can I EVER cheat???

ds6099

Can I EVER overeat and still successfully lose weight? Such as a weekend indulgence?

macgurlnet

Can you? Yes. Should you? That's debatable.

If your deficit is set as lose 1lb/week, that's 3500 calories under maintenance. If you eat whatever your calorie allowance is for a day plus the additional 3500, then you've eliminated your deficit for that week, thus slowing your weightloss. Eat more than that and you may see a gain.

I would encourage you to log everything, even if you know you'll be going over your goal. This will help you see if you need to cut back.

Some people prefer to eat a little less throughout the week so they have more calories on the weekend. I generally have 400 extra or so which helps.

For what it's worth, I'm just maintaining my weight right now and going over by a couple hundred 1-2 days in a week hasn't done any harm. I've seen some upward fluctuations but I've also eaten more sodium than usual so it's bloat from water weight.

~Lyssa

deksgrl

It depends. What is your definition of "cheat". How many calories is it? Is it enough to wipe out the deficit you created during the week?

seska422

Your going to have special occasions where you go over on calories. That's life. A special meal once a month or so won't hurt in the long run.

If you eat everything in sight every weekend, that will undermine the deficit you've built up during the week.

dinosaurparty

Of course. It will slow down your progress if you don't burn the extra calories off, but unless you have a massive binge or frequently overeat you probably won't notice much difference. I like to let myself eat to maintenance once a week or so. Usually its just one indulgent meal, but I find it helps me keep on track in the long run. It can be really, really hard to track your eating every single day of your life. If you worry about the occational slip up too much you'll just stress and feel guilty.

Honestly if you see a weight gain on the scale the next day it will probably just be water retention due to eating more sodium than normal on your cheat day. As long as youre staying at a calorie deficit overall, a cheat day now amd then wont hurt.

PAV8888

If a random person eats an all inclusive all you can eat buffet on 14 out of 15 days, and during 1 out of the 15 days eats nothing. Is that 1 day enough to balance out the other 14 days of over-eating?

Why would the opposite not be true, too?

For me, it is one thing to have the occasional (even more than occasional) off day. These days will slow down your weight loss a bit, for sure, but it is all good because: life, friends, family, they all happen!

Having said that, I personally believe that a weight loss plan based on scheduled "cheat" days is not the right way to go.

SergeantSausage

(0) You're only cheating yourself

(1) If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.

Kalikel

You can do whatever you want.

senecarr

TANSTAAFL - there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. As others said, weight loss is about calories over time. If the overall amount for a time period like a week is a deficit, you'll still lose, though you'll probably have water weight a little while.

Kexessa

SergeantSausage wrote: »

(1) If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.

I don't think that's fair or applies to everyone. The 1/2lb homemade bacon cheddar burger with real mayo, potato salad, bratwurst with a big fat bun, chocolate chip cookies and 6 Michelob Ultra's I had on the 4th of July was cheating. It wasn't necessarily inside of "good nutrition". It wasn't part of my healthy eating and it was definitely out of my calorie allotment for the day.

I had an awesome time! Great family and friends, good food, good times. I'm not obese but I need to lose around 20lb. I'm losing pretty well, .5lb a week is my calories. I'm seeing results.

Did I do it wrong? That is an individual choice. For me, no, I didn't do it wrong, I did it right. What is the point to good health if you feel you aren't living and are only a slave to your food scale?

PAV8888

Kexessa wrote: »

I had an awesome time! Great family and friends, good food, good times. I'm not obese but I need to lose around 20lb. I'm losing pretty well, .5lb a week is my calories. I'm seeing results.

Did I do it wrong? That is an individual choice. For me, no, I didn't do it wrong, I did it right. What is the point to good health if you feel you aren't living and are only a slave to your food scale?

You had a single "cheat" meal on the 4th of July with family and friends. Life happens. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

You don't regularly have the urge to cheat because you impose so many restrictions on yourself that you will explode if you don't regularly cheat. And then spend all week waiting for your cheat day to arrive.

BWBTrish

your body will be your judge...it doesn't cheat...it counts for you perfectly EVERY calorie you eat.
If you want or not

SergeantSausage

Kexessa wrote: »

SergeantSausage wrote: »

(1) If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.

I don't think that's fair or applies to everyone. The 1/2lb homemade bacon cheddar burger with real mayo, potato salad, bratwurst with a big fat bun, chocolate chip cookies and 6 Michelob Ultra's I had on the 4th of July was cheating. It wasn't necessarily inside of "good nutrition". It wasn't part of my healthy eating and it was definitely out of my calorie allotment for the day.

I had an awesome time! Great family and friends, good food, good times. I'm not obese but I need to lose around 20lb. I'm losing pretty well, .5lb a week is my calories. I'm seeing results.

Did I do it wrong? That is an individual choice. For me, no, I didn't do it wrong, I did it right. What is the point to good health if you feel you aren't living and are only a slave to your food scale?

Yes

You definitely did it wrong.

But not at all in the way you think.

Kexessa

SergeantSausage wrote: »

Yes

You definitely did it wrong.

But not at all in the way you think.

I know. I should have had ice cream with my cookies

meulf6f

Cheat/reward/refeed/ whatever the cute little words are... YES. I say do it. They keep me focused. Delayed gratification... maybe. I want nothing. I crave nothing. It is all handled through the cheat/reward. I want to lose X amount of lbs for my next cheat/reward. Success! Reward. Back on track for next goal. Enjoy it too OP!

SLLRunner

ds6099 wrote: »

Can I EVER overeat and still successfully lose weight? Such as a weekend indulgence?

Cheating implies you are doing something wrong. In my book, there is no such thing as cheating on your diet.

If you want to include something in your diet, make it fit in your weekly calorie goals. That's it.

SLLRunner

SergeantSausage wrote: »

(0) You're only cheating yourself

(1) If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.

And, this.

Liftng4Lis

Make whatever you want, fit into your calories. I get a treat or two daily.

whmscll

Of course you can! You will just lose more slowly. One night I went over to my step-daughter and son's house for dinner. Dessert was individual chocolate lava cakes, with ice cream. It was delicious. I enjoyed it with not one qualm. Logged it. Lost a pound that week. These indulgences for me are very occasional treats, as I am on 1200 calories a day and there's no way I can fit that into my calories on any sort of a regular basis and still lose.

ZyheeMoongazer

I think of it this way.

I am not on a diet, I am learning to eat and live healthy. It is a lifestyle change. If I had to live the rest of my life without having unhealthy food once in a while, honestly I would rather live shorter and be fat.

It is about realizing what food is everyday food, and what is occasional food. Apples=Everyday, Dinner at Cheesecake Factory=Occasional.

2wise4u

My opinion is that you can allow yourself a cheat day but be aware that it will substantially increase the time it will take you to lose the weight if you do it often and will defeat the purpose. Logging everything so that you are aware of how much you ate (even if you go over) may motivate you to exercise to help meet your weekly deficit goal.

Just my opinion anyway.

pineapple_peach10

ds6099 wrote: »

Can I EVER overeat and still successfully lose weight? Such as a weekend indulgence?

I hae cheat days once in awhile. My cheat days really aren't as bad as they had been in the past. I found sometimes it definitely could hinder my weight loss. But it also helped me stay on track the rest of the week.

It's really personal preference I suppose.

pineapple_peach10

ds6099 wrote: »

Can I EVER overeat and still successfully lose weight? Such as a weekend indulgence?

I hae cheat days once in awhile. My cheat days really aren't as bad as they had been in the past. I found sometimes it definitely could hinder my weight loss. But it also helped me stay on track the rest of the week.

It's really personal preference I suppose.

tomatoey

Shoot for 80/20

oh "overeat"? yeah you can eat too much sometimes, just be careful it doesn't take you off track. so figure out what gets you off track.

Machka9

Whenever I want something extra, I work for it ... do some extra exercise and burn more than enough calories to cover it.

That said, once I hit my goal on about June 12, I took a break from logging for a good 3 weeks, went on holiday, ate whatever I felt like eating, exercised my butt off ... and now, one week after returning from holiday, I am a only a mere 0.5 kg up from where I was before. Not bad!

Sued0nim

Your calorie defecit is best viewed across the week

A eat a couple of hundred under your defecit each day Mon to Fri and on Saturday you have an additional 1000 calories to burn

There's no cheat in that

But it may be the scope you need for a night out

marthaelisa80

Everyone is different! I don't call it a cheat day but a FREE day! I train hard 6 days a week and 1 day I eat what I want! But only one day! Sometimes it's 1 meal or little bits during the day. But I won't deprive myself. It works for me but others may feel they might lose control it takes practice! I'll have 1 meal I like and half a candy bar etc. I cut things in half. I have grown a lot from over indulging, but it is a process and it's definitely something you have to watch!

snowflakesav

There are lots of strategies for allowing for a indulgences. Banking calories for a weekend or meal. I find that days I indulge are combined with big activity. Running a 1/2 marathon followed by several hours of site seeing is good for a 1500 calorie meal without skipping a beat.

JAHodgkinson_uk

The thing that I struggle with is getting 'back to it' if I feel like I've blown it and cheated. Bit of a perfectionist thing.

One useful strategy is a bit like the 5:2 diet... you know that you can set your goal loss and it gives you a calorie allowance for that loss... so most of the time I'm happy with the calories for a 2lb a week loss if I eat my exercise calories but on a weekend it is possible to switch the goal to maintain or a slower rate of loss therefore having lots of freedom whilst remaining in control. It's a long term thing isn't it, you just have to play around with it to see how you can make it 'livable with'.

ds6099

Op here. You guys gave me great advice! I miss my ice cream but will try to incorporate it as part of my calories on the OCCASION

Jmgkamp

Cheating is a loaded word. I treated myself to an awesome sushi lunch today, I think I went over my calories by 700!! Never before have I eaten so much (well, not since I started this change in lifestyle). But... I ran for 30 minutes this morning and a full hour after my awesome meal. Sure I probably will see a spike in weight due to sodium, and maybe this week I'll lose .3 pounds less. Don't care. Did I blow my 54 pound loss? Heck no! Will I go over tomorrow? Heck no. Did I love my sushi today. YES. This is not a beginning and ending kind of effort. This will be my life always. And some days I'm going to want something that doesn't for in my 1200 a day. I ate at a steeper deficit this week in preparation and I busted my butt at the gym. I feel no guilt but I feel amazing satisfaction, particularly for feeling no guilt.