike becomes Dom Lombardozzi.

This is just me but I find cheat meals useful. It's easier for me to say no to pizza etc if I know I'm having pizza on a set date, versus depriiving myself off it completely. I also don't have a problem waiting until the next scheduled cheat meal. It makes it easier for me to stick to a plan, so the trade off is worth it

I love my one day per week cheat meal and beer! Next day I look vascular, muscles look fuller and I have awesome energy.

The 🐐

God I love being on a bulk. It's nice being able to eat pizza without it being a cheat meal.

POV: Mike makes a video to convince himself to not have a cheat meal

Im at work been blinking for an hour still waiting to hang out and grab pizza

Thank you so much doc. This video alone gave me the motivation to not eat a cheat meal.