How Do "Cheat Days" Work?
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"How do cheat days work?"
They don't. Make what you consume fit your macros and calorie allotment.
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I don't have cheat days now because it would set off a sensation similar to what you describe-once I started eating, I couldn't stop. I would take it way too far and a cheat day would lead to a cheat day x 3, and I would undo all the progress I had made and probably gain a pound or two. For some people, it helps, but I personally find that sticking to my calories every day and just working in those treats I love every day, helps much better.0
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SergeantSausage wrote: »"I don't understand why I'm not losing weight ... " -- Cheat Day advocate
HINT: They (mostly) don't work.
If you feel the need to have to cheat, you are doing it *very* wrong.
I understand that an unmoderated/not logged cheat day is a recipe for disaster. I'm not being an idiot about this. If it turns out it doesn't work, I would try something else. It seems to sometimes work for some people. I'm doing research. I'm checking to see what would make it work or not work.
Maybe I am doing everything *very* wrong. I would love to be able to go for a jog every day, or an hour long walk every day. My body currently can't do that. It sucks. If I lose weight, it might be able to. I am trying. I have screwed up, and I'm looking for strategies to not spiral out of control every few weeks. I'm planning on therapy, I'm seeing a dietician, I'm going to physio. I'm watching my intake, and logging even when I've screwed up so I know exactly how badly I have screwed up. I don't know what I'm doing yet. That's why I'm asking questions.
What would you suggest?
Fabulous. It sounds like you are doing everything right, actually. I have bingeing issues also. Seeing someone is very helpful. I see a shrink and take medicine (for multiple reasons-not just for my food issues). Banking calories for treats helped. Eating at maintenance sometimes, getting whatever exercise I can, being active on Mfp, trying to make it fun-all of these things helped me.
Keep working now for your balance. Dieting for weeks and then going on an eating spree is not the way to go (this is what I did). Little things can make a big difference. Good job being proactive!!0 -
I looked back through 2 months of your diary. Please understand I'm not judging you. I think it's super awesome you're logging honestly on days you go over. Here's my general thought.
(1) Maybe 1400 is too low of an overall goal on a daily basis. Maybe if you ate 1600 every day, you'd have fewer urges to have the days when you go over by the larger amount.
(2) I don't remember if you've ever posted your stats to get other people's help, but my guess is you started at 1200, it was unsustainable, so you went up to 1400. You're now finding some lapses in commitment even at that level. My guess (again, not knowing your stats exactly) is that you will still lose at 1600 every day, ESPECIALLY if that means you have fewer 2500-3500 days.
(3) Is it your goal to "eat back" exercise calories? You might not want to for now, that's just a thought. You might want to just eat a flat 1600 every day and try to train your brain and body to understand what that looks like, what that feels like, and that it's not getting more (most days). Then after a couple months you could cut back to 1400 but add extra on exercise days if you're hungry.
Just my thoughts from looking at your diary.0 -
I looked back through 2 months of your diary. Please understand I'm not judging you. I think it's super awesome you're logging honestly on days you go over. Here's my general thought.
(1) Maybe 1400 is too low of an overall goal on a daily basis. Maybe if you ate 1600 every day, you'd have fewer urges to have the days when you go over by the larger amount.
(2) I don't remember if you've ever posted your stats to get other people's help, but my guess is you started at 1200, it was unsustainable, so you went up to 1400. You're now finding some lapses in commitment even at that level. My guess (again, not knowing your stats exactly) is that you will still lose at 1600 every day, ESPECIALLY if that means you have fewer 2500-3500 days.
(3) Is it your goal to "eat back" exercise calories? You might not want to for now, that's just a thought. You might want to just eat a flat 1600 every day and try to train your brain and body to understand what that looks like, what that feels like, and that it's not getting more (most days). Then after a couple months you could cut back to 1400 but add extra on exercise days if you're hungry.
Just my thoughts from looking at your diary.
Thank you! I appreciate your thoughts
I did start at 1200, and have been aiming for about 1300 for a while. Today I changed it to 1400, but your idea might be a better one. To sit at 1600 and work on getting adjusted.
I really, really liked the idea of losing the weight I gained last winter by the new year (around 1lb/week). But what's most important is making this change sustainable.
I'm still working on the how of eating. I don't know how to cook. I need to start buying some of my own food. I honestly hate meat and want to investigate eating differently from my family - so I need to learn some cooking. Maybe trying to do everything at once is what's making me slip up, I don't know.
I'm 5'2" and hovering around 190lbs at the moment. I'm 21. Is that what you mean by stats?0 -
SergeantSausage wrote: »"I don't understand why I'm not losing weight ... " -- Cheat Day advocate
HINT: They (mostly) don't work.
If you feel the need to have to cheat, you are doing it *very* wrong.
I understand that an unmoderated/not logged cheat day is a recipe for disaster. I'm not being an idiot about this. If it turns out it doesn't work, I would try something else. It seems to sometimes work for some people. I'm doing research. I'm checking to see what would make it work or not work.
Maybe I am doing everything *very* wrong. I would love to be able to go for a jog every day, or an hour long walk every day. My body currently can't do that. It sucks. If I lose weight, it might be able to. I am trying. I have screwed up, and I'm looking for strategies to not spiral out of control every few weeks. I'm planning on therapy, I'm seeing a dietician, I'm going to physio. I'm watching my intake, and logging even when I've screwed up so I know exactly how badly I have screwed up. I don't know what I'm doing yet. That's why I'm asking questions.
What would you suggest?
Fabulous. It sounds like you are doing everything right, actually. I have bingeing issues also. Seeing someone is very helpful. I see a shrink and take medicine (for multiple reasons-not just for my food issues). Banking calories for treats helped. Eating at maintenance sometimes, getting whatever exercise I can, being active on Mfp, trying to make it fun-all of these things helped me.
Keep working now for your balance. Dieting for weeks and then going on an eating spree is not the way to go (this is what I did). Little things can make a big difference. Good job being proactive!!
Thanks I'm trying. It sounds like you're doing well, so thank you for passing on what you've learned! 0 -
I'm 5'2" and hovering around 190lbs at the moment. I'm 21. Is that what you mean by stats?
Yeah this. If you're being accurate, you WILL LOSE at 1600 per day total. You'll probably even lose at 1600 net. I'm not trying to force you to lose slower, and I don't know you personally, but the multiple entries of days way higher than your goal says to me that your goal is too low. Maybe do 1600 net right now with the goal of easing into 1600 total. And then when you lose 20 more pounds or so, you'll switch to 1400 net then ease into 1400 total until you're at your goal weight. Does that make sense?
The reason you binge (if I can just make an uneducated guess) is because you're eating below BMR. Your body's blood vessels, tissues, skin, etc. needs about 1550 every day to stay where they're at -- and evolution has provided them many tools to stay where they're at. As long as you weigh 190 lbs, there's going to be millions of little body cells sending your brain a message "feed me." And right now they're sending 1550 calories worth of that message. I'm not saying don't eat below BMR, but if you DO eat below your BMR you might be the kind of person who gets this "message" in your brain and find that message hard to resist.
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Once in a while I eat all the way up to my TDEE. It's not really a cheat day since I'm not eating more than I burn, I figure.0
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I'm 5'2" and hovering around 190lbs at the moment. I'm 21. Is that what you mean by stats?
Yeah this. If you're being accurate, you WILL LOSE at 1600 per day total. You'll probably even lose at 1600 net. I'm not trying to force you to lose slower, and I don't know you personally, but the multiple entries of days way higher than your goal says to me that your goal is too low. Maybe do 1600 net right now with the goal of easing into 1600 total. And then when you lose 20 more pounds or so, you'll switch to 1400 net then ease into 1400 total until you're at your goal weight. Does that make sense?
The reason you binge (if I can just make an uneducated guess) is because you're eating below BMR. Your body's blood vessels, tissues, skin, etc. needs about 1550 every day to stay where they're at -- and evolution has provided them many tools to stay where they're at. As long as you weigh 190 lbs, there's going to be millions of little body cells sending your brain a message "feed me." And right now they're sending 1550 calories worth of that message. I'm not saying don't eat below BMR, but if you DO eat below your BMR you might be the kind of person who gets this "message" in your brain and find that message hard to resist.
Thanks! It sounds like it's definitely worth trying. I really appreciate that you've taken the time to look at my situation and give your knowledge I really want to make a lasting change in my habits. Thanks so much!! 0 -
Everybody is different.... Each week me and my boyfriend both decide what day of the week were going to have a cheat day and what we're going to have. We decided this week it was Tuesday (today) so we started the day with normal breakfast then went and did a really difficult mountain bike track. We came home and ordered the much awaited pizzas that we've been talking about all week. I enjoyed every mouthful and it actually has the affect on me where I enjoy it, but I can tell it's bad when I've eaten it just by how I feel. The day was cheat day but just consisted of the pizza, I didn't have anything else other than my morning weetabix, so I went a 1000 over.
For the next 5 days now I'll have my 1200 cal and we will 'clean eat' nothing bad. And that always pulls it back for me and I see a loss, apart from tomorrow, the day after a naughty day I only have 1000 calories, but I make sure that 1000 is fish and veg.
I'll eat clean, go to the gym and know at some point next week we will have a take away. And that's what stops me falling off the wagon. If I know a treat is coming once a week then dieting doesn't just become a bore! X just my opinion, like I say everyone is different x0 -
rebeccachance wrote: »Everybody is different.... Each week me and my boyfriend both decide what day of the week were going to have a cheat day and what we're going to have. We decided this week it was Tuesday (today) so we started the day with normal breakfast then went and did a really difficult mountain bike track. We came home and ordered the much awaited pizzas that we've been talking about all week. I enjoyed every mouthful and it actually has the affect on me where I enjoy it, but I can tell it's bad when I've eaten it just by how I feel. The day was cheat day but just consisted of the pizza, I didn't have anything else other than my morning weetabix, so I went a 1000 over.
For the next 5 days now I'll have my 1200 cal and we will 'clean eat' nothing bad. And that always pulls it back for me and I see a loss, apart from tomorrow, the day after a naughty day I only have 1000 calories, but I make sure that 1000 is fish and veg.
I'll eat clean, go to the gym and know at some point next week we will have a take away. And that's what stops me falling off the wagon. If I know a treat is coming once a week then dieting doesn't just become a bore! X just my opinion, like I say everyone is different x
That's a really neat pattern. I definitely agree that everyone's different. It sounds like you're really active, whereas I'm not so much. Thanks for sharing your experience!0 -
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »
*sigh*
we've already covered this
"cheat day" as in a higher-calorie day for a weekly deficit, NOT a log-free day or anything like that. I know how a deficit works.
That was the question. About a weekly strategy versus a daily one.
I thought I'd made that clear in the initial question, but apparently I am not the best communicator because people keep missing this.0 -
shadowofender wrote: »I think that for most people, they try to limit to a "cheat meal" just to control it a bit better. I find that logging everything, even a cheat day or meal, helps my brain recognize what I'm doing and eventually learn to limit the "cheats" to where it's just part of my day to eat what I want within reason.
In my opinion, the logging everything is what makes it stick. Cheat meals and days are OK if that's what you like, moderation is another way to feel like you're not depriving yourself. Just make sure you're not undoing all your week's work in one day or else you're being counter productive.
Exactly! Logging everything, even "fails", helps you to understand exactly what your progress is and exactly how much cheating you can get away with.0 -
Hmmm, my cheat day, not exactly on a weekly basis, more like every two weeks, is eating up to maintenance. Still log everything though. Following this keeps me at a deficit for the week (or two weeks).
Works for me. Down from 224 to 193 and still dropping.0 -
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How Do "Cheat Days" Work?
I've read some people find that "cheat days" help them stay on track for the week. I have been having some difficulty lately with that. Once I've "failed" I seem to spiral a little bit for a number of days, which I suspect may have destroyed any progress I might have made in the past few weeks. I'd like to try to get out of that mentality to actually continue to move forwards, and thought this might be worth a shot.
I'm wondering how you plan for cheat days and how you make sure you have an overall weekly deficit? Do you have an "upper limit" for that day, or a weekly total calorie goal? Is there another calculation that you use other than just the MFP one? just how do you use a "cheat day" effectively?
Thanks!
Cheat days don't work for me.
1) I eat foods I like all the time. While I am on a mission to lose weight, and while I have a limited number of calories to work with, I refuse to eat foods I don't like. I just finished one of my favourite lunches and only about 400 cal.
2) If I want more ... more quantity (i.e. 2nd helping) or more variety (i.e. pizza, ice cream, the chocolate fondant dessert I had last Friday) ... I exercise for it. I earn it.
Therefore, I do not go over my calorie limit ... I don't need to.
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I haven't read the posts above so someone I might be repeating.
Anyway don't go down the path of cheat days. In the medium longterm these will be the reason why you fail and give up.
Instead, figure out why you've had the triggering fails. What caused you to want to break out? Is it because you are restricting your food too much: too few calories, poor food choices, uninteresting food, stress, tiredness, low mood? Whatever you've been doing, its probably not been as good as it could be.
Work out a way to eat that you can live with for the long term. Maximise nutrition and satisfaction. Don't cut calories severely adn look after yourself with sleep, relaxation etc.0 -
I agree with those who suggested maybe more calories on a daily basis might be more helpful for adherence. I found it super helpful at first. One cheat meal or day wouldn't cut it for me because my life isn't such that I go out on weekends or some other day on a regular basis. One week it's a Tuesday event and next week it might be Sunday. It matters because it's very unmotivating to have your "cheat day" on a Tuesday and then have to pay it back the whole rest of the week or if you have two big events one week and none the next. That just didn't work for me.
I will also second that the fitbit is super helpful for figuring out your TDEE. It has been for me and I think it's because my non-exercise activity level varies a lot by day. Also, especially if you don't feel like you do a lot of exercise, it's very motivating to see on a daily basis how a few extra steps here and there can add up and make a big difference in your calories burned for the day. I have my Flex synced to MFP so it will add or subtract calories for the day depending on whether I'm burning more or less than I told MFP I think I'm burning (I set mine to Lightly Active). The added bonus is that I find those normal activity burns are less likely to make me super hungry than say a long run or intense cardio session.0 -
rebeccachance wrote: »Everybody is different.... Each week me and my boyfriend both decide what day of the week were going to have a cheat day and what we're going to have. We decided this week it was Tuesday (today) so we started the day with normal breakfast then went and did a really difficult mountain bike track. We came home and ordered the much awaited pizzas that we've been talking about all week. I enjoyed every mouthful and it actually has the affect on me where I enjoy it, but I can tell it's bad when I've eaten it just by how I feel. The day was cheat day but just consisted of the pizza, I didn't have anything else other than my morning weetabix, so I went a 1000 over.
For the next 5 days now I'll have my 1200 cal and we will 'clean eat' nothing bad. And that always pulls it back for me and I see a loss, apart from tomorrow, the day after a naughty day I only have 1000 calories, but I make sure that 1000 is fish and veg.
I'll eat clean, go to the gym and know at some point next week we will have a take away. And that's what stops me falling off the wagon. If I know a treat is coming once a week then dieting doesn't just become a bore! X just my opinion, like I say everyone is different x
Wait... you had a light breakfast, the pizza, and nothing else - and you went 1000 over for the day? THAT is a LOT of pizza!!!!
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