One cheat day per week

hiker583

Hi all,
I have been watching Elle Ip documentary Beyond Expectation, and read her 7-rules. One of the things she mentions is to have a cheat-day per week where you can eat whatever you want, and she explains it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tx-AJIgClA
Has anyone tried it? It makes sense, but it is so scary to do this. Anyone else had success / failure with it?

KareninLux

I really try NOT to think of anything like 'cheating'... and even if I did, I would NEVER do it for a day. Every once in a while - usually for a special occasion - I will just eat what I want but ONLY for one meal. Then I log it and move on. The next day is the next day and I am back at it. When I do this I find I don't usually eat a whole lot more, maybe 300 cals or so over my 1200 cal limit.

I have to watch it now though because I am getting closer to my goal weight so the weight loss is slowing... so I really have to be careful if I want to have one of those special meals as it takes longer to recover from any excess calories.

On the other hand in general I don't freak out and measure every little thing. I figure my calculations are as much as 5% out - in both food consumption and calories. It is a lifestyle change so I am trying not to be as control freakish with it as I am normally inclined to be. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone else...

Yi5hedr3

She is totally wrong! Never a cheat DAY. Only a cheat MEAL once/week. Cheat days are simply forms of self sabotage that set you up for binges. Enter at your own risk.

Scamd83

I used to do cheat days years ago when I was losing most of my weight and I did indeed indulge for one day and by the time the next cheat day rolled around, I'd have lost weight. But I did eat very little every other day and did a crazy amount of cardio. Eventually cheat days negatively affected my weight loss results so I stopped them. I'm not sure if there is some sort of crazy thing the body does when you're first cutting where you can have a day like that and benefit from it. But I think keeping in mind calories in vs. calories out is always worthwhile, that rule can never be overcome. Maybe instead every day fit something into your calories like some chocolate, ice cream or whatever it is you're craving and see if that works for you? Or even just have a cheat meal once a week/fortnight/whatever frequency helps you that you don't record but just keep reasonable. You can only experiment until you find what works for you. Someone else telling you to have a cheat day is just them using their personal experience to suggest maybe you should do it, but you might be different.

Lounmoun

I've found it works best for me to just eat foods I like every day and work it iall nto my calorie goal. I don't eat a super restrictive diet so there is nothing to cheat from. Pre-logging my food is helpful.
Sometimes I have a maintenance day where I eat to my maintenance calorie level. It is not a cheat day. I log and watch my calorie intake even on those days.

zyxst

I don't have regular cheat days because I will wipe out a month's deficit in one day. For me, if I'm going to "cheat", I'm going all out. If it works for you, then best of luck.

myeightweeks

zyxst wrote: »

I don't have regular cheat days because I will wipe out a month's deficit in one day. For me, if I'm going to "cheat", I'm going all out. If it works for you, then best of luck.

Me too - when I feel it "doesn't count" I can easily wipe out a fortnights deficit in one meal - and have done on far too many occasions:/

Maxematics

I hate the word "cheat" when it comes to weight loss. I eat whatever I want, whenever I want, as long as it fits into my calorie allotment. I went from 139 pounds to 109 pounds while including pizza, frozen yogurt, cookies, etc in my diet. A cheat meal/day reinforces the notion that there are good and bad foods, which isn't true. Also, some people would take the "cheat" part to the extreme and wipe out their weekly deficit just from one day of eating whatever they wanted. In my opinion, if your body is craving a cheat day, you're going about weight loss all wrong.

MommyL2015

"Cheat" days for me, which I don't refer to them as, easily blow my weekly deficit, which is pretty small to begin with. I am currently maintaining, or slowly trying to lose the last 10 pounds, and my plan is deficit M-F and then around maintenance or a little more on the weekends. What ends up happening is things like last night, we went to a hockey game so I ate there and that put me way over, which wipes out any kind of deficit I had last week. So, no, doing that would not work for me if I was serious about losing weight. At the moment, I don't care because I'm comfortable and my goal right now is just not to gain.

Ws2016

Why would I want to cheat the plan I created?

ACanadian22

Sunday is mine every week. It does maybe slow down the loss, but it keeps me in check through the week and knowing I get my fries on Sundays...I call it reward day because I know I have worked hard all week though

dabry05

Ws2016 wrote: »

Why would I want to cheat the plan I created?

This is pretty much how I feel about this. I have a couple of foods I really like that I work into my regular dietary goals, pad thai and pizza. In moderation, you can still get all the nutrition you want just have to be a little bit more restrictive the rest of the day.

My attitude will likely change on this the moment I either get another 10-15 lbs down to 185 or 190, and/or my doctor tells me ok stop losing weight.

abatonfan

I don't do "cheat days" (save for the 3-10 days a year where I'm not too concerned about logging accurately and staying within my calorie goal). I feel like giving myself those "cheat days" would lead me into a binge-restrict cycle, labeling certain foods as "bad", and make it much harder for me to consume an appropriate amount of calories for my needs (if I am eating 3000 calories once a week, it'll be difficult for me to eat 1500 calories on the non-cheating days).

I try to eat everything I want within moderation (as long as I meet my general nutrition goals before adding in the food I want). Foods aren't "good" or "bad", but I instead see them more as "always", "sometimes", or "special occasion" foods (broccoli would be a food that I can incorporate into my everyday diet, while eating more than 1 serving of pasta would be something that I save for a special occasion).

RoseTheWarrior

I don't diet. I simply eat according to my goals. If I want to lose weight, I have to be in a calorie deficit. A "cheat DAY" can completely undo a week's worth of careful planning. I've seen it said that fitness (and a good diet) is like a marriage. You can't cheat on it and expect it to work.

A "healthy" diet that puts you in a deficit, that you can do for the long term, is what you should be aiming for. If you do this, you don't need any cheats.

lthames0810

Successful management of free eating days is a highly individual thing. I find that a single indulgent meal sets off a string of poor impulse control for a few days even though I do include treats whever I can fit them in. I had "steak frites" last night and today I'm craving everything.

fry5150

A full day of unlimited calories can wipe out an entire weeks deficit. It's best to log everything and still eat anything you want in smaller portions.

Katburrows35

I think its amazing what Elle Ip has achieved but I couldn't do a full cheat day. As mentioned above it'd undo all the clean eating through the week. I do have a 'treat' day where I can have pizza for my tea and maybe a glass of wine but still eat clean for breakfast and lunch - it's something I really look forward to. I think the 80/20% food rule really works for me.

Seelao15

Has anyone ordered her audio book $147.00 and tried it? I'm so tempted to buy it.

geneticsteacher

I don't do cheat days. I do "special occasion" meals - company coming for dinner, weddings, other special occasions. I still log the calories.

Angierae75

I don't do cheat days, but there'll be days I eat at maintenance or even above, because I'm not going to miss out on holidays or special meals with family/friends just because I'm trying to lose weight. If I lose less that week, or even see a small gain, the benefit to my social life and well-being is far more important.

NicoleMichael62

Not much of a cheat meal or cheat day person. If there is something I like in particular to have then I eat it in moderation to fit my daily goal. I'll have just a slice of pizza instead of half the box. Or only a 1/3 of the mac and cheese and not the whole box.

I feel like if I give in to gorging on an unhealthy meal with no limits then that will set me up for feeling guilty.

leanjogreen18

I cycle my calories so I have one low calorie day and one day where I eat near maintenance, I used that as a "controlled cheat" day. In the end it doesn't affect my deficit.

There is some evidence around refeeding and its supposed to help with hormone leptin bounce back. The study was done on athletes and it was cutting for certain amount of days then eating maintenance for a few days. Can't look it up to link right now, but I'm sure it's easy to find if your interested.

Bonny132

I have my weekly reward day. I eat under for 6 days and over for one. Over 7 days I hit my weekly target. I weigh in on a Friday and have my day off on Sat or Sun and calculate my weekly allowance back to my target for the week.

As I know I can eat whatever at the weekend I have no urges to binge or stray off my plan.

Golbat

I don't do cheat days but I do sometimes have stuff I know is bad for me. One day, I woke up really late, like at lunchtime, had a very light lunch and then was so busy that it was dinner before I had time to eat again. I had freaking fried chicken and french fries! I weighed how much and counted the calories, and I didn't have more than I could fit into my calorie goal, but I'd eaten so little that day due to unintended circumstances that I had plenty of calories to work with and had something I'd been hungry for for a while.

janejellyroll

That's not for me. I may have a day when I go over my calorie goal, but I will still balance it out for the week. I know, from experience, that I can eat enough in a day to totally derail myself. I'm sure this could work for some people, but I would never recommend it as a rule for *everyone*.

wishfuljune

If I'm going to have a cheat meal, I make sure it's on a day I go to the gym, that way I have a buffer of exercise calories if need be. I never do a cheat day (well, except important ones - i.e., thanksgiving because... pie) but a cheat meal.

kshama2001

Seelao15 wrote: »

Has anyone ordered her audio book $147.00 and tried it? I'm so tempted to buy it.

I'm having great success with the free version of MFP, so won't be spending $147 AUD on her audiobook (which actually appears to be a pdf). Plenty of free diet books in the library if I were so inclined.

Also, not impressed with the offer:

itsmemalak

If you really let yourself go on your cheat day it will screw all the progress you've made so i honestly don't do it. Maybe allow yourself one unhealthy cheat meal that stays within your calorie intake? That's what i do

Golbat

I would never be tempted by a $147 audio book. LOL

kgirlhart

I don't do cheat days or cheat meals. I eat things I like and fit them in. Occasionally on special occasions I go over my limit, but not very often. Moderation is what works for me. I could never stick long term to a way if eating that I felt the need to "cheat" on.

Fursian

hiker583, It's your call. We each have to find what fits for us. It is personal. No harm in experimenting, though.

That audio booklet on the other hand.... anything telling me about "secret" this and secret that instantly rubs me the wrong way, alerting me to all the BS that will surely follow.

Perfectly good information here and elsewhere that people will kindly share for free.