Rising rates of disordered eating behaviours in Australia (e.g., bingeing and excessive restriction of intake) suggest that repeated ‘cycling’ between healthy and unhealthy eating is increasingly common. The effects of such cycling on obesity and cognitive outcomes are unknown. Here we used rats to assess the effects of cycling between chow and a cafeteria (CAF) diet rich in saturated fat and refined carbohydrates on the development of obesity and spatial recognition memory. In Experiment 1, rats fed a healthy chow diet (control group) were compared with groups fed CAF for: 3 consecutive days per week followed by 4 days of chow (3:4 group); 5 consecutive days per week followed by 2 days of chow (5:2 group); or 7 days per week (continuous CAF group). Total days of access to CAF diet were matched between the latter three groups so that any group differences were attributable to the pattern of access. The continuous CAF and 5:2 groups had significantly more fat mass and worse short-term spatial recognition memory than the 3:4 and control groups. In Experiment 2, rats consuming CAF diet for 16 days and then returned to chow diet for 11 days displayed intact spatial memory, whereas those returned for 4 days were impaired, despite comparable reductions in adiposity in these two groups. CAF feeding did not impair object recognition memory in either experiment. These results demonstrate that the duration and pattern of access to CAF diet interact to determine effects on obesity and cognition in a graded fashion.