Cheat Days Scare Me...Help?

deksgrl

I eat whatever I want as long as I fit it into my calories for the day. So I don't have a "cheat day". I'm not cheating if I want to eat ice cream, or pizza or whatever. It is just food, with a particular calorie count. You make the numbers work, you eat the food, you are happy. No restriction.

willrun4bagels

KylaDenay wrote: »

All foods in moderation every day of the week and making it fit in my daily goal. Deprivation is not the key to success. Moderation is the key to success and consistency.

This. I don't do cheat days. I make what I want to eat fit within my calorie goals, and if I go over some days, I am fine with that.

999tigger

Honestly your post made me just about cry for so many reasons. I think cheat day must have come from weight watchers, its just food. IF you want to have a few more calories then you can do so in many ways, but its still food. It doesnt cheat the scales. The upside is that you get the benefits of nicer/ food by taste and variety plus it lifts your spirits a bit. The downside is that if its excess calories, then it affects your deficit, but by how much depends to the extent at which you consume extra calories.
Call them chill out days or extra calorie days or treat days, but cheat is simply a silly name imo. Again I think its just marketing that their diet is special and they allow you to cheat because they is special.

Having these extra calories is fine, just be aware of their impact on your daily, weekly and monthly deficit. You take a hit and I can understand if its worth it. I have such food allowances floating around for various target rewards and some reserve ones if ive had enough. I link them to something. They are all there if I should need them. Generally though I just eat in moderation, make sure i am not hungry and then use my surplus calories on treats. Exercise makes a big difference here.

As for your fears.
1. You eat an unlimited amount. I have chocolate, candy, crisps on my desk now. I do remember what it feels like killing myself doing cardio a few hours ago, so im reluctant to go overboard. I want to lose the weight more than I want to eat tons of chocolate. I used to have days where I just ate chocolate candy and chips. Now im losing weight I get a bigger kick out of times on my cardio and seeing the scales drift lower. What im geting at is if you create a virtuous circle then you become more interested in your target and wanting to be slim than gacing twenty bars of chcolate. Btw if you do have the burgers, pizza, chcolate, then enjoy them they still taste fine. Its gets a bit dull after the first 500g of chcolate or 250g of chips anyway.

2. You will be corrupted and never turn back? Do you want chocolate or do you want to be slim more? Simple as that. If you cant trust yourself then dont put yourself in that position imo. All im thinking about is the moment are targets and making sure i keep on target for the rest of the year as well as making an allowance for Christmas.

If MFP is about changes in lifestyle and not excluding any food, then you just have to learn to moderate and recognise excessive chocolate might push you into a surplus which means more weight. Please dont demonise food or become too scared by it. Exercise really helps keep everything in balance.

ps I ditched pizza once I realised how many calories it has in it. theres other take aways id rather have that are nicer and less calories. Using MFP and calorie counting is a great eye opener. I dont deny food, pizza just isnt my priority.

tuiccim

I long ago learned that "Cheat days" are a really bad trigger for me and I binge uncontrollably. I allow myself cheat MEALS now instead. When we go out to a restaurant on the weekend I allow myself to order whatever I want for the meal and I can eat all of it if I want to/can. I have found that they don't derail me and are always a welcome respite.

smilzjoay

KylaDenay wrote: »

All foods in moderation every day of the week and making it fit in my daily goal. Deprivation is not the key to success. Moderation is the key to success and consistency.

This! I allow myself treats everyday, but I work them into my calorie goal. When I go out to eat on the weekend, I usually order what I would have in the past, but make sure to substitute my 2 sides to include a vegetable (normally I would pick the 2 yummiest carb choices available, which would put me WAY over the correct range). Then, I also make sure I only eat HALF my meal: so if the total meal is 900 calories, half of it is still in my calorie range and it doesn't blow my whole day. Or if you really want to eat the whole meal, skip breakfast, do a healthy snack around lunch time, and then you really can have that whole meal for 900 calories. However, learning to set aside half of the meal really helped me to learn control and proper portions (besides the portion at a restaurant is grossly more than what a person should even need to eat on the regular). Now, I don't even miss not eating the whole thing, and I can look forward to a treat for lunch by having the leftovers If you like ice cream, try getting a fruit based ice pop for only 70 calories (Edys makes the Outshine Bars in a ton of different flavors) and I don't even feel like I'm substituting because they are so yummy! I always make sure to incorporate a little chocolate into my day, because if I don't, I go completely star-crazy. The fun size chocolates won't blow your budget, and instead of eating 4 like the serving size suggests, just have the one and really SAVOR it, TASTE it, don't just mindlessly chew and throw it down the hatch lol. This is what I have learned on my own, and it has really helped me. I rarely go over my goal for the day, and I still have little bits of the things I used to love, and it's totally ok! Good luck, you are on the right track!

bulbadoof

999tigger wrote: »

Honestly your post made me just about cry for so many reasons. I think cheat day must have come from weight watchers, its just food.

I actually think cheat days originated in bodybuilding; I had a bodybuilding roommate once who ate nothing but frozen pizzas and ice cream every Sunday - he said it helped to replenish glycogen stores and keep his metabolism guessing. I think dieters adopted it because it sounds like a lot of fun.

Francl27

Well if you don't think you can do moderation, have a cheat meal at a restaurant (lunch preferably!). You won't have more temptations once you leave, and you will be probably too stuffed to have anything else to eat that day.

jaquelynny

bulbadoof wrote: »

999tigger wrote: »

Honestly your post made me just about cry for so many reasons. I think cheat day must have come from weight watchers, its just food.

I actually think cheat days originated in bodybuilding; I had a bodybuilding roommate once who ate nothing but frozen pizzas and ice cream every Sunday - he said it helped to replenish glycogen stores and keep his metabolism guessing. I think dieters adopted it because it sounds like a lot of fun.

THIS

camimiloves

I am also scared of cheat days especially now that I just had my comeback workout. I'm afraid that the whole week that I spent working out and dieting, will be wasted coz I heard that I MIGHT gain it back again. Could it be true?

camimiloves

smilzjoay wrote: »

KylaDenay wrote: »

All foods in moderation every day of the week and making it fit in my daily goal. Deprivation is not the key to success. Moderation is the key to success and consistency.

This! I allow myself treats everyday, but I work them into my calorie goal. When I go out to eat on the weekend, I usually order what I would have in the past, but make sure to substitute my 2 sides to include a vegetable (normally I would pick the 2 yummiest carb choices available, which would put me WAY over the correct range). Then, I also make sure I only eat HALF my meal: so if the total meal is 900 calories, half of it is still in my calorie range and it doesn't blow my whole day. Or if you really want to eat the whole meal, skip breakfast, do a healthy snack around lunch time, and then you really can have that whole meal for 900 calories. However, learning to set aside half of the meal really helped me to learn control and proper portions (besides the portion at a restaurant is grossly more than what a person should even need to eat on the regular). Now, I don't even miss not eating the whole thing, and I can look forward to a treat for lunch by having the leftovers If you like ice cream, try getting a fruit based ice pop for only 70 calories (Edys makes the Outshine Bars in a ton of different flavors) and I don't even feel like I'm substituting because they are so yummy! I always make sure to incorporate a little chocolate into my day, because if I don't, I go completely star-crazy. The fun size chocolates won't blow your budget, and instead of eating 4 like the serving size suggests, just have the one and really SAVOR it, TASTE it, don't just mindlessly chew and throw it down the hatch lol. This is what I have learned on my own, and it has really helped me. I rarely go over my goal for the day, and I still have little bits of the things I used to love, and it's totally ok! Good luck, you are on the right track!

THIS! Chewing and feeling is the key!

corinic91

If I'm taking a "cheat day", I really just eat at TDEE (maintenance calories) for the day. That way I know I'm not undoing any progress I've already made, but I still get to enjoy myself without stressing too much about what I'm eating. Doing it this way allows me to have one day a week where I don't stress about staying at a big deficit, and then I get back to it the next day without feeling like I need to "make up for it" and starve myself.

mccindy72

The problem is having 'cheat' days to begin with. Eat in moderation every day. Have something that you like, be it a candy bar, or a piece of pie or a muffin, but make it fit into your calorie count. Don't have days every week or two where you 'cheat'. You'll end up binging uncontrollably because of deprivation. having things you enjoy, in moderation, every day will make your life enjoyable and you won't need those 'cheat' days.

if you want to have a day of indulgence, make it a holiday or something like that where everyone is gathering and eating a lot, and don't worry about calorie counting.

lemurcat12

bwogilvie wrote: »

I do have days when I will deliberately go over my calorie goal, because it's a special event, or I'm going to a great restaurant and really want to enjoy myself. I factor those into my weekly meal planning. I also see my daily/weekly goals as aspirational; right now I'm almost at maintenance, and I have MFP's goal set so I lose about half a pound a week. I'm OK with losing a quarter pound, though, or even losing just half a pound a month right now.

So maybe the way to split the difference for you is to have a day every now and then when you permit yourself to indulge yourself a bit, but you do log everything. After all, your log is your way to be accountable to yourself, not to anyone else.

This is how I think of it. I don't use the term "cheat day" or "cheat meal," but I do get the red line from MFP sometimes, when I decide to. That might be--as it was once a week when I first started--because I decide to bank some calories to allow for a restaurant meal when doing a lower calorie limit. It might be, as now, because I'm doing the TDEE method with a lower deficit and have a high exercise day or, as discussed above, because a special occasion means that I'm willing to lose less that week.

IMO, you need to decide what makes this sustainable for you. If your overall diet means that you are scared of unrestrained days, you might want to think about whether you are being too restrained in general. One thing for me is that I don't eat fundamentally different on a day I decide to go over my usual calories. I just eat more or (more often, since I don't usually want to eat more in terms of volume or fillingness) perhaps indulge in some items that I save for special occasions because they are higher calories than I want to fit in usually.

LAWoman72

Some people can do "cheat days" and not go off the rails, some can't. I can't; a "cheat day" turns into a cheat week. You may be different. You're going to have to find out what works for you.

I won't sermonize about not making food The Debbil or anything like that, that is all up to you. I just don't feel I'm qualified to make judgments like that with my food history...I can only say what I've observed (that this works for some, not for others). Because the bottom line is that it doesn't matter how many people say "this worked for me" or "this totally didn't work for me," majority won't rule here if your own mind/body don't want to cooperate (with either way - cheat days or no cheat days or no "cheats" at all or demonizing food or "legalizing" it or whatever). I hope you find out what works best for you.

segacs

LAWoman72 wrote: »

Some people can do "cheat days" and not go off the rails, some can't. I can't; a "cheat day" turns into a cheat week. You may be different. You're going to have to find out what works for you.

This. I'm one of those people who cannot do cheat days. If I let myself eat whatever I wanted, I'd gain back all the weight I lost and then some in no time at all.

Instead, I work the foods I crave into my calorie intake in moderation. So my day's calories always include some sort of sweet snack -- a cookie, a square of dark chocolate, something like that. So I'm not depriving myself of the foods I enjoy. It's just that instead of eating the entire bag of cookies (yes, really), I'm only eating one.

Liftng4Lis

willrun4bagels wrote: »

KylaDenay wrote: »

All foods in moderation every day of the week and making it fit in my daily goal. Deprivation is not the key to success. Moderation is the key to success and consistency.

This. I don't do cheat days. I make what I want to eat fit within my calorie goals, and if I go over some days, I am fine with that.

^This!

TimothyFish

For me, a cheat day is a day when I have little control and little knowledge of the food I'm eating. Last week, in Lufkin, TX, some friends and I went to a Mexican restaurant for supper. The plates were as wide as a computer keyboard and they were loaded. I told myself I was going to eat a third of it, but I ended up eating half of it. The next day at dinner, another restaurant served us more than we needed. It if difficult for me to stop eating when it is in front of me, especially when I've been maintaining a deficit. But the rest of the week, I stuck to the plan and I still lost 3 lbs last week.

dunnodunno

Why don't you start to incorporate more of your favorite foods into your daily calorie goal? My favorite snack is ice cream & I almost always allow for a half cup to a cup per day & have lost around 150 pounds.

Even if you have a cheat day & go over by a few hundred calories you could always eat less the next few days to compensate.

Laoch_Cailin

I understand were you are coming with the mentality of ' I ate that I might as well eat everything else'. I used to think and behave like this while dieting. I would eat 'clean' OR I would binge. After reading and reading threads on here I came to realise that as long as my deficit was there it didn't really matter what I ate. Since then I've always made room in my day for a treat that I like to eat let it be chocolate, crisps or burgers. I try to look at this as part of my life now. I log every little thing that goes in my mouth. I pre-log if I've cravings to fit them in and I exercise to allow me to eat more and to feel good. However I also accept that life happens and I need breaks sometimes (usually to visit my sisters down the country), I don't log for these but I try to be mindful and not go overboard. Also if I've a day I go over a little I don't worry about it, more than likely at some stage I'll be under by daily target. It all levels out

Feel free to friend me if you think it'll help. Laura

malibu927

I've never had a cheat day in ten months of losing weight. If I want something, I make it fit into my calories.