Are Cheat Days ok?

JenniK614

I consider it a "treat" instead of a "cheat." I try to stay within my calories every day. Sometimes I am a little over, and sometimes a little under. By doing it that way, I feel no guilt when I treat myself to a nice meal with friends or family. I think you have to allow yourself to eat things that don't necessarily fit in to your calorie count occasionally if you want to change your lifestyle. If you find yourself wanting the milkshake every day, it might become a problem for you, but don't feel guilty about an occasional indulgence. You are human, and milkshakes are delicious.

stephanieluvspb

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.

How serious of a deficit are we talking? I eat around 1500-1600 calories a day that way I can fit in foods I love, ice cream, pizza, wine, dinner out with friends. you really won't need a cheat day if your not deprived. But food isn't evil and you should never feel guilty over eating.

Mezzie1024

I think the words we use matter, and by calling something a "cheat" meal or day, you are setting yourself up to feel bad.

I have "maintenance" days or weeks. On a maintenance day, I indulge enough that I hit my maintenance calories for my current weight. It doesn't do anything bad; I don't gain (I occasionally retain water depending on the food choice, but that doesn't matter), and at worst, I've pushed off my hitting-my-goal date by one day. Most likely, I've brought it closer because allowing myself to indulge here and there means I'm more likely to not give up on my plan.

A maintenance week is usually still just one day during which I eat enough in one day (usually in one meal) to make it so that at the end of the week I'm at maintenance. I do these less often and save them for special occasions like an anniversary dinner with my husband at some fancy restaurant. Again, I might show a little increase on the scale the next day, but I know after seven days, if I stick to my goal on the other days, the week just ends up being a wash.

The important parts of the way I do it are these:
1. It's intentional. Maintenance days and occasional maintenance weeks are important to my ability to reach my goal. I have a small deficit, but that extra 250 calories in a day can be really satisfying. The extra 1750 I get when I give myself a maintenance week is awesome. And because I don't have to feel bad about it, I can enjoy it fully.
2. It's logged. I don't just throw logging out the window. If I'm eating out, I make my best guess. If I indulge more than I planned, I log it, accept it, and move on. Sometimes I do; it happens. If it bothers me, I'll try to stay 50 calories under my goal for seven days, but it usually doesn't bother me (probably because it usually doesn't happen. A rare over-indulgence is nothing to lose sleep over).
3. It's occasional. I probably have a maintenance day once every two weeks and a maintenance week no more than once a month. I try to make sure one of my maintenance days falls right about that time before my period that I want to eat everything. Also, because it's occasional, I choose to indulge in things I truly get satisfaction from. A meal at a favorite restaurant is going to bring me more satisfaction than eating a bag of chips while I watch a movie, even though they both might be the same number of calories. Because I think about it, I'm less likely to regret what I chose to indulge in.
4. It's guilt-free. I'm pretty close to my goal, so I could buckle down and lose the rest of it in exactly four weeks, or I could enjoy myself a bit and maybe lose it in six to eight. I'm in no rush (it took over a year for me to gain the weight, after all), so I choose the latter.

I don't know if this helps you, but it's what works for me.

cwolfman13

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?

what do you consider a "cheat" day? I personally don't look at eating certain foods as cheating..it's just food. maybe in that regard you should try to look at your diet as a whole rather than breaking things down into this is "good" or that is "bad"...diets as a whole can be good or bad based on overall composition...but things like burgers and milkshakes can easily fit into a well balanced and nutritious diet.

to me "cheating" would simply mean having a high calorie day over maintenance...I do have them occasionally and they are irrelevant to the whole of my diet. I've been maintaining more or less for over two years without issue.

it really helps to take a look at the bigger picture...you can easily drown in the minutia of the day to day...

Wetterdew

Personally, I hate doing cheat days because they just break streaks and make me want to keep cheating. They're okay if you are able to recover from them easily, but if you don't need them I suggest not bothering with them.

arditarose

They're fine until you stop losing weight, or stop losing at the rate you want. Then you have to check yourself.

DoneWorking

I lost 61 pounds (First time around) doing cheat days once a week. Just make sure you don't go over what would be your maintenance calories for the day.

whatatime2befit

I don't do cheat days. I'm a firm believer in everything in moderation. If I want a burger, I budget for it in my calories, log it and move on. "Cheat" to me implies you are doing something bad, but there's no good or bad foods, just bad quantities.

strangesoul79

No such thing as a cheat day with me. If I decide I want something I will have it. I found that if I put it off for very long when I finally did have it I over indulged. This happened the other day. I went to the deli to get some ham and they had homemade S'mores Pie there for sale. I saw it and decided I would have a slice for desert after lunch. It is okay to have stuff like that the problem really comes when you have it all the time. I don't even budget for them in a day. If I go over for just one day I do. It wont hurt you.

KnittingSoo

I have a monthly maintenance day - which I find gives me lots of scope for eating things that I normally wouldn't have the 'budget' for.

I log everything because that keeps me focused and stops it from becoming a binge (which I have been prone to all of my life). I also try to keep a note of those things that I find a bit disappointing - if something is going to cost me 900 calories I better love it!

derekspiewak

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?

What? No! You're only cheating yourself. Eat what you want but fit. It. Into. Your. Macros.

karyabc

Days that I go over my calories cause yess life happens - check ~
Cheat meal/days? Nop.

Don't need them, I eat every single thing I want in moderation.
Moderation rocks

ariesfireangel

As long as chest days don't turn into chest weeks or your don't go crazy I think they are okay. I think there is more harm in trying to deny yourself everything at all times cause it makes you want it all the more and that much harder to stop yourself when you do indulge just a little

theflatpick

Seems like we all have different ways of doing this. I don't really consider it cheating if I count the calories, just that I went over that day, and try to keep those to a minimum. Also, I try to get some extra exercise in on those days to counteract it a bit.

SherryTeach

I never call anything that I consciously do for myself "cheating." As long as you are on a path that leads you to your goal weight and maintenance and promotes good health and emotional well-being, your plan is working. Nearly all of the time I can make what I want to eat fit into my calorie goal. Occasionally, I make a conscious choice to eat over my maintenance for that that day. It is not "cheating."

jaywirth88

I really appreciate all of this feedback! It is good to see different perspectives. I guess i can try to be a little more lenient with myself, and i really like the idea of not using the word 'cheat' and just fit everything into my macros.

PinkPixiexox

jaywirth88 wrote: »

I really appreciate all of this feedback! It is good to see different perspectives. I guess i can try to be a little more lenient with myself, and i really like the idea of not using the word 'cheat' and just fit everything into my macros.

I learnt to 'ban' the word 'Cheat' in relation to food - it's implying that I shouldn't be eating it and why the hell not?! I'm a human just like everyone else and I said goodbye to the restrictive, self punishing ways of attempting weight loss a couple of years back. Moderation is key, of course - but deprivation is a massive NO (IMO!)

Soopatt

I will join the crowd who don't like the word 'cheat'.

I do however, enjoy my routines and mine involves eating to nice balanced in-calorie macros during the week and going out to a restaurant on a Saturday night for my favorite meal (I think you would call it chicken fried steak if you were in America) and having a burger and a McFlurry at McDonalds for lunch on a Sunday. Both the weekend meals fit into my calories because I make adjustments to accommodate them. If I know I am going out on Saturday night I skip breakfast and on Sunday I have a very small breakfast and dinner to make it work.

I go over every now and then and I always log it when I do, no matter how big or small.

As others have said, your overall deficit is what counts, not how you label your consumption on that day. If you could fit it into the weeks calories and still lose, why not? If you did not care about losing and were happy to maintain that week, why not?

patrikc333

having a burger/pizza/icecream/chocolate is not cheating

food is food

in a balanced diet (hitting both macros and calorie allowance), "cheating meals, cheating foods" are a non sense

no one should deprive themselves of any food

DebJ618

A lot of great posts both for and against cheating and I really wish there was a like button on here!

I don't think there is a problem with a "cheat" and I do like what JenniK614 said about calling it a "treat." BUT, I do think calories should still be included and it shouldn't take you sky high over them. The psychology of the word "cheat" is problematic and I can agree with the posters who do not like the term or mention it just as food and to be around your calorie goal even on those days. Or to still hit your important macros before hand.

For me.... There is only one day a week were my fiancee doesn't work and I only work early in the AM. It is our only day together and he doesn't follow any diet. The one week we went walking a museum and across the street was a fudge/chocolate/ice cream factory. Yes I indulged in 1.5 small chocolates (maybe 1 ounce each) and half of the 1 scoop ice-cream and it really wasn't even half because the stuff was so rich, thick, and filling that after a couple bites I was done. I logged it... it didn't really effect things.

The one week I had my birthday I specifically got a cheesecake because it still is gluten free (something important to me...though I don't get super strict about it either) and again it fit in my calories/goals for the day.

This recent week.... I was looking forward to my "feast & cheat* (yes I still use the word as for me it isn't so bad) but had no plans... I actually spent time trying to figure out what my cheat would be and nothing really sounded yummy unless we were going back to the chocolate place which we weren't. My bf ended up buying this cheesecake thing that is inside a nutty shell... I had one tiny bite of the end where there was more nut than cake... it was ok but when offered to have another bit it didn't excite me... ultimately no real "cheat"

umayster

SLLRunner wrote: »

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.

Even though I'm on the other end of this spectrum and restrict a whole macronutrient group, I also don't view it as cheating and also consider it simply eating over.

'Eating over' days need to be infrequent.

kshama2001

KnittingSoo wrote: »

I have a monthly maintenance day - which I find gives me lots of scope for eating things that I normally wouldn't have the 'budget' for.

I log everything because that keeps me focused and stops it from becoming a binge (which I have been prone to all of my life). I also try to keep a note of those things that I find a bit disappointing - if something is going to cost me 900 calories I better love it!

I have two or three monthly maintenance days at that TOM and I also use them for eating things I wouldn't normally have the budget for.