Are Cheat Days ok?
jaywirth88
Posts: 66 Member
I have been eating very healthy and I have really enjoyed it, but I heard you should allow yourself one cheat day/meal a week. I had a cheat lunch last Sunday and I had a milkshake and burger today and I feel aweful about myself. Is cheating ok? and if so, what kinds of foods do you eat?
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Yes. They are fine. What they do is keep your body out of balance. Your body adjusts to everything you do to it. The theory behind a cheat day is that it stimulates your metabolism to burn. I'm not doing them right now. I probably should be. But there's no binge money in my budget atm.0
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Why feel awful about yourself? Unless you ate several burgers and several milkshakes, it's not going to make you gain weight. Maybe the sodium increase will add some water weight, but that's it.0
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I think they also keep you from giving up on a diet entirely.0
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Cheating is absolutely ok, and you shouldn't feel bad about yourself for indulging in something that you like. I "cheat" every single weekend, though I really don't think of it as cheating. Going over your calorie limit for a day isn't going to offset you that much. It takes about 3,500 calories to lose/gain a pound. So if you're eating at a deficit all week, in order for you to gain any weight from a cheat day you'd have to eat above your maintenance weight and the deficit you've accumulated throughout the week, and then it would take an entire 3,500 calories on top of that to gain a pound.
If you want a burger and milkshake occasionally, treat yourself. You'll be better off in the long run if you make sustainable changes. That means letting yourself have things that you really like. In the past, when I've tried to restrict myself, I end up giving up after a while. This time I've been finally sticking with it, and it's because I eat junk when I want it. Heck, today I went to the Minnesota State Fair and ate all kinds of fried and sugary foods. So, so, so many calories. But it's ok, because it's just one day, and I ate at a deficit all week.0 -
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I really enjoy my healthy foods. I've got a food routine down, and i'm eating at a serious deficit on a daily basis. But I really wanted a milkshake today, but after I scarfed the whole thing down in 3 minutes, i just felt crappy for the rest of the day.0
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I have a cheat meal, not an entire day. I enjoy it more now than I ever did when that was all I ate. I look forward to it.0
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jaywirth88 wrote: »I really enjoy my healthy foods. I've got a food routine down, and i'm eating at a serious deficit on a daily basis. But I really wanted a milkshake today, but after I scarfed the whole thing down in 3 minutes, i just felt crappy for the rest of the day.
Physically? Mentally? or both. I cleaned up my diet really really well a few years ago and ate a peice of cake after about 6 weeks. I thought i was dying.0 -
I ate a huge steak last weekend and I felt so stuffed I thought I was going to throw up. But it was a $60 steak and I wasn't about to leave any behind. I was out of town at a hotel so doggie bag was not an option.
Note to self: Your stomach has shrunk so don't order the 22 ounce Ribeye.
At least I learned my lesson. 0 -
Try to fit smaller portions of things you enjoy into your macros so you're not encouraging yourself to binge or ruin a week of progress eating 6 donuts or a container of icecream0
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There are conflicting views on "cheat days". There are some people here that say absolutely not - others that say "in moderation". I'm still confused about "cheat days" myself. In my opinion though - we are human beings and restricting, restricting, restricting 24/7 may be good for the fat loss but not very good for your mental well being. I don't "cheat" every weekend - I rarely cheat at all but that's purely through to getting used to being so utterly strict. I do need to relax at times and I need to train myself to do that.
I'd say, go for it if it makes you happy. Happiness is important too! 0 -
All that matters is your deficit.
Your body doesn't understand emotional terms such as "cheating" when it comes to weight loss. It understands energy balance. Put too much in, you gain. Put the right amount in, you maintain. Put too little in, you lose.
How you go about this matters little. Eat handfuls of lettuce all week, then eat burgers and milkshakes all weekend, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you remain in a negative energy balance.
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I don't believe in cheating
Nor do I believe in restricting anything other than calories
You should be able to eat anything so long as you have a generally nutritious diet, hit your protein and fat macros and work your calories across the week
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PinkPixiexox wrote: »There are conflicting views on "cheat days". There are some people here that say absolutely not - others that say "in moderation". I'm still confused about "cheat days" myself. In my opinion though - we are human beings and restricting, restricting, restricting 24/7 may be good for the fat loss but not very good for your mental well being. I don't "cheat" every weekend - I rarely cheat at all but that's purely through to getting used to being so utterly strict. I do need to relax at times and I need to train myself to do that.
I'd say, go for it if it makes you happy. Happiness is important too!
It's just packaging up,calories differently
I don't see why anyone would need to cheat themselves ...it's just food ...it's what comes of restriction, I agree0 -
I ate a huge steak last weekend and I felt so stuffed I thought I was going to throw up. But it was a $60 steak and I wasn't about to leave any behind. I was out of town at a hotel so doggie bag was not an option.
Note to self: Your stomach has shrunk so don't order the 22 ounce Ribeye.
At least I learned my lesson.
Ha ha!0 -
I don't think in terms of "cheat" versus "good food". I eat whatever I want. I try to choose wisely and healthfully most of the time. When I choose something less than healthy-- I make sure I don't go over my calories for the day. I may need to eat smaller portions of the less than healthy foods, but at least I don't feel like I'm denying myself the foods I really like. So I can stick with this way of eating. I want to learn how to eat in a way that is long standing, not a diet I'm going stop one day.0
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Cheat meals good.
Cheat days bad.0 -
shadowconn wrote: »Yes. They are fine. What they do is keep your body out of balance. Your body adjusts to everything you do to it. The theory behind a cheat day is that it stimulates your metabolism to burn. I'm not doing them right now. I probably should be. But there's no binge money in my budget atm.
This isn't true.
I don't do cheat days. I count my calories over the week and create additional deficits on some days to allow for meals out, wine etc. I don't have a mentality of good food vs bad food or 'cheating' etc. I eat for nutrition and to meet my calorie allowance for various purposes (currently for loss, later for maintenance) - this isn't a diet, it's just life.0 -
I don't do cheat days anymore either: I have a tendency to go all out on those days and eat waaayyy more than I should, to the point of feeling physically ill. So instead, I have a 'cheat meal' every once in a while and eat everything else in moderation (I don't like the word 'cheat', because I'm not doing anything wrong). I have lost about 4kg in 2 months, and I feel like this is very sustainable for me.
Also, if you feel awful about yourself after 1 burger and a shake, I think you should really re-evaluate your relationship with food. There is nothing wrong with a little indulgence every once in a while and you should be able to enjoy ALL the food you eat, without feeling guilty afterwards.0 -
I don't do cheat days anymore either: I have a tendency to go all out on those days and eat waaayyy more than I should, to the point of feeling physically ill. So instead, I have a 'cheat meal' every once in a while and eat everything else in moderation (I don't like the word 'cheat', because I'm not doing anything wrong). I have lost about 4kg in 2 months, and I feel like this is very sustainable for me.
Also, if you feel awful about yourself after 1 burger and a shake, I think you should really re-evaluate your relationship with food. There is nothing wrong with a little indulgence every once in a while and you should be able to enjoy ALL the food you eat, without feeling guilty afterwards.
THIS.
Spot on!0 -
I have been allowing myself one cheat day each week, typically either a Saturday or Sunday. Sugar is my weakness, so my cheat day is usually one where I allow myself to each a lot of sugar. I noticed last night how awful I felt afterwards, and am still feeling the pain today. I hope that my hard work throughout the week was enough to counteract the consequences of those food choices!0
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Your body laughs at the notion of a "cheat day" and logs *everything*.0
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When will people realize that there is actually no cheating going on. You aren't cheating, you're following the rules of human biology just like every other human being. If you cheat at the process, then you are a medical miracle who needs to be dissected and studied.
I know people like trend driven buzzwords, but there is really no such thing as a cheat meal, or cheat day.
You are either eating at a calorie deficit, at maintenance, or at a surplus. No buzzword or heavily filtered instagram photo will change that fact.
The whole concept of feeling like you're cheating surely just brings up issues surrounding food. Negative emotion surrounding food are a recipe for disaster.
Eat the foods you like, within a calorie defcit, lose weight. Why make it any more complicated?I have been allowing myself one cheat day each week, typically either a Saturday or Sunday. Sugar is my weakness, so my cheat day is usually one where I allow myself to each a lot of sugar. I noticed last night how awful I felt afterwards, and am still feeling the pain today. I hope that my hard work throughout the week was enough to counteract the consequences of those food choices!
If consuming sugar causes you to suffer a sustained period of actual physical pain, then I'd suggest you seek medical attention.0 -
As long as you maintian a calorie deficit, you will lose weight.0
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You are not going to stick to your calorie target every day or week for the rest of your life. It's just not doable. I personally don't care for planning out a specific day of the week to "cheat", I just know that on any given week I have certain occasions where I'll want to be more lax with my eating. Some weeks I can work that in to a calorie deficit and still lose or maintain, other weeks I gain, but that's the way it goes. Don't strive for perfection... this is something you want to make doable long term. Whatever you want to call it, cheat days or meals or whatever else, find a way to make this something you can live with.0
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Ive been on a strict clean eating diet for a week now but i have been craving for a few snacks and i did allow myself to have a little of snacks but the next day I'll make sure i eat very healthily dont worry, its ok to enjoy those so called " cheat day " once in a while:) 0
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jaywirth88 wrote: »I have been eating very healthy and I have really enjoyed it, but I heard you should allow yourself one cheat day/meal a week. I had a cheat lunch last Sunday and I had a milkshake and burger today and I feel aweful about myself. Is cheating ok? and if so, what kinds of foods do you eat?
A cheat day is fine if it helps you on the days you are making healthier choices!
I sometimes have junk food on a cheat day or evening!
I just accept for that day I will consume more than I burn!
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jaywirth88 wrote: »I have been eating very healthy and I have really enjoyed it, but I heard you should allow yourself one cheat day/meal a week. I had a cheat lunch last Sunday and I had a milkshake and burger today and I feel aweful about myself. Is cheating ok? and if so, what kinds of foods do you eat?
Nope, not for me. I sometimes eat over but it's not cheating, it's just eating over.
Cheating implies food type restriction and that I'm doing something wrong. I'm not a fan of either.0 -
I didn't have any cheat day for 8 months and my weight loss slowed down once I started having them.
By cheat day I mean eating over my calories for one day... even if I'm still at a deficit for the week, it does slow down your weight loss.
There's nothing wrong with a burger or a milkshake if it fits your calories though (although I haven't had a milkshake in 2 years because it's not worth the calories to me anymore).0
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