When you say "cheat day" what do you mean?

RSavage83

I need to lose a considerable amount of weight. I set my initial loss at 2 lbs per week and all is going well. I have lost about 18lbs in 42 days. I strictly stick to my deficit day by day. Sometimes at the end of my week if I have a few calories left I'll incorporate them into my day... but not always.

I've read a lot of posts about "cheat days" and I'm curious to know what you mean by this. Do you eat at or over maintenance? If you go over... usually by how much? What affect does this have on your overall weightloss? What is the need for a cheat day and does it not just slow down the process of weight loss and keep the bad habits alive? Did you used to use "cheat days" in the beginning and then cut them out? How often do you have them? Do they help you stick to your diet otherwise or do you constantly think about the day coming up and what you're going to eat? Do you enjoy the day or do you ever feel guilty afterwards?

I'm just curious about the rationale behind "cheat days" and whether any diet plans actually suggest them... is there a benefit to them? If so, what? Maybe I'm missing out on something? I just feel that if I cheat... or plan to cheat... it's a slippery, downhill road back to my old habits and I'm working really hard to understand food and eating and the effects, etc.

I went over my calories last night because I had a few drinks and now feel somewhat guilty... so today I have to pull up my socks and keep going (maybe eat a bit under my daily goal to compensate.)

PeiDub

Cheat days are mostly for sanity.

I don't do cheat days, but usually once a week I'll go out and enjoy myself for a meal. I don't bother to log it, and I don't necessarily make a point to pick the healthiest thing on the menu. That being said, I also don't use it as an excuse to go all-out and eat to my hearts desire.

lorrpb

My trainer always talks about 80/20 to help minimize cravings. To me this is more of a nutritional variation not a calorie blow out. It usually means have or share dessert 1-2x/week. Obviously the amount you go over calorie goals will directly reduce your weight loss. If you consume 3500 cals over goal, you will lose about 1 lb less than if you didn't. The important thing is to include enough satisfying food in your diet so you don't have cravings or binges. The solution is different for each of us. For me, when I started I completely eliminated many of my fav foods such as pizza, rolls, pastries for a few months. They were trigger foods and it was and still is easier to avoid completely than try to control quantity. Some foods I can add back in and I've learned to control my portions. Some I will eat in a setting that is easier to control. For example I will have a brownie or pastry when I am out becaus I can get just one. But I cannot have a whole pan of brownies sitting around the house. I can go out for pizza and limit myself yo 2-3 slices now, but not at first. Hope this helps.

SW 301
CW 186
GW 150

rankinsect

You'll get a lot of strong opinions, from those who think they are great to those (like me) that think they're unnecessary if you have reasonable goals.

For most people, the basic idea is that once every X days, you have a meal or a day where "calories don't count". I've tried them in the past, and didn't find the looking forward to a cheat day to be a mentally healthy way for me to view weight loss, totally apart from the fact that eating, say 1200 calories six days a week and 4,000 on a seventh is actually a lot harder than just eating 1600 calories every day, and the same effective weight loss.

I realize now those earlier diets were in fact much too extreme, now that I practice a more reasonable and moderate diet I never really need cheat days.

However, I do have certain "days off" the diet. They aren't cheating and they aren't regular - these are things like a birthday, Christmas, wedding, etc. And I don't give myself free license to eat whatever, but rather I eat about average for the people I'm with. I still try to log, even if it's inaccurate due to not weighing and not having recipes, but I don't preplan those days and I don't care if I am meeting a particular calorie limit.

Obnoxa

Cheat days sabotage in my opinion. To me, it makes what I'm doing feel, I don't know... temporary? Diets fail, lifestyle changes work. Plus, if I can't find a way to balance the foods I like with the portion/control I need when I'm in the honeymoon phase of a lifestyle change how can I expect to incorporate them reasonably into my eating habits down the road? And then there's the whole 'forbidden/bad foods' mentality; it's about portion control and balancing meals. Pie can fit just fine within your day and even carrots can be "bad" for you if that's all you're going to eat.
If I really, really want something I'll eat it, even if it doesn't fit within the day. Life happens and I can't expect to never go outside my allotted calories range again, but as long as I keep on track way more often than not, I will see continued success in the big picture.
Weight Watchers had a model like it, bank your points, I think I would have had more success with WW had that not been a part of the plan. It reinforced the notion that the way I was eating was a temporary change and that I could go back to foods and larger portions later.
Maybe some have had long term success with the cheat day strategy and I wish them all the best, but if I didn't need to constantly be aware of what I put in my body, I wouldn't have a weight problem.

SergeantSausage

My rules on cheating:

0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

scolaris

Yes, my only problem with cheat days is calling them cheat days. They're just days you eat more or differently than you do normally. Cheating implies breaking laws, embezzling funds, plagiarizing term papers, breaking vows & hearts... really, this is just eating. Do you call days you're under calorie-wise 'Starve days'? No, I didn't think so... I think if you are overweight it's probably a good idea to log everything for routine's sake and just accept that there will be some days that deviate from your regular eating strategy. Maybe you even need to schedule a day for this one day a week. But why call it cheating?

Sued0nim

SergeantSausage wrote: »

My rules on cheating:

0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

I'm with Sarge on this

I think "cheats" set up the mentality that you're doing something wrong, that there's a different "normal" out there you'll be returning to

If you work your calories right across the week you don't have to give up any food, just manage the portion sizes and how you eat ...get the nutritional balance right, and the right to eat anything in moderation and you've got yo-yoing beat

Well that's how I see it anyway

PixelPuff

For me, "Cheat" is eating at closer to maintenance than you usually would. I still try to hit UNDER maintenance for my cheat. Then again, I'm eating rather restrictive. This would mean enjoying myself slightly more on the weekends, relaxing with my friends.

jodidari

My cheat day is eating anything I want to eat as long as I'm not consuming more than 1000 calories over my MFP calorie limit. I don't decrease my calorie intake on my other days to compensate for my cheap days. I don't exercise more or else I feel i have the energy for it. It mentally helps me when I have something to look forward to on one specific day.

PeachyCarol

SergeantSausage wrote: »

My rules on cheating:

0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

^This.

The concept is counter-productive to me.

If you're over-restricting to the point that you feel that you need a cheat day once a week or so, you're not learning sustainable habits regarding food.

A better approach is to adopt a less strict eating plan that incorporates smaller amounts of what you'd eat as cheat foods on a regular basis, and to save the "eat at maintenance 'cheating'" for events like vacations and holidays. After all, how are you planning on living the rest of your life?

I'd rather have little bits of dessert every day than deprive myself most of the time and then go nuts once a week or so.

For other people with more active social lives, being stricter during the week and banking calories for weekend indulgences works best. Notice this still isn't cheating. This is planning and living your life with healthy habits around food.

kissedbythesunshine

SergeantSausage wrote: »

My rules on cheating:

0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

This sums it up

vismal

Cheat day has a million different meanings. To some, cheating means eating a certain food(s) banned by their diet. I consider this silly because types of foods do not impact results, macros and calories do. To others it means eating at or above maintenance but still tracking. To me, this just seems like maintenance or a controlled surplus which doesn't feel much like "cheating" Personally I use the term free day not cheat day because I'm not cheating anything. To me a free day means eating whatever I want without any regards to calories or macronutrients. Again I choose to call them free days because they are planned in advance and happen infrequently enough that they do not impact my progress, hence I'm not cheating anything. They are not necessary beyond a psychological break. They do not boost metabolism or induce fat loss as some might suggest, that's nonsense. If an occasional free day helps you stay compliant, and they are infrequent enough to not upset results, then I think they are fine. I probably have 10 or so a year. Mostly holidays, birthdays, vacation, etc. Once a week would be too often for me as it would negatively affect my results. If you tend to really overeat on these days, as I do, they need to be much more infrequent. If you simply want a day that you go a couple 100 calories over maintenance, they can be more frequent. It simply depends how much you eat, and how quickly you want to accomplish your goals.

kbmnurse

I don't use the word cheat, period. If I eat something that happens to take me over my calories for the day I get over it and move on. It does not happen frequently. Tomorrow is a new day.

piperdown44

I call mine a refeed day. Still log everything and take it up to maintenance for one day.

I don't have foods I restrict or avoid. If it fits with my calorie goals and macros it's fair game. So, basically, no "cheating" here.

CoffeeNCardio

There are no cheat days. There are days when I meet my goal, days when I come in under goal, and days when I go over my goal, though the latter is rare. I do feel unhappy when I go over goal, but when I do it's like "Mom's buying dinner at red lobster don't you dare say no broke girl, get there now". So I'm able to not worry too much. I mean, how could I justify saying no to free food at a restaurant I could never ever afford to eat at on my own? And more and more I find that i just can't finish the giant meals those places set in front of you, so I end up in goal or close to goal anyway.

There's just no reason for this process to be miserable and confining. Why would anyone want to live miserable and confined? Cause this just doesn't disappear when you lose the weight. Maintaining a healthy daily amount of food is for life. Might as well make sure you like how you do it now.

Machka9

SergeantSausage wrote: »

My rules on cheating:

0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

+1

If I want to eat more, I exercise for it. Happily, I love to be active.

And every once in a while, I might have a "celebration day" ... a special occasion where I might eat a bit more than usual. I've had one of those so far in 8 months. There might be another one coming up this coming weekend.

Francl27

SergeantSausage wrote: »

My rules on cheating:

0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

I don't really see what you mean by your second point... Because I've been at this for a while now and the days when I don't wish I could eat more are few and far between. So yeah, in a sense, I feel the 'need to cheat' all the time, but I've still maintained my loss for 1.5 years...

But I agree that you're really only cheating yourself, as no matter how people try to find excuses for a cheat day, if you eat too much, it's still calories that you'll have to make up for later. I mean I have 'cheat days' when I don't really care if I go over and might treat myself to a nice meal and dessert, but those calories still count, and I still have to make up for them the rest of the week... your body doesn't know what 'cheating' means.

CoffeeNCardio

Machka9 wrote: »

SergeantSausage wrote: »

My rules on cheating:

0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

+1

If I want to eat more, I exercise for it. Happily, I love to be active.

And every once in a while, I might have a "celebration day" ... a special occasion where I might eat a bit more than usual. I've had one of those so far in 8 months. There might be another one coming up this coming weekend.

This! Calories are like money, your food costs calories, and if you need more, GO TO THE "BANK"!

BlxxdtheFrxxk

When I have a cheat day it's planned. I know i will go over and it's ok. Yesterday was a planned cheat day. I went 1000 calories over and logged everything. My next one will be thanksgiving. Some days it's almost impossible for me to stick to a diet and enjoy myself without feeling guilty. Those are the days I plan cheats. As an added bonus I can eat what I've been craving and satisfy it instead of caving on a diet day.

Merkavar

For me a cheat day is when calories and macros are at the bottom of your priority list.

This doesn't mean you have to pig out or eat nothing but sugar, just means having less concern for calories, having fun or celebrating is higher priority.

And normally planned a head of time so for special events like birth days or Christmas.



If you plan to have a cheat day every week or month, is it a cheat day or just part of your regular diet?

That's sort of like saying a draw four in uno is a cheat card, when it's part of the ordinary game.

SLLRunner

When I say "cheat day," I mean it is not for me. What is for me is working those little treats into my calorie goals.

My perception is that people use cheat days to eat whatever food they prohibit themselves from eating the rest of the time, and it will often include eating over calorie goals. For me, it's easier just to work those treats in daily instead of saving up for them. To me, it's a complete waste of time and implies that I'm doing something wrong when, indeed, I am not.

Optimistical1

One "cheat" day can cost you an entire weeks progress, sometimes more. Not worth it to me. When something comes up (like Halloween weekend parties and brunch in my case) I switch my goal from aggressive (2lbs a week) to nonaggressive (half pound a week) this gives me an extra four hundred calories to work with. Doing this may slow down my overall progress a bit, but will not undo any of the progress I've made so far.

SLLRunner

Francl27 wrote: »

SergeantSausage wrote: »

My rules on cheating:

0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

I don't really see what you mean by your second point... Because I've been at this for a while now and the days when I don't wish I could eat more are few and far between. So yeah, in a sense, I feel the 'need to cheat' all the time, but I've still maintained my loss for 1.5 years...

But I agree that you're really only cheating yourself, as no matter how people try to find excuses for a cheat day, if you eat too much, it's still calories that you'll have to make up for later. I mean I have 'cheat days' when I don't really care if I go over and might treat myself to a nice meal and dessert, but those calories still count, and I still have to make up for them the rest of the week... your body doesn't know what 'cheating' means.

To me, it's clear what SS is saying because I feel the same way. Freedom is allowing yourself to eat whatever you choose within you calories goals. Cheating implies doing something wrong.

lisalsd1

"Cheat day" for me is either Mexican food or beer; still logging, hitting protein goal...but not worrying about calories (but trying staying with in "reason"). I just plan ahead, so a small "cheat" doesn't become a big, multi-day cheat.

CharlotteALC93

For me it means I don't eat all day and then use my days calories on one meal, whatever I fancy but never go over calories. Probably stupid but its fine for me.

SLLRunner

CharlotteALC93 wrote: »

For me it means I don't eat all day and then use my days calories on one meal, whatever I fancy but never go over calories. Probably stupid but its fine for me.

Not stupid at all. I don't believe in cheat days but I've saved up a day's calories for a special meal on Christmas and Thanksgiving.

PinkPixiexox

The term "Cheat day" makes me cringe!

Tell me what exactly are we cheating by eating over a certain amount of calories for a day?!

CharlotteALC93

SLLRunner wrote: »

CharlotteALC93 wrote: »

For me it means I don't eat all day and then use my days calories on one meal, whatever I fancy but never go over calories. Probably stupid but its fine for me.

Not stupid at all. I don't believe in cheat days but I've saved up a day's calories for a special meal on Christmas and Thanksgiving.

oh good that's ok then

SingRunTing

I don't cheat. I work treats into my calorie allotment on a regular basis.

I do however have some "no tracking" days throughout the year. Holidays, birthday, vacation time. Its good to not have to worry about calories every once in a while. It's a sanity thing to just be able to relax and eat on Christmas and not think about calories.

These days are relatively few and decided on ahead of time. I don't consider it cheating because its part of my plan.

Need2Exerc1se

I don't usually use the term "cheat days" but for me it would mean Saturday and Sunday. I don't "diet" on those days. I eat at or above maintenance, but not crazy over.

It does slow weight loss down. Obviously it would since it cuts into my weekly deficit. But I didn't start out with a lot to lose and wanted to lose very slowly. I plan to eat like this (deficit through the week, high calories on the weekend) at least until I retire. It seems natural and easy now that I'm working full time.