Cheat day or strict 24/7 diet??

amandabowen3154

Im currently 205 and my goal weight is 150. So I have quite a bit to lose but wandering if you guys have a cheat day or stay to a strict diet 24/7??

tcbutler8627

I usually give myself a cheat day or at least a cheat meal. Sundays are usually the day I do that. I don't pig out the whole day, but I do enjoy some food I might not throughout the week or at least have a second helping when I won't throughout the week.

I'm not an expert, but I just think it helps keep you on track the rest of the week if you allow yourself at least a meal to relax and enjoy what you want. Best thing I can say is give it a try. If you give yourself a cheat meal/day and are able to still lose what you want each week, then you should be ok. If not, then don't give yourself one, or at least not as much of one.

stacieeldridge

I can't have a cheat day I feel like I've blown my whole diet and if it's ok that one time for some strange reason my mind thinks it's ok. I have to have a dead set mind frame to conquer my body!

tcbutler8627

stacieeldridge wrote: »

I can't have a cheat day I feel like I've blown my whole diet and if it's ok that one time for some strange reason my mind thinks it's ok. I have to have a dead set mind frame to conquer my body!

Yeah, I think everybody is different. Some are able to, some aren't. I think the only way to know is to try it.

yasminbower1991

No cheat days no strict 'diet' just balanced healthy choices - lots of protien, fruit and veg and have a little of what you fancy ever now and then x

benzieboxx

I don't have "cheat days" I just fit the foods I love into my daily calorie allowance. That works for me. If you think this will set you off and you'll binge then perhaps cut the foods that will cause this and then revalute after you've lost some weight or gotten a better idea of portion control.
Overall you never want to feel deprived because that's what normall throws people off the wagon. They miss the stuff they used to enjoy because now these items are "bad".

dearmrsowl

I just make sure I can fit my treats into my daily calorie allowance. I wouldn't be able to totally cut out all my favorite chocolate or my pizza once in a while. The problem with cheat days is that they can easily ruin a week worth of progress. If you are looking into having cheat days / meals just make sure you saved up enough calories from the days before to stay on track.

seska422

I don't have cheat days or a strict 24/7 diet.

I have a loose 24/7 eating plan.

If I want something, I work it into my calorie budget. If I have a special event, I look at my weekly calorie budget and eat less on non-event days so that I can eat more on event day.

flamingblades

Atkins helps with carb control. Expensive, but it works. That's where my sweet snacks come from, otherwise fruit is my sweet food.

Lasmartchika

Neither. I eat the food that I want everyday. I make it fit into my daily calories. It's about eating all foods in moderation. Don't think about this as a diet. It's about thinking how you will want to eat for the rest of your life. Cheat days could kill your weekly progress. Being strict 24/7 could make you want to give up because, well, it's too strict. Fitting the foods that you want into your day makes it easier to progress with weight loss. Pre-log your food you want so you know whether it'll fit or not for the day. It won't fit for today? Plan for it the next day. Remember, losing weight is about being in a calorie deficit. :flowerforyou:

pleasepleaseno

sometimes i go over my calorie allowances and just say "meh, *kitten* it." so i guess that's a cheat day. I dont like the term cheat though, because it's not cheating it's just being a person and sometimes my *kitten* wants lots of beer and lots of food.

amandabowen3154

Thanks for all the advice. I've been thinking of taking Sunday's as a cheat day within regulations. But I've been eating under my goals so I can justify the cookies on Sunday.

GlassRocks

Why Strict? Why not just healthy?

JPW1990

I'm keto, 22g carb limit, 16-1800 cal limit. I don't do planned "cheat" days, because the only things I like that I can't eat anyways are things that would make me sick. If I go over on carbs, but not calories, I know there's a chance that, too, will make me sick for a day or so. If I go over on calories, but not on carbs, that's far less important, since it's a one-off day over an entire year of deficit. I see no reason to intentionally go over on either, when it only takes a few minutes to work out the math to have what I want without going over. If it happens by accident, it's not the zombie apocalypse.

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PeachyCarol

I eat what I plan for.

kiariv

I am currently on a low carb/ketogenic diet to keep my diabetes in check and lose weight. In the beginning i was totally strict diet everyday and no cheat days. Now 7 mos into it however i do allow myself a cheat day once a month that is planned out. I usually do 1600 cals and 20g of carbs or less. On cheat days i try not to allow myself to go beyond 1,800 cals and 100 grams of carbs, which still keeps nutritional ketosis in some like myself as doing this woe has made me more insulin sensitive.. I keep a close eye on bg numbers every day. I am always experimenting to see how much my body can handle. I also do a 3 day water fast right before to create a calorie deficit. Its working well for me. Anyone else doing keto?

PAV8888

I intensely dislike the term cheat days as it sets up a good/bad mindset that I think has no place in this.

Useful to me today vs useless and unnecessary right now is OK. Good vs bad: not so much.

That said it is inevitable that there will be days that you will be over your caloric goals: You didn't have time to do all your planned activities. A friend called and wanted to have a beer. You showed up and the client wanted to go for lunch. You were passing by a bakery and that croissant looked good.

It really doesn't matter what brings it about, inevitably and even with planning, there will be days you will go over your goal unless you become an anti-social anal-retentive hermit (and some of my friends already think that about me and my calorie counting)!

And, if you want to succeed in your weight loss you probably need to minimize these "goals not met" meals and days.

So why the blazes would you intentionally pre-plan an overage?

The only "valid" reason I can see is because your daily routine is so restrictive that you feel the need to put a relief valve in place.

Well, I am not on a diet. What i am doing is just trying to figure out a new way to eat and move during the next five or more years. One that will result in me being more healthy and able than otherwise.

If I feel the need for a pre-planned relief valve, it sounds like I haven't yet stumbled upon a sustainable path....

arguablysamson

Nature is full of ups and downs. If you don't, at some point, have a cheat day, then your body won't be very adaptable and your progress will start to wain. You need day and night, sleep and wake, and, yes, feast and famine. I cycle on and off of fasting days and heavy eating days. The peace it brings can regulate the mind and body. So I'd definitely recommend a well-placed cheat day (at least on every 2 weeks).

Krystle1984

I allow myself one day a week where I will eat at maintenance. Some may see it as "cheating" but as I usually bank about 300kcals a day in exercise that I don't eat back it actually fits perfectly with my weekly deficit goals.

Markguns

Most attempts fail if they are too restrictive. Plan in your reward... have one cookie! Don't call it a diet, it's a fundamental change in the way in you eat / exercise. If you need a big day to go over in cals then do it once a month not every week. The more you go over the longer it will take....

Aviendha_RJ

OMG! Timbits at work this morning... the little donut holes? Brought in for a teenage co-worker's birthday. Package of 20, there's 7 people working in the office. I had ONE.... & a co-worker Melissa, is like, SCREAMING at me... "you can't do that! It's a gateway food! You have to be STRICT & follow your diet EXACTLY! You're going to blow your progress!!!" Yep. 90 calories worth of donut is apparently gunna kill me. I work HARD... I've seen progress. I'm not binge-eating the PACKAGE. I can keep it in CONTROL, and within my calorie counts. What the hell is wrong with ONE bite of donut?

ANSWER: Nothing. If you want it, have it. Just keep it in moderation... or you'll just end up right back where you were. But if you deprive yourself until you want it SO BADLY that you'd do ANYTHING for it... you'll binge-eat and you WILL blow it.

IammeCA

I do a type of cheat day. My cheat days consist of staying within my calorie goal, but ignoring the macros.

So on cheat day I can spend all my calories on a big plate of Fettucini Alfredo with cheesecake for dessert if that is what I want.

Mr_Knight

amandabowen3154 wrote: »

Im currently 205 and my goal weight is 150. So I have quite a bit to lose but wandering if you guys have a cheat day or stay to a strict diet 24/7??

Some people do well one way, other people do well the other way. Most important thing is the average - find what works best for you.

bestmeicanbe1

I don't have a cheat day, ever. I might eat a snack or fast food but it's one meal or snack and I'm always under my calories

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PeachyCarol

PAV8888 wrote: »

I intensely dislike the term cheat days as it sets up a good/bad mindset that I think has no place in this.

Useful to me today vs useless and unnecessary right now is OK. Good vs bad: not so much.

That said it is inevitable that there will be days that you will be over your caloric goals: You didn't have time to do all your planned activities. A friend called and wanted to have a beer. You showed up and the client wanted to go for lunch. You were passing by a bakery and that croissant looked good.

It really doesn't matter what brings it about, inevitably and even with planning, there will be days you will go over your goal unless you become an anti-social anal-retentive hermit (and some of my friends already think that about me and my calorie counting)!

And, if you want to succeed in your weight loss you probably need to minimize these "goals not met" meals and days.

So why the blazes would you intentionally pre-plan an overage?

The only "valid" reason I can see is because your daily routine is so restrictive that you feel the need to put a relief valve in place.

Well, I am not on a diet. What i am doing is just trying to figure out a new way to eat and move during the next five or more years. One that will result in me being more healthy and able than otherwise.

If I feel the need for a pre-planned relief valve, it sounds like I haven't yet stumbled upon a sustainable path....

+1

awnurmarc

It all depends on how you define "cheat." From a calorie standpoint, there might be some meal you would like and it won't allow you to keep your deficit, so you might eat up to maintenance.

But some views of healthy eating involve ideas of what should be predominate in your diet whether or not you count calories. Paleo and Ketogenic would be two that I know of. In general the issue will be how your body responds to those cheats (and how much cheating) etc. I suspect this varies from person to person and the only way you can know is to track how a cheat day effects your weight and energy etc. And usually, such people don't view all "cheats" as equal. (I know cavemen didn't have coffee, beer, or wine, but I drink coffee all the time, wine most nights, and beer almost never).

If you're only concerned about calories, then I don's see how an maintenance day could hurt you. It would slow you down but it might help you persevere. Up to you.

barbecuesauce

I don't believe in a "cheating" mindset. Want to eat at maintenance one day a week? Have a special event where you know you'll blow through your calories? Log them and move on. But the idea that you can cut corners or cheat yourself doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I currently eat anywhere from a -500 deficit up to maintenance. I am careful not to eat over maintenance because I have such a slight deficit right now. I was much stricter in the beginning, to the point where I wouldn't go to family dinners or to restaurants. Looking back, that was even crazier than cheat days.

mirlredmann

In summer 2014 I weighed 105 Kg, when I started mfp this January I was down to 95, Kg now 88. I admire my losses, which have been consistently at 1-2Kg per month and I am happy that mfp helped me figure out a way to become more conscious about my dieting and exercise choices over time. I want to achieve long-term change enabling me to keep my goal weight, preferably for ever.. Strict dieting though isn't for me, I regularly exceed my calorie deficit because I want to be social or because I am traveling again or because I crave something that won't keep me full for long. In order to achieve my goals and stick to my initial plan I have set mfp to a larger deficit than I want to achieve (0.5Kg instead of 0.25Kg per week). Thus I have no "cheat day", rather I log consistently and approximate eating at a slightly lower rate than I normally would, with perennial overeating being accounted for. This helps me acknowledge the patterns and reasons for over-eating without cheating on myself.