cheat days

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MelissaWetzel2016
MelissaWetzel2016 Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
When counting calories do any of you give yourself a cheat day? I'm always under my calorie goal and 99% of the time I workout 4 days a week. Just wondering how this would affect my weight loss.

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  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,564 Member
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    I don't. I just fit the things I want into my weekly calories as I can.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
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    It affects different people differently. I can erase months of losses in a single day because my appetite is insatiable. I started giving myself cheat days when I reached milestone goals, but decided I lose way too much progress and can't really do that anymore. Occasionally I might go over calories, but there can be no more 20K-30K calorie days for me.
  • spzjlb
    spzjlb Posts: 599 Member
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    Cheat DAY? That could ruin your whole week. An indulgent meal that gets logged, sure. Keep mindful and don't slip into bad habits that you will need to break if you will succeed once you get to maintenance.
  • Erik8484
    Erik8484 Posts: 458 Member
    edited March 2016
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    I have days where I go over my calorie limit quite often. It means that I could be losing weight more quickly if I didn't have cheat days.

    The important thing is to make an informed decision about your cheat days, and to log your day as you go (or even better, in advance) so you don't get surprised by the calories at the end of the day. Knowing that 3,500kcal equals 1lb of fat, you can easily work out how your cheat day is going to affect your weight loss journey, and weigh up (lol puns) if it's worth it or not. For example, if your cheat day involved eating 3,500 kcal over your normal daily limit (because you had an awesome pizza and some chocolate cake), all else being equal at the end of the week your body would be carrying 1lb more fat than if you didn't cheat.
  • meredithdelcastillo
    meredithdelcastillo Posts: 64 Member
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    Yes I have cheat days because my life is short and its not worth dwelling over the fact that OMG I CANT BELIEVE I RUINED MY WORKOUT FOR THIS DOUGHNUT. it'll buff out.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
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    I don't set out to have something called a cheat day, that doesn't seem as though it would be helpful for me. Who would I be cheating? Myself?
    Sometimes I eat more than I planned, or plan to eat more than my calorie goal. I just log it and go on as normal.

    As to how it might affect your weight loss if you eat more than usual? Well, you are going to be consuming more calories, so chances are that will have an impact.
    How much of an impact depends on how much extra you eat, you may find out that it balances out with a day during the week when you ate less, so you are still more or less on track.
    Or maybe for that week you are eating around your maintenance calories - and in the long term that's going to have little impact as long as it's not happening every week.
  • MelissaWetzel2016
    MelissaWetzel2016 Posts: 12 Member
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    I've seen quite a few diets that say to take a day off during the week because when you cut yourself off completely from something your more likely to quit "dieting" and return to your old eating habits. & that I can understand.
  • MelissaWetzel2016
    MelissaWetzel2016 Posts: 12 Member
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    Thank you all for the advice
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    You should do a search on here OP. A cheat day/meal thread pops up nearly everyday.
  • Maho2011
    Maho2011 Posts: 8 Member
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    Major holidays are my cheat days-within reason
  • shinycrazy
    shinycrazy Posts: 1,081 Member
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    I live by the if it fits your macros model. I eat what I want when it fits my calories and macros. I don't feel deprived and rarely go over. I find being restrictive and then letting loose on a cheat day counterproductive. When I get to maintenance, I think this strategy will pay off because my mindset is to choose what I eat carefully and within guidelines.
  • gcaracciolo2
    gcaracciolo2 Posts: 130 Member
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    1 cheat day every two weeks. Still losing weight.
  • CathReese33
    CathReese33 Posts: 112 Member
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    When I have a 'cheat day' it wipes out a whole weeks loss. When I have an indulgent meal but contain my calories still under maintenance then I can continue to lose. That being said - if I want a donut, I have a donut. I just make sure I weigh and log it and build it within that day's calorie allowance. It doesn't happen very often, but knowing I have that option stops me from thinking' sod it and binging for the rest of the day'. I eat at 1500 cal limit and train 5/6 days a week. My maintenance is not even 2000 so I have to be careful and make sure every mouthful counts.

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