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

ken_hogan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

What does this food orgy consist of?

shadus

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

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

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.

chezjuan

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.

This is my take, too. In the last year, I went over my goals about three times - Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. All three were due to beverages (both alcoholic and non).

For Thanksgiving, I sometimes call it a planned cheat day as I worked out the three days before and did not eat the calories back (which ended up putting me right about at my weekly goal) I did this because I knew that I would want to try a little of everything and that the menu was filled with delicious high-calorie foods like mac and cheese.

evnevelle

If I go over, I go over. I don't think of them as cheat days. I know I eat way over my calories on those days, usually only happens when I'm not at home/work/school the whole day, maybe shopping, going to a nice restaurant, to the movies etc. Like.. we're talking maybe 1000 cals over at least. No guilt, definitely no logging. I just go back to eating normal the next day. Hasn't affected my weight loss, because this happens maybe once a month. I still eat nice things every day, never feel deprived. Eating healthy feels better than all that junk anyway.

Just do what feels RIGHT FOR YOU. If you feel guilty or like you can't go back to eating normal/healthy and don't want to add loads of exercise, then just have a small cheat and log it.

Livingdeadgirl44

If I'm going to cheat I make sure its when I really want something not just because it's the weekend. So I might have a dessert when I'm out but only if there is something really tasty on the menu.

Y05H1

My cheat days used to be a gorge fest of pizza, cheeseburgers, pretty much a whole day dedicated to yummy yummy trans fat. But I honestly haven't had a cheat day like that in some time. My last one I was 20 over fat and 4 over sugar but below my Cal and Carb (Sodium was through the roof though, but one day isn't going to harm you)

I've been dieting since December, I think you'll find that as you continue to diet and keep your intake consistent, even on your dedicated cheat days, you won't really feel like cheating to a huge degree. And even if you do have a glorious food orgy, your body can only process so much at a time, so if it's kept to 'one day a week', it's not gonna mess with you very much if at all. It's not like your body can put on 5 lb's of fat in a single day.

healthygreek

One day last week I had "the hungries" somethin awful! I ate 1200 over my calories and somehow it didn't affect my week overall. I don't do this often and I felt great about it and enjoyed every bite (2 yummy chocolate bars).

evangelinemayxox

One night out I ate/ drank 4000 calories worth of mcdonalds and alcohol (oops), i just accepted that it had happened, moved on, and continued at my calorie goal, I didn't notice any impact on the scales, you have to have a blow out every now and then, its the bigger picture you should look at, one bad day won't hurt every now and then

alisonlynn1976

I don't like that concept. It implies that eating certain foods is morally wrong or something. I might eat more than I usually do if it's some social occasion. When that happens, I go back to my usual healthy eating the next day and move on. This is about setting up healthy patterns for life for me, not about sticking to a strict regimen that doesn't allow for any deviation or fun.

I had about 700 calories worth of beer yesterday. That's obviously not a super healthy choice, but I didn't eat excessively in addition, and I had a good time. I don't consider this as me having done something "bad." It's me living my life.

kaybeau

mine are days like today basically eating not clean but downright dirty and not following anything like a meal plan.. I may go over my allocation but I make sure I am set at sedentary so I can log all my activity. I was up at the crack of a sparrows fart and first drink or food was midday while trying to walk the dog and get the kids ready... joy ! luckily today I have sat down rarely and I got about three hours sleep to boot... I have to watch that I don't fall into the trap of just giving in... The other problem with eating crap food...bloating feels shocking... I know I would have felt better on three clean meals..and not being frantic busy roll on tuesday when my schedule calms down.

LongIsland27itl

A cheat DAY will sabotage your Weekly deficit, I'd avoid those cheat days. How about a cheat meal?
I believe your weekly average cals are more important than your dailys.

V3XES

I may be wrong and the gym bunnies and medics out there could probably firm this up, but your body will let go of more of its fat if you spike your diet with fat ( excess calories ) once in a while...