cheat day?

MarisolSol76
MarisolSol76 Posts: 28 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Just wondering if you have a cheat day? If you do how often and how much do eat? Does it affect your diet? I don't have a cheat day.

Replies

  • Lucille4444
    Lucille4444 Posts: 284 Member
    I do not have a cheat day. If I feel hungrier that usual I will switch to maintenance calories, I did this for a week one time, then went back to deficit eating.
    Cheating would open the door to some pretty drastic overeating for me, I feel more comfortable having a calorie ceiling that is flexible up to maintenance.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Nope. I have days I go over my daily calories, but that's not cheating, that's life. The label "cheat" implies doing something wrong.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    I often pay attention to a weekly average instead of a daily one. That way if I go over my goal one day, but stay slightly under the rest of the week, I'm still where I want to be. Your body doesn't work on a 24 hour clock anyway. So I might have one 2600 day, three 1800 calorie days, and three 2000 calorie days, putting my average at my goal of 2000. The 2600 calorie day might be considered a "cheat day".
  • dhimaan
    dhimaan Posts: 774 Member
    No cheat days. Eat what I want as long as macros are being fulfilled.
  • Nikki10129
    Nikki10129 Posts: 292 Member
    If I had a "cheat day" where I didn't monitor what I eat I would very easily go over my weekly allowance :P I don't stress about days where I go over, I just hold myself accountable
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,787 Member
    I don't believe in cheat days for this reason: Cheat days mean your life is divided into Diet Time and Normal Time. I'm in this for a permanent lifestyle change, not to reach some goal weight then go back to my previous habits. Cheating implies there's something immoral or sinful about eating differently on a given day. Eating isn't sinful, and there aren't good and bad foods.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Nope. Occasionally I go over because of an event, but I usually plan for it.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
    I used to have one 'cheat day' per week and honestly? It totally destroyed my deficit and my weight loss would stop. I over-ate to such an extent (because I thought I 'could') that some weeks, I actually gained weight. I'd say - if you're going to have them, be aware. Don't use them as a 'free for all' day and do what I did which was essentially binge eat. Make sure your deficit is reasonable and sensible to avoid having that "I CAN EAT ALL THE FOOD TODAY!" urge that can sometimes occur with 'cheat days'.

    Personally, I succeeded by having a smaller deficit and making my 'treats' fit. I also found that banking calories from during the week for my weekend indulgences REALLY helped.
  • ForeverSunshine09
    ForeverSunshine09 Posts: 966 Member
    When I do cheat days I still log everything and try not eating like tomorrow will never come. Usually for me my cheat days end up averaging out by the next weigh in. Never really slowed me down.
  • Dreysander
    Dreysander Posts: 294 Member
    edited December 2015
    I used to do a cheat day, it was contributing to some unhealthy thinking and behaviour. Now I just do eat all the things as long as it fits.

    That said, Christmas day I'm going to go over calories / macros.
  • YalithKBK
    YalithKBK Posts: 317 Member
    I don't have a regularly scheduled "cheat day" (ie Saturdays or the 15th of the month), but on holidays I don't bother trying to count or when my bf and I go out for a nice dinner (once every 3 months or so). I used to do weekly cheat days but I found they would undermine all of my progress I had made throughout the week.
  • lulalacroix
    lulalacroix Posts: 1,082 Member
    No cheat days for me. If I decide to have a cheat meal, I will save up the calories and plan well for it.
  • 007Aggie
    007Aggie Posts: 110 Member
    I generally have one once a month. I might gain a lb that day. It's worth it.

    The most important thing is that it has an end. Don't let one day of overrating and not logging turn into a week.
  • Frelise
    Frelise Posts: 80 Member
    I often pay attention to a weekly average instead of a daily one. That way if I go over my goal one day, but stay slightly under the rest of the week, I'm still where I want to be. Your body doesn't work on a 24 hour clock anyway. So I might have one 2600 day, three 1800 calorie days, and three 2000 calorie days, putting my average at my goal of 2000. The 2600 calorie day might be considered a "cheat day".

    This is pretty much what I do too. It works out pretty well and it gives me peace of mind to know I 'balance' in the end.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Frelise wrote: »
    I often pay attention to a weekly average instead of a daily one. That way if I go over my goal one day, but stay slightly under the rest of the week, I'm still where I want to be. Your body doesn't work on a 24 hour clock anyway. So I might have one 2600 day, three 1800 calorie days, and three 2000 calorie days, putting my average at my goal of 2000. The 2600 calorie day might be considered a "cheat day".

    This is pretty much what I do too. It works out pretty well and it gives me peace of mind to know I 'balance' in the end.

    Me too. I have a spreadsheet to track it. I Just eat to my appetite, some days I'm low some days I'm high and if by the end of the week I find myself over or under my weekly goal I distribute the difference among the days of the next week. I do notice that after high days I have a smaller appetite that I struggle to reach calories sometimes, that's why when I do intermittent fasting it works well for me. I try to keep the expected loss value in the green (a loss not a gain) so I'm motivated even if I eat higher calories than planned. Here is how the last 5 days went:

    l4pgabhifpq0.png


  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
    No cheat days here, but I eat what I want if I want it. I either just make it fit either by watching my macros that day or by working out, or I'll let myself go over that rare time. Because...Life! As long as the overall trend is reaching towards success, it's all good xo
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