Should I have a "cheat day"?

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  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    ColtonMiller56 wrote: »
    It's what you do consistently that counts. One cheat meal or even a cheat day won't matter if you stick to your diet the rest of the week. I personally have cheat day once a week where I eat whatever I want all day and I've lost 10 pounds in a month. When you diet strictly for a long time your metabolism slows down because it thinks your in a famine. When you have a day that you go in a caloric surplus your basically telling your body it's not starving and it releases leptin( the fat burning hormone). Therefore your metabolism speeds back up so when you go on a diet, you lose weight quicker.

    You know if your cheat meal is 5000 calories it can cancel out the rest of your calorie defecit across the week

    Also you should probably read up on leptin .. if you're trying to restore to normal then a couple of weeks at maintenance is what's called for not a cheat meal
  • starglows
    starglows Posts: 6 Member
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    Background
    I have been doing a "cheat day" once a week, for the six weeks since I started dieting. The first two weeks were before I started logging here, and I didn't lose weight those weeks. The past four weeks I've been meeting my goal -- losing a pound or more of fat per week.

    How I do it
    * Try to eat a healthy, protein-rich breakfast
    * Have two large/carb-y/fatty meals and some sugary dessert
    * Still log here, but give myself permission to exceed my calories slotted for the day by a lot. (Other days I end up under though.)

    I am enjoying these benefits
    * Feeling like I can eat anything I want, if only in that one window, makes it easier for me to resist temptation the rest of the time.
    * Getting to eat some things that realistically don't fit in a day's calories. Maybe if I tried to find random people to eat the rest of my pizza, but who does that?
    * Easier prioritizing of unhealthy food: I only have a few slots so what do I want most?
    * Noticing how eating too much and eating a lot of sugar make me feel bad/tired (which I don't notice when it's spread out), giving me less incentive to do it in general

    On the other hand
    * I feel embarrassed to log all those calories. Good thing I only have two friends here so far. ;-)
    * Cheat meals tend to be at restaurants and hard to log, but I do my best. I wish everywhere had to give estimated nutrition!
    * It is a bit of two steps forward, one step back, so I'm not sure if I want to do this long term. And I'm learning to cook some healthy versions of cheat food!
  • nichole0483
    nichole0483 Posts: 19 Member
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    For me a cheat day would be too excessive. When I reach a goal I plan to have a meal that I don't eat. Like a cheeseburger...lol. just one and only when I reach my 30 lb goal. Then I'll set another goal and so on...

  • Lexicpt
    Lexicpt Posts: 209 Member
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    I fit all of the food I eat (which includes fast food, candy, etc) into my daily calorie allowance. I don't like to cheat myself.
  • DearestWinter
    DearestWinter Posts: 595 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    You know if your cheat meal is 5000 calories it can cancel out the rest of your calorie defecit across the week

    This is why on the rare occasion I have a cheat day I still never eat over maintenance. I'm already operating on a fairly low deficit (short and close to goal weight) so it would be incredibly easy for me to wipe out most of the work I did the rest of the week.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,941 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    ColtonMiller56 wrote: »
    It's what you do consistently that counts. One cheat meal or even a cheat day won't matter if you stick to your diet the rest of the week. I personally have cheat day once a week where I eat whatever I want all day and I've lost 10 pounds in a month. When you diet strictly for a long time your metabolism slows down because it thinks your in a famine. When you have a day that you go in a caloric surplus your basically telling your body it's not starving and it releases leptin( the fat burning hormone). Therefore your metabolism speeds back up so when you go on a diet, you lose weight quicker.

    You know if your cheat meal is 5000 calories it can cancel out the rest of your calorie defecit across the week

    Also you should probably read up on leptin .. if you're trying to restore to normal then a couple of weeks at maintenance is what's called for not a cheat meal
    What he says.

    Your body will adapt by reducing your caloric burn below that of someone who has never lost weight. It will do that even more in the presence of a steep deficit or a long term deficit. This will reduce by a small % the CO part of CICO and prime you to gain fat back.

    One day will not fix that. A few weeks at your then maintenance might improve it. It may take years and an increase in body fat above the minimum you reached before it fully reverses. Controlling the rebound and landing and staying at maintenance: not easy.

    Larger meals here and there preferably planned (or sometimes unplanned because... life)? Sure. And log them so you know what happened (to the best of your ability).

    Free for all cheat day? Or "I already had a chocolate, might as well have the ice cream".

    You are setting yourself back and if you are feeling the need for this you are probbly doing something not quite right and sustainable with your normal routine.
  • DaveinSK
    DaveinSK Posts: 86 Member
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    Depends what you mean by cheat days, but I don't have a set day or plan a meal over my goal just to have one. That being said, I have no problem going out and having a meal that puts me over my goal if there's a reason to. Just log it and keep it in mind for the rest of the week.

    I think being mellow about your targets and taking a longer view isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you're looking at eating 2000 a day, it probably won't make a whole lot of difference if you eat 14,000 a week split perfectly evenly, or if you have a day at 3000 and the other six at 1830. I know some people who tend to view eating over their calories as a failure, and once you've failed you might as well got all out and eat the full pint of Cookie Dough Ice Cream since you've been "bad" already.
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
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    i don't believe in cheat days. its turns food into good and bad. you should treat yourself regularly and in control. food shouldn't be off limits. i think learning how to incorporate the foods and indulgences that you love is part of the journey and the "Change" for the long haul.

    but that is just my philosophy.
  • liftrunrepeat
    liftrunrepeat Posts: 23 Member
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    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    i eat what i want as long as it fits my daily goals. i think for (most) people... cheat 'days' can turn into cheat weekends, weeks, months and years.....

    been there done that. LOL

    This!

  • jenniferinfl
    jenniferinfl Posts: 456 Member
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    I have, well, sort of a cheat meal. I'm training to walk a marathon and I have one day a week where I'm doing 10 miles and up. This week my Saturday night will be a cheat meal, but, I'll burn something like 1200 calories the following morning. So, for me, my cheat meal evens out.. lol
  • Looncove_Farm
    Looncove_Farm Posts: 115 Member
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    I have come to the conclusion that I dont need to call it a cheat meal. I just eat what some call "cheat food" in moderation, tonight it was a slice of Pizza and some of my Moms birthday cake and ice cream, im still UNDER my calories for the day and I couldnt be happier!
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
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    missgiddyup341 wrote: »
    It's okay once in a while but I would not cheat say three times a week. That's just me. I would save cheating for a special occasion. I just ate a cookie (yeah I know, cheating) but then I went on a run and burned those calories... That's just my opinion though. If you feel the need to have a cheat day then do it but in moderation! Good luck!

    Eating a cookie is not "cheating". Especially since you fit it into your daily goals.

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