So, how far do you go on a cheat day?

mwynn210
mwynn210 Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started last Saturday and lost 4 pounds this week. Yay! Of course, I know from experience how fun the first 2 weeks are when you start a diet. The thing is, I woke up STARVING this morning and just wanna eat... well, everything.

How far do you guys go on your cheat days? 200 cals more? 400? 800?
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Replies

  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    IDK, I don't really have "cheat days". There are days that I don't eat as well as I should, or I may go over, but they are balanced out by all the other days that I was under my calorie goal. If you wake up starving, have a glass of water first thing.
  • rosemaryhon
    rosemaryhon Posts: 507 Member
    IDK, I don't really have "cheat days". There are days that I don't eat as well as I should, or I may go over, but they are balanced out by all the other days that I was under my calorie goal. If you wake up starving, have a glass of water first thing.

    I agree. And too if I wake hungry, I eat breakfast, than look forward to lunch and snacks and dinner ;)
  • daisymae850
    daisymae850 Posts: 127 Member
    On the days that I have had a cheat day its usually just a cheat meal, not the whole day
  • Iron_Lotus
    Iron_Lotus Posts: 2,295 Member
    I don't have specific cheat days I eat what I want most of the time as long as it fits within my goals if i go over then I go over.
  • MGreensides
    MGreensides Posts: 173 Member
    I don't have the usual cheat days. I eat what I want every day but in small amounts. For example, just cooked brunch for my hubby, I wanted bacon so I just had 2 pieces. I am a chocolate fiend so I buy 80cal fudgesicles and it ails my craving. I feel that "for me" this is the best way to ward off full board binges.
  • epie2098
    epie2098 Posts: 224 Member
    I don't really have them. I found that I could undo a weeks' worth of good intentions and hard work in doing so.

    I have special occasions where I don't even track instead. I went to an outdoor market last month, and ate deep fried food on sticks. No tracking. No guilt. Just back to oatmeal and fruit the next day for breakfast. I don't often eat out, so I don't have to worry about if I want an appetizer or wine or a dessert as part of a splurge.

    I find that striving for consistency 90% of the time, and letting life take care of the other 10% is the way to go for me. I have a bar of dark chocolate with ginger and orange in the cupboard. A square of that (25 cals) is plenty enough if I am craving something sweet at the end of the day, and that's about as 'treaty' as I get for most of the time.
  • smyr630
    smyr630 Posts: 17 Member
    Sometimes, I go waaaaay too far. I dont record my cheat days, because I know theyre bad. I guess I should record them, just to have a record...

    yesterday, Saturday (my designated cheat day) I ate: Five Guys - little hamburger, with lettuce tomato and mayonnaise. Then I had three Yuenlings at the Braves Baseball game and a Chick Fil A original sandwich. Then I had Mellow Mushroom pretzels with Beer Cheese sauce, split a pitcher of Bells Two Hearted with my husband, and a "Mighty Meaty" pizza (small). I am fairly certain that was two or three days worth of calories right there...

    Oh, and I am not doing well with losing weight, so DONT follow my example...
  • V3XES
    V3XES Posts: 17 Member
    We tend to claim exercise calories for everything such as walking the dog and mowing the lawn. This will add up to an extra 600 cals for the day which covers my three pieces of toast and Nutella spread or a Snickers in the evening.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    My highest cheat day was 6400 calories for the day.
  • chelstakencharge
    chelstakencharge Posts: 1,021 Member
    I rarely cheat but if I do this its a simple snack OR meal NOT the whole day!! I have worked to hard to turn back now.
  • bulbadoof
    bulbadoof Posts: 1,058 Member
    I don't designate days for overeating or set a higher goal to do so - if I want something badly enough to ignore my goals, I have it and I don't feel bad about it and I move on with my life.
  • RotterdamNL
    RotterdamNL Posts: 509 Member
    I had a quatro formaggi pizza on my cheat day and still feel bad about it ><
  • operation_cute
    operation_cute Posts: 588 Member
    I haven't really had a "cheat" day yet, but I expect I'll want one around the holidays, or special occasions ect... but I'm thinking just hitting maintenance for the day would do, and then probably work my tale off that day so my maintenance goes up some ;) This way I may not be working towards losing for that day, but at least I won't back track either :)
  • paxbfl
    paxbfl Posts: 391 Member
    I logged my free days for several weeks so that I'd know how many calories I consume. It's a LOT. My estimate is 1,800 calories over my TDEE. Sounds crazy but it's so easy to do - and in understanding that you understand why obesity is such a problem and why I gained all the weight in the first place.

    So... if I'm going to do that, I have to account for those calories the rest of the week. So I subtract 300 calories off my goal the other 6 days to allow for the free day. Ultimately you begin to question whether it's worth it... so I see wisdom in those who suggest a free meal (maybe with a really good dessert!) instead of a free day. Then maybe you could limit your calories that day to 1,000 over TDEE and only have about 170 calories per day to deal with the other 6 days.

    Still, I enjoy the break and not having to log on my free day. I'm very dedicated and intense the rest of the week so the free day is like my relief valve to keep me on track. Plus I feel so lousy after the free day that I can't wait to get back on my program the next day.
  • wcugirl04
    wcugirl04 Posts: 26 Member
    There is always about 3 days out of every month where I want to splurge on things that I know are not good for me. I allow myself to have those things, but I adjust my exercise to balance it out.
  • heykatieben
    heykatieben Posts: 398 Member
    Giving in when I have to works for me. The goal of this is creating long-term sustainable habits, so if you have a morning where you just want to eat everything - I'd say, eat what you need to feel satisfied.

    I just had a cheat day - my husband threw us a surprise wedding shower!!! - and of couse I ate what I wanted, didn't count calories, and it was fine, it actually triggered the scale going down. Not sure why - I'd been perfect the week before, should have had even more loss than my goal, but the scale didn't show it until I had a cheat day. Go figure. Something to do with hormones maybe? That said, after building good habits on MFP I didn't even want to eat/drink on my cheat day like I probably would have before MFP - I only had 3 drinks at my own wedding reception, and no snacks outside of dinner/cake (to me that sounds like not much, for 7 hours and a party), but it was absolutely all I wanted/needed to have a serrrriously good time. I love how not drinking shoots your tolerance through the floor. :D

    Now, if your cheat day is really emotional eating, not your stomach's hunger, that's another thing. Or if you're legit starving, but it happens more than once every week or two, you might need a better strategy on what calories you're eating - eat more protein, eat cleaner, drink more water in general, etc.

    Hope it helps!
  • Iron_Lotus
    Iron_Lotus Posts: 2,295 Member
    My highest cheat day was 6400 calories for the day.


    That is some serious cheating!
  • operation_cute
    operation_cute Posts: 588 Member
    I logged my free days for several weeks so that I'd know how many calories I consume. It's a LOT. My estimate is 1,800 calories over my TDEE. Sounds crazy but it's so easy to do - and in understanding that you understand why obesity is such a problem and why I gained all the weight in the first place.

    So... if I'm going to do that, I have to account for those calories the rest of the week. So I subtract 300 calories off my goal the other 6 days to allow for the free day. Ultimately you begin to question whether it's worth it... so I see wisdom in those who suggest a free meal (maybe with a really good dessert!) instead of a free day. Then maybe you could limit your calories that day to 1,000 over TDEE and only have about 170 calories per day to deal with the other 6 days.

    Still, I enjoy the break and not having to log on my free day. I'm very dedicated and intense the rest of the week so the free day is like my relief valve to keep me on track. Plus I feel so lousy after the free day that I can't wait to get back on my program the next day.

    I feel lousy even when its not a free day and I stayed within my cal limits if I had a bunch of junk that day :p It never feels worth it when I'm having migraines, feeling sluggish and lazy, and just yuck :p
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    My highest cheat day was 6400 calories for the day.


    That is some serious cheating!
    It also happened to be seriously delicious, which is always a plus when you're going to splurge like that. :D
  • Alwayssohungry
    Alwayssohungry Posts: 369 Member
    I've worked to hard to cheat on myself - I've also read a lot of posts where people feel guilty afterwards. I just feel happy when I win. I don't cheat on myself or feel guilty about it. Win - win !:happy:
  • ken_hogan
    ken_hogan Posts: 854 Member
    I've worked to hard to cheat on myself - I've also read a lot of posts where people feel guilty afterwards. I just feel happy when I win. I don't cheat on myself or feel guilty about it. Win - win !:happy:

    This
  • sugaree1202
    sugaree1202 Posts: 184 Member
    I don't have a cheat day. If I want to eat something, I eat it in a reasonable amount and work it into my daily intake. I usually burn 600-800 calories daily so it's not difficult to fit in a trwat if the other 90% of my daily calories are clean. If it's a light burn day or I just want to eat more, I add a 30 minute walk which is good for another 300 calories.

    If I were to have a "cheat" day, I would eat at maintenance level but not go over - my body is slow at giving up weight to begin with. I want the scale to keep going down more than I want to overeat. If I want a treat, looking it up in MFP before eating it helps me determine how much to eat.
  • ken_hogan
    ken_hogan Posts: 854 Member
    I started last Saturday and lost 4 pounds this week. Yay! Of course, I know from experience how fun the first 2 weeks are when you start a diet. The thing is, I woke up STARVING this morning and just wanna eat... well, everything.

    How far do you guys go on your cheat days? 200 cals more? 400? 800?

    I forgot to ask. Why, after one week on MFP and one morning of waking up hungry, would you already want to go on a cheat day?
  • idagaines
    idagaines Posts: 18 Member
    My cheat days are on the weekends but I do double the amount of cardio so I wont feel horrible. Very dearly do I go over.
  • ncmedic201
    ncmedic201 Posts: 540 Member
    I'm not doing cheat days. I'm just eating healthier and if I want to add something in I either work it into my calories (like the Belgium Chocolate pudding yesterday) or if I go over on calories I will exercise a little more the next day. I don't want to schedule a day to binge when I might be having a craving for something today. I think looking at this long term as a lifestyle change it helpful.
  • jinna86
    jinna86 Posts: 93
    I usually just go for a treat/free meal instead of a cheat day, and I try to eat close to maintenance/TDEE on those days. But I also do two free meals a week instead of a single cheat day. I think it keeps me sane to know that I have a free meal to look forward to.
  • Iron_Lotus
    Iron_Lotus Posts: 2,295 Member
    My highest cheat day was 6400 calories for the day.


    That is some serious cheating!
    It also happened to be seriously delicious, which is always a plus when you're going to splurge like that. :D


    What does this food orgy consist of?
  • shadus
    shadus Posts: 424 Member
    Figure your weightloss for the week, multiply by 3500 if you go over that number you're going to gain weight.

    Generally on a 'cheat' day if I'm doing them I don't eat more than double my normal daily intake, typically this is enough that I'm nearly stuffed and sick feeling.
  • gimmecoffeeiv
    gimmecoffeeiv Posts: 20 Member
    I'm not doing cheat days. I'm just eating healthier and if I want to add something in I either work it into my calories (like the Belgium Chocolate pudding yesterday) or if I go over on calories I will exercise a little more the next day. I don't want to schedule a day to binge when I might be having a craving for something today. I think looking at this long term as a lifestyle change it helpful.

    I totally agree with this and this is how I do it too.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    You sound like you've done lots of diets before and I'm going to guess they haven't worked or you wouldn't be here.

    Why don't you just follow the directions for the MFP site and see if they work for you? Let them calculate your calories. Eat that every day and eat back your exercise calories. Keep at it. No cheat days.

    Yes, there will be days you go over (or under). But go for a stable, healthy diet. Take it off. Keep it off.

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