Cheat days, what's yours like
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Right now I only eat one cheat day per week so when I do... It's game time
Last cheat meal:
1.5lb cheddar cheese burger, bacon, onions
Fries with jalapeño cheese sauce
Oreo milk shake
was amazing 0 -
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Well, given that proper nutrition is all about the big picture, there really is no such thing as a "cheat meal" or "cheat food" or "cheat day" as long as the bulk of your diet is based around nutrient dense, minimally processed foods.
I don't think about my diet in terms of individual food items, I look at it as one complete, overall package. I don't tell myself that "this food is good” and “that food is bad”, because our bodies doesn’t see it like that.
I just aim to get 80-90% of my diet from high quality proteins, carbs and healthy fats, and then the other 10-20% can come from whatever i like as long as it fits into my daily calorie/macronutrient totals.
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lithezebra wrote: »lithezebra wrote: »lithezebra wrote: »cookielover_96 wrote: »Thin_Beauty94 wrote: »You cheat days are sad. Seriously y'all need to live a little
Yup agreed
"Live a little" is what fat people say to you when you lose weight and you don't want to eat French fries or dessert or whatever it is they're trying to get you to eat so you'll be just like everyone else. Some of us need to stick with our good habits, almost all the time, because it reinforces the harder, but healthier, way of eating.
Ok that makes me sad, lol. Can't imagine having to eat that way all my life.
I don't go around being sad about other people's choices, but if I did, I would think that eating treats was a poor substitute for other pleasures.
Like what... fitting in a size 0 dress? Which I'll never be able to do with my frame anyway...
But more treats for me!
Enjoy your treats, and good luck with your maintenance, @Francl27 . It isn't a contest to be a particular size, just like it isn't necessary to put people down for exercising self control. However, fitting into your ideal size, whatever it is, and staying that way, is worth a few small sacrifices, to me.
you can eat the foods you like and still meat your goals….
shhhh, it's a secret.0 -
Saturdays are my quality day with my partner. This usually means staying in bed until noon, nomming bacon and eggs and waffles for brunch, and then going out for dinner and a movie or some music after. If I had to give up my Saturday waffles, I'd die.0
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No cheat days. I'm having enough popcorn for 4 people tonight and ice cream with pb2, oreos, and twix. It's just Thursday.0
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On Sundays we do family dinner, and my mother has no respect for my weight loss goals. I mean, she respects them, but she won't change anything for them, which is fine, I guess. A bit sucky when everyone around you is eating a big ol' piece of 4 sticks of butter coffee cake with pecan crumble, but I can handle it. Although, I think this week it might have finally sunk in a bit because I was saving my cheat day for a date, and while I had a little bit of everything besides the meat course, it was truly a little bit and I think she felt a bit guilty. So, my cheat day is generally one good, home cooked, country meal with dessert not to exceed maintenance calories; about 1800-2000 calories.0
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I love dessert and beer.... often..... so I love workouts. 0
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Larissa_NY wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »Larissa_NY wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »Larissa_NY wrote: »Why would you need a "cheat day" when you're at maintenance? I thought the point of those was to take a diet break.
Sometimes I overdo the tacos and margaritas on a special occasion, but I'm not going to stuff myself just because it's Saturday. That seems weird to me.
If you addressing me about the "Why would you need a "cheat day" when you're at maintenance?" It is because I can not, nor can anyone on maintenance, at least that I know about, eat above maintenance calories, without regaining weight.
I wasn't addressing anyone in particular, and your answer doesn't seem to have anything to do with my question. Yes, if you eat too far over maintenance consistently, for long enough, you'll gain weight. What does that have to do with cheat days and why you'd need them if you're not restricting your calories anymore?
But I am restricting my calories @ maintenance. I don't eat like I did pre-MFP, not anywhere near it. Just so you realize, some of us do not have to eat too far over maintenance to gain weight. And yes, I am restricting my calories. I do not have cheat days. I eat at or below my maintenance calories. I am only eating about 300-400 more calories per day than I did while I was losing. I could easily eat more than double what I am eating at maintenance.
JW, why do you think such a high percentage of people regain all of the weight they lost, and some gain even more than they lost.
Honestly? I always assumed that either (a) they lost the weight doing the Cabbage Soup diet or some such nonsense, and didn't learn useful things like portion sizes, caloric and nutrient density, or the concept of sometimes foods; or (b) depending on how overweight they were, they spent too much time memorizing the number of calories in six grams of carrot cake and not enough time dealing with the issues that caused them to eat enough to sustain two full-grown adults to begin with.
I'm small, female, and over 45, so I don't have a whole lot of wiggle room with regard to calories either, but there would be no way I could consistently eat twice my maintenance calories. I'd just get tired of eating that much. Of course people who were very heavy can't eat like they did before they lost the weight; it just never occurred to me that anyone might actually want to. So this thread has been educational in that regard.
I'm going to edit this and say that it sort of sounds like I'm being snarky, but I'm not. It just really is endlessly fascinating to me that obese people and normal-weight people think about food so differently that it's like it isn't even the same substance.
Well, it's more that we become obese because we respond differently to food. Some people may become obese because they have other issues - stress, depression, etc. - that they turn to food as an escape from, while others like me just have issues with hunger and satiety. I've been obese since I was 8 or 9. I don't think I'll ever be "normal", even after losing the rest of the weight - at best I'll have "obesity in remission". I'm definitely assuming counting calories is a lifelong thing for me, since I know if I eat freely I will gain a ton of weight back.0 -
Don't really get the concept as I'm not cheating anyone, including me, by eating more some days than others or enjoying good food.
To me the idea sounds like restriction most days and freedom only a few days - that wouldn't be a happy or sustainable long term routine for me.
I needed to hear this...thanks!0 -
rankinsect wrote: »Larissa_NY wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »Larissa_NY wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »Larissa_NY wrote: »Why would you need a "cheat day" when you're at maintenance? I thought the point of those was to take a diet break.
Sometimes I overdo the tacos and margaritas on a special occasion, but I'm not going to stuff myself just because it's Saturday. That seems weird to me.
If you addressing me about the "Why would you need a "cheat day" when you're at maintenance?" It is because I can not, nor can anyone on maintenance, at least that I know about, eat above maintenance calories, without regaining weight.
I wasn't addressing anyone in particular, and your answer doesn't seem to have anything to do with my question. Yes, if you eat too far over maintenance consistently, for long enough, you'll gain weight. What does that have to do with cheat days and why you'd need them if you're not restricting your calories anymore?
But I am restricting my calories @ maintenance. I don't eat like I did pre-MFP, not anywhere near it. Just so you realize, some of us do not have to eat too far over maintenance to gain weight. And yes, I am restricting my calories. I do not have cheat days. I eat at or below my maintenance calories. I am only eating about 300-400 more calories per day than I did while I was losing. I could easily eat more than double what I am eating at maintenance.
JW, why do you think such a high percentage of people regain all of the weight they lost, and some gain even more than they lost.
Honestly? I always assumed that either (a) they lost the weight doing the Cabbage Soup diet or some such nonsense, and didn't learn useful things like portion sizes, caloric and nutrient density, or the concept of sometimes foods; or (b) depending on how overweight they were, they spent too much time memorizing the number of calories in six grams of carrot cake and not enough time dealing with the issues that caused them to eat enough to sustain two full-grown adults to begin with.
I'm small, female, and over 45, so I don't have a whole lot of wiggle room with regard to calories either, but there would be no way I could consistently eat twice my maintenance calories. I'd just get tired of eating that much. Of course people who were very heavy can't eat like they did before they lost the weight; it just never occurred to me that anyone might actually want to. So this thread has been educational in that regard.
I'm going to edit this and say that it sort of sounds like I'm being snarky, but I'm not. It just really is endlessly fascinating to me that obese people and normal-weight people think about food so differently that it's like it isn't even the same substance.
Well, it's more that we become obese because we respond differently to food. Some people may become obese because they have other issues - stress, depression, etc. - that they turn to food as an escape from, while others like me just have issues with hunger and satiety. I've been obese since I was 8 or 9. I don't think I'll ever be "normal", even after losing the rest of the weight - at best I'll have "obesity in remission". I'm definitely assuming counting calories is a lifelong thing for me, since I know if I eat freely I will gain a ton of weight back.
This really resonates with me. I'm 36 and for my entire adult life, when I go without a plan I become overweight. I'm lucky in that losing weight isn't very difficult for me, but keeping it off requires me to have some sort of plan (in the past, those plans were either fad eating plans, overt denial/restriction, or excessive exercise -- so I'm really happy to have transitioned to counting calories, the most life-friendly method I've found). I will be counting calories for the rest of my life because I know what happens when I eat freely. I've had twenty years of experience showing me the results of eating freely.0 -
rankinsect wrote: »Larissa_NY wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »Larissa_NY wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »Larissa_NY wrote: »Why would you need a "cheat day" when you're at maintenance? I thought the point of those was to take a diet break.
Sometimes I overdo the tacos and margaritas on a special occasion, but I'm not going to stuff myself just because it's Saturday. That seems weird to me.
If you addressing me about the "Why would you need a "cheat day" when you're at maintenance?" It is because I can not, nor can anyone on maintenance, at least that I know about, eat above maintenance calories, without regaining weight.
I wasn't addressing anyone in particular, and your answer doesn't seem to have anything to do with my question. Yes, if you eat too far over maintenance consistently, for long enough, you'll gain weight. What does that have to do with cheat days and why you'd need them if you're not restricting your calories anymore?
But I am restricting my calories @ maintenance. I don't eat like I did pre-MFP, not anywhere near it. Just so you realize, some of us do not have to eat too far over maintenance to gain weight. And yes, I am restricting my calories. I do not have cheat days. I eat at or below my maintenance calories. I am only eating about 300-400 more calories per day than I did while I was losing. I could easily eat more than double what I am eating at maintenance.
JW, why do you think such a high percentage of people regain all of the weight they lost, and some gain even more than they lost.
Honestly? I always assumed that either (a) they lost the weight doing the Cabbage Soup diet or some such nonsense, and didn't learn useful things like portion sizes, caloric and nutrient density, or the concept of sometimes foods; or (b) depending on how overweight they were, they spent too much time memorizing the number of calories in six grams of carrot cake and not enough time dealing with the issues that caused them to eat enough to sustain two full-grown adults to begin with.
I'm small, female, and over 45, so I don't have a whole lot of wiggle room with regard to calories either, but there would be no way I could consistently eat twice my maintenance calories. I'd just get tired of eating that much. Of course people who were very heavy can't eat like they did before they lost the weight; it just never occurred to me that anyone might actually want to. So this thread has been educational in that regard.
I'm going to edit this and say that it sort of sounds like I'm being snarky, but I'm not. It just really is endlessly fascinating to me that obese people and normal-weight people think about food so differently that it's like it isn't even the same substance.
Well, it's more that we become obese because we respond differently to food. Some people may become obese because they have other issues - stress, depression, etc. - that they turn to food as an escape from, while others like me just have issues with hunger and satiety. I've been obese since I was 8 or 9. I don't think I'll ever be "normal", even after losing the rest of the weight - at best I'll have "obesity in remission". I'm definitely assuming counting calories is a lifelong thing for me, since I know if I eat freely I will gain a ton of weight back.
Ditto here.
And I could easily eat 3000 calories every day if I wasn't careful. But once in a while so I can enjoy a special meal? Sure. I just go back to my 300 deficit the next day... it naturally makes up for it.
I still can't really imagine having higher calorie days without making up for them somehow though (or at least trying to), or I'd gain weight back.0 -
My cheat days consist of lifting too heavy and having to use too much back. Brodin disapproves.0
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My cheat days arent nearly as bad as they used to be. I have a huge apetite and after dieting for a few months, and keeping calories around 3000 when training with the army i got down to super low body fat, 5-6%. Which lead to "binges". Anyway now i have a cheat day every friday, which includes whatever i want to eat but not over the top anymore, usually around 4-5 thousand calories with alot of carbs, for that pump the next day. Two days after and il be back to my original weight or lighter.
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Chocolate cake, coffee and ice cold local fresh milk.0
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I actually had one for the first time in months on Friday and I ate 4200 calories. Is that good enough for you? I still had room too
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How do people have cheat days or high calorie days on maintenance? If you do that each week, you'll gain, right? I'm able to do a higher calorie day because I'm at losing cals, so it'll put me at maintenance for the week if I go over. But yea, if I was eating at maintenance already, that just means I'd have to make up for it at some point. Am I wrong on that?0
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i work what i want into my daily calorie intake. i always go to starbucks on the weekend0
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Anything and everything. Sometimes I make it 2 days. Ate tons of cookies earlier and now having a huge bowl of spaghetti. Plus breadsticks. Later, large fries and some cupcakes and more cookies.0
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Eat to maintenance every sunday since my family comes for dinner/dessert. Eat at a ~600 deficit 6 days a week.0
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How do people have cheat days or high calorie days on maintenance? If you do that each week, you'll gain, right? I'm able to do a higher calorie day because I'm at losing cals, so it'll put me at maintenance for the week if I go over. But yea, if I was eating at maintenance already, that just means I'd have to make up for it at some point. Am I wrong on that?
Good question. I'd imagine they'd have to make up for it elsewhere. Either by restricting calories before or after or exercising a ton0 -
I don't call it cheat days. But I eat about 3 heavier meals a week and eat lighter the other 4 days. This is how I lost weight and how I'm maintaining. Today is a light day and I'm a bit hungry but I know tomorrow I'll get to eat a little more. I got fat eating heavy EVERY day so eating lighter the majority of time is how I survive and maintain a normal weight.0
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How do people have cheat days or high calorie days on maintenance? If you do that each week, you'll gain, right? I'm able to do a higher calorie day because I'm at losing cals, so it'll put me at maintenance for the week if I go over. But yea, if I was eating at maintenance already, that just means I'd have to make up for it at some point. Am I wrong on that?
I keep a 300 calorie deficit that I try to stick to as much as possible, because I know that I'll have days when I go over quite a bit (during PMS, Holidays, or special events). I typically have 2 weeks with a good 1500-2100 calorie deficit every month... so far it's made up for bad PMS days and I lost my vacation weight in 2 months without changing anything (although for some reason I never seem to go under 133 pounds).
My reasoning is that the two weeks after my period, I'm not that hungry anyway, so if I ate at maintenance I'd just be eating more junk to meet my goal... so I'd rather 'save' those calories for PMS when I'm just starving and nearly impossible to stick to maintenance calories.
It's worked so far.. I mean, it kinda sucks, because I'm either starving from PMS or having to restrict myself to make sure that I keep that deficit the rest of the time, so basically I always have to restrict myself and think twice before having a higher calorie 'cheat', but I've managed to maintain for 1.5 year this way (more or less, I gained a couple pounds with the Holidays that I want to lose).
That's also why I try to keep the 'cheat' days for PMS days anyway, as I know I'll be starving anyway and eating more than usual.0 -
How do people have cheat days or high calorie days on maintenance? If you do that each week, you'll gain, right? I'm able to do a higher calorie day because I'm at losing cals, so it'll put me at maintenance for the week if I go over. But yea, if I was eating at maintenance already, that just means I'd have to make up for it at some point. Am I wrong on that?
I don't think you're wrong at all. I've just had this weekend off of work and I don't even want to imagine the calories I've consumed via chocolate and wine but when I got on the scale yesterday morning I was only up around 1lb. I know that will have gone by tomorrow morning. If I ate like that every day or more regularly than I do I would get big again but I don't, I generally eat a balanced and nutritious 'diet' and I walk 45mins five times a week and do either circuits or kickboxing for half an hour 3 or 4 times a week and an hour long circuit session once a week. It seems to be working for me, I've been in maintenance for 17 months now.
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Dreysander wrote: »Just commenting to say that I really, really dislike the notion that someone who's a size 0 has more "self-control" than someone who's a size 2 or a size 10. Not everyone is built to be a size 0. I know I'm not. I weigh 125 lbs at 5'4 and I'm a size 6ish due to a lot of extra skin. No matter how much "self-control" I have I will likely never be a size 0, nor do I want to be.
The sheer judgement coming from some posters in this thread that assume someone like me is lacking in "self-control" is appalling.
Have fun up there on your high horse.
THIS!! ^^^
such judgement going on makes people feel ashamed of themselves.
we are all here for the same reason at the end of the day....but everyones journey is different. Because your journey is different it doesn't make you any better or any worse than the next person. If "cheat days" spur you on to make good decisions for the rest of the week...then why the heck not indulge for one day or one meal!! its better than indulging for 7 days
maybe this thread needs more feel good factors than judgement.
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courtney_love2001 wrote: »I normally have one indulgent meal every now and then, but I alter it so it won't "break the bank" so to speak. For example if I want a cheeseburger, I eat a cheeseburger, but I make better choices about the burger. Like I get no mayo and only eat half my fries. That way if I do go over it's not like 1,000 calories over my goal for the day. I don't do whole cheat days; I think that's an easy way to back slide into old habits.
Definitely. If I tell myself I'm having a cheat day it can easily turn into a binge. Over time I've found it works better for me to have something if I really want it (even after a glass of water, 10 minutes of thinking about it and some kind of distraction!) then make adjustments to the rest of my day or to get right back on the case and be a bit stricter for the rest of the week0 -
Thin_Beauty94 wrote: »I typically make one day or two a week as a cheat day. I'm a new Vegan and before was a Vegetarian. I eat perfectly healthy and honestly it's something that works for me. What are yours like?Thin_Beauty94 wrote: »You cheat days are sad. Seriously y'all need to live a little
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Dreysander wrote: »Just commenting to say that I really, really dislike the notion that someone who's a size 0 has more "self-control" than someone who's a size 2 or a size 10. Not everyone is built to be a size 0. I know I'm not. I weigh 125 lbs at 5'4 and I'm a size 6ish due to a lot of extra skin. No matter how much "self-control" I have I will likely never be a size 0, nor do I want to be.
The sheer judgement coming from some posters in this thread that assume someone like me is lacking in "self-control" is appalling.
Have fun up there on your high horse.
This.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »In the "I don't have cheat days/meals because I fit in the foods I like regularly without having to make a 'thing' of it" camp.
+1. Over my almost two years on MFP, I have learned how to structure my meals and snacks so I can eat almost anything I want in a proper portion and stay within my calories. It isn't something that really takes much effort anymore, I just pre-log everything and make whatever tweaks I need to make it fit. I have fast food a couple times a week. I always have two or three different ice creams/gelatos in the freezer for dessert. I'll have a bagel with cream cheese when the mood strikes. I will sometimes plan to go over on holidays or other major events, but I still at least guesstimate log so I can get a feel for how much I ate and keep it in perspective.
I think if I restricted all these foods through the week and then made a day for them on a "cheat" day, I would over-overeat, and probably wouldn't have learned how to eat them within the context of maintenance. Of course, everyone has different ways of dealing with food and finding balance, so that's just me, but I would definitely suggest it to anyone.
And it's not sad, I love what i eat, and look forward to it. 0 -
How do people have cheat days or high calorie days on maintenance? If you do that each week, you'll gain, right? I'm able to do a higher calorie day because I'm at losing cals, so it'll put me at maintenance for the week if I go over. But yea, if I was eating at maintenance already, that just means I'd have to make up for it at some point. Am I wrong on that?
I keep a 300 calorie deficit that I try to stick to as much as possible, because I know that I'll have days when I go over quite a bit (during PMS, Holidays, or special events). I typically have 2 weeks with a good 1500-2100 calorie deficit every month... so far it's made up for bad PMS days and I lost my vacation weight in 2 months without changing anything (although for some reason I never seem to go under 133 pounds).
My reasoning is that the two weeks after my period, I'm not that hungry anyway, so if I ate at maintenance I'd just be eating more junk to meet my goal... so I'd rather 'save' those calories for PMS when I'm just starving and nearly impossible to stick to maintenance calories.
It's worked so far.. I mean, it kinda sucks, because I'm either starving from PMS or having to restrict myself to make sure that I keep that deficit the rest of the time, so basically I always have to restrict myself and think twice before having a higher calorie 'cheat', but I've managed to maintain for 1.5 year this way (more or less, I gained a couple pounds with the Holidays that I want to lose).
That's also why I try to keep the 'cheat' days for PMS days anyway, as I know I'll be starving anyway and eating more than usual.
Thanks for your input! When you say 300 cal. deficit, is that daily or weekly? I am still trying to lose and eat at my losing calories, but the weekends end up ruining it for me... so I just end up maintaining unintentionally! Which is fine..once i want to maintain... but yea, frustrating when you're still trying to lose the last 5 lbs or so!!
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