Do Footballers Eat Cheat Meals? The Strategic Approach to Elite Athlete Nutrition

December 11, 2025 •

4 min read

While elite footballers adhere to incredibly strict dietary regimens, some surprisingly do incorporate cheat meals into their routines, including superstars like Lionel Messi who has been known to enjoy pizza. This strategic approach is carefully managed for psychological and physiological benefits, rather than being a sign of indiscipline.

Quick Summary

Professional footballers integrate planned cheat meals into their rigorous diet plans, using them for a psychological release and potential metabolic boost while maintaining peak performance.

Key Points

Strategic Indulgence: Elite footballers incorporate controlled cheat meals, not random splurges, to aid mental well-being and long-term diet adherence.
Psychological Reward: The occasional treat provides a mental break from strict dietary rules, which can help prevent burnout and feelings of deprivation.
Metabolic and Physical Benefits: Planned, high-carb cheat meals can offer a temporary boost to a slow-recovering metabolism and help replenish glycogen stores for better performance.
Moderation is Key: Indulgences are typically limited to a single meal on a rest day, not an entire day of unrestricted eating, to avoid derailing progress.
Intentional Choices: Athletes often opt for higher-carb, lower-fat cheat meals to maximize physiological benefits and minimize sluggishness and gut discomfort.

The Foundation: A Footballer's Strict Nutritional Plan

For elite footballers, nutrition is a cornerstone of performance, recovery, and career longevity. Unlike the average person, their food intake is precisely calculated and timed to fuel intense training sessions and matches. A typical footballer’s diet is predominantly composed of complex carbohydrates for energy, lean proteins for muscle repair, and healthy fats to reduce inflammation. This structured eating plan is a crucial tool for optimizing speed, endurance, and strength over the grueling 90-minute game and a long season.

However, this strictness can take a toll. Constantly adhering to a restrictive diet can lead to burnout, intense cravings, and a negative relationship with food. This is where the concept of a planned indulgence—or a 'cheat meal'—comes into play, but it is far from a free-for-all binge fest.

The Psychology and Physiology Behind the Cheat Meal

For professional athletes, the 'cheat meal' is not about falling off the wagon, but about intentionally stepping off it for a moment. This strategic indulgence serves several purposes:

Psychological Release: A planned cheat meal offers a mental break from strict dieting, which can prevent severe feelings of deprivation and improve long-term adherence. It provides a psychological reward for their hard work and discipline.
Metabolic Boost: In periods of prolonged calorie restriction, a strategic, high-calorie meal—often rich in carbohydrates—can provide a short-term metabolic boost. Some studies suggest this temporary increase in calories can raise leptin levels, a hormone that regulates appetite and metabolism.
Replenishing Glycogen Stores: Intense exercise depletes muscle glycogen. While a balanced diet is designed to replenish this, a high-carbohydrate cheat meal can help supercharge glycogen stores, which can be beneficial before particularly long or intense training sessions.

Famous Examples of Footballer Indulgences

Some of the world's best footballers have been known to enjoy an occasional treat. Cristiano Ronaldo, famously disciplined, has been reported to have pizza with his son on occasion, viewing it as a way to avoid a boring life while maintaining his overall healthy habits. Another example includes the occasional request for chicken wings or brownies from Premier League players, according to a Premier League nutritionist, though these are often healthier, modified versions and are limited in frequency. The key takeaway is that these are controlled events, not daily habits.

Comparison: Standard Fuel vs. The Strategic Treat

To understand the strategic nature of a cheat meal, it's helpful to compare it to a footballer's standard fare. This comparison illustrates the vast difference in both nutrient profile and purpose.


Feature	Typical Training Meal	Strategic Cheat Meal
Carbohydrates	Whole grain pasta, brown rice, sweet potatoes (complex, slow-release)	Pizza, kebabs, pasta carbonara (simple, high-glycemic)
Protein	Lean chicken, grilled fish, eggs, legumes	Burgers, fried chicken, or high-fat protein sources
Fats	Healthy fats from avocado, nuts, olive oil	Saturated and trans fats from fried foods and cheeses
Purpose	Fuel daily training, support muscle repair and recovery	Psychological reward, occasional metabolic reset
Timing	Strategically timed around training sessions and matches	Once a week or less, often on a designated recovery day

The Rules of an Effective 'Cheat Meal'

A footballer's approach to an off-plan meal is disciplined and structured. It's about moderation and control, not losing all inhibitions. The rules include:

Planned Indulgence: It is a scheduled treat, not an impulsive decision. The meal is pre-planned to coincide with a day of rest or a light training day, allowing the extra calories to be utilized effectively.
Meal, Not a Day: Crucially, it's a single meal, not an entire day or weekend of indulgence. This prevents a complete calorie overload that would erase a week of progress.
High-Carb, Lower Fat: To gain the potential metabolic boost and glycogen replenishment, many athletes focus on high-carbohydrate, lower-fat options rather than heavy, greasy foods that can cause sluggishness and gut issues.
No Guilt: Athletes are encouraged to enjoy the meal without guilt. This helps reinforce the psychological benefits of the reward and maintains a positive relationship with food.

Conclusion: The Final Whistle on Cheat Meals

So, do footballers eat cheat meals? The answer is a nuanced yes. They understand that peak physical condition isn't just about perfect execution all the time, but about finding a sustainable balance between rigorous discipline and mental well-being. The occasional, strategically planned indulgence is a tool, not a weakness. It allows them to stick to their demanding diets long-term by preventing burnout and rewarding their hard work, ensuring they are both physically and mentally prepared to perform at the highest level.

For more insight into the physiological and psychological aspects of cheat meals for athletes, the sports nutrition content from BarBend provides excellent information on the topic. BarBend Cheat Meals Guide

The Difference in Practice

Here's an illustrative list of how this strategic eating can look for a professional footballer:

Fueling up before a match: Consuming a meal of grilled chicken with whole-grain pasta and vegetables for sustained energy.
Post-training recovery: Drinking a protein shake and eating a banana within 30 minutes to repair muscles and replenish energy.
Mid-season psychological reset: Enjoying a single meal of pizza with family or friends on a rest day, followed by a quick return to their disciplined diet.
Avoiding emotional binging: Planning the 'cheat' prevents random, guilt-filled binge episodes that could be more damaging to their mental state and physical progress.

This disciplined, intentional approach separates the professional from the amateur. It shows that even at the pinnacle of sport, nutritional strategy involves a human element of balance and moderation, carefully managed to serve a greater purpose.

Frequently Asked Questions

Professional footballers typically have a cheat meal once a week or less, scheduling it intentionally on a rest day to prevent it from negatively impacting their training and recovery schedule.

Common cheat meals can vary, but examples include pizza (like for Lionel Messi), burgers, or other favorite comfort foods. Often, athletes may opt for a high-carb choice over a heavy, greasy one.

The primary reasons include psychological relief from strict dieting, which helps prevent burnout and fosters a more sustainable relationship with food. It can also provide a short-term metabolic boost.

When planned strategically, a single cheat meal is unlikely to harm an athlete's performance. However, frequent or uncontrolled cheating can lead to sluggishness, poor recovery, and weight gain, which would hinder performance.

A cheat meal is a single, planned meal, while a cheat day involves a full day of overindulging. Most elite athletes stick to a single meal to avoid completely erasing their calorie deficit and impacting their progress.

Not all footballers may use this strategy, but it is a common and accepted practice among many. The approach is personalized, with some players being stricter than others, but the overall principle is rooted in strategic balance.

The best time is often on a rest day or after an intense training session when the extra carbohydrates and calories can aid in recovery and glycogen replenishment.