Reviewed by최연승대표원장
What should I eat on my cheating day? I'd like to know which menus you recommend as a TKM doctor.
Rather than recommending a specific menu, it is more important to choose foods based on your current physical condition. If your digestion is strong, focus on high-protein meals; however, if you frequently feel bloated, warm and soft foods are better. The key is choosing foods that make your body feel comfortable rather than simply suppressing your cravings.
Many people treat 'cheating days' as an opportunity to eat anything, but this often leads to indigestion. In Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM), the correct choice depends on your internal physiological state rather than a standard menu.
Protein-rich meals, such as boiled pork (suyuk) or samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup), provide long-lasting satiety and prevent muscle loss. For those with depleted energy, these act as restorative tonics. Conversely, highly spicy foods or refined flour products may relieve stress momentarily, but they easily create 'Dam-eum' (痰飮)—a pathological state where fluids stagnate and thicken into waste products in the body.
If you have a 'Bi-heo' (脾虛) constitution—meaning your spleen and digestive functions are weakened—sudden intake of greasy foods can cause your digestion to grind to a halt. For such individuals, I recommend slow consumption of proteins with 'warm' properties to ensure digestive comfort.
Ultimately, a cheating day should not be a 'free-for-all' eating day, but rather a process of providing necessary nutrition to break through a weight-loss plateau. Since every individual has a different constitution and varying levels of 'Eo-hyeol' (瘀血)—stagnant blood or blood stasis—the most accurate way to determine your 'safe menu' is to receive a professional constitutional diagnosis at our clinic.