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Cheat day... Good or bad?
Replies
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Big_Gulps_Huh wrote: »I call them "cheat" days because there really isn't anything else to call them. Off days? Non-tracking days? During my heavy losing days, I had approximately 1 of those "whatever" days per month. The other 29 or so days of the month I tracked, exercised, and kept at or under my goal. Most times, these days were holidays. Sometimes I'd just pick a day. I consistently lost 2 pounds per week for nearly 8 months. Nothing wrong with them, in my opinion.
I just call them, "I don't care recharge days"0 -
Definitely need one. Just don't let it derail you. And more of a cheat meal.0
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I haven't eaten alot today because I know I am going to Waffle House tonight with my little boy and we are going to eat some really good stick to the ribs food. It also now fits into my daily calories as I have already logged it. HA HA0
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I don't like the idea of a cheat day because I work very hard to be good. I know the idea of a cheat day might be to reward yourself for doing a good job, but think of all the added calories you have to burn off again. That's my thought process to dissuade myself. I work hard to get the weight off... I don't want or need to work at it any harder.1
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Bad.... weekly cheat meal, okay0
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I take it this way, is having a cheat day ok if it were cheating on your spouse? I don't believe in cheatint others or myself.0
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kbatman777 wrote: »I take it this way, is having a cheat day ok if it were cheating on your spouse? I don't believe in cheatint others or myself.
Yeah, but it's not "cheating". You are just eating more than usual and loosening the reins a bit. Can't really compare this to being unfaithful to ones spouse..1 -
I don't have cheat days, if there is something I want, I just work it into my calories. There will be very few occasions I would consider cheat days, but I will always try abd stay in calorie range and not go over board. Going overboard is what got me here to begin with and I really don't want to make it a habit.
Tomorrow I am going to the State Fair which is known for unhealthy Foods but I will do my best to make sure I eat healthier options and stay within my calorie range. All the walking will benefit me by burning off some of what i eat but I won't go too crazy because I don't want to undo all my hard work I have already done so far.0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »kbatman777 wrote: »I take it this way, is having a cheat day ok if it were cheating on your spouse? I don't believe in cheatint others or myself.
Yeah, but it's not "cheating". You are just eating more than usual and loosening the reins a bit. Can't really compare this to being unfaithful to ones spouse..
Yeah, that's why "cheat day" is a silly name.0 -
MeganSchuyler16 wrote: »I don't know about a whole day dedicated to cheating lol... I'd never make any progress. Honestly I have one cheat meal a week on Sundays, which is when both my husband and I go out and have a date night. Even on the day I have my cheat meal I usually stay within my calories. I just eat less for breakfast and lunch and for my snacks something really small and tea to hold me over. That way when dinner time comes and we go out I can sort of indulge. This Sunday we are going to Melting Pot for the first time and I am so excited because I hear it's amazing.
So I say one cheat meal a week... but still try and stay within your calorie goal for the day.
Well said... One cheat meal a week and try to stick to within a couple of hundred of your calorie goal.
I like this idea too0 -
I don't do cheat days, I do free days. Basically it's a day where I don't worry about logging. Sometimes I need the break from the kitchen scale and the constant calculating that goes on in my head that goes along with logging. However, the longer I have been aware of portion sizes and what not, the easier free days get. So instead of having scrambled eggs with spinach and a piece of toast in the morning, I'll have over medium eggs with 2 pieces of toast. I'll also save up cravings for this day so that if it's a true craving, I'll give in. If it's not, it'll get lost after the moment. Also, special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries are a free for all for me. Like a previous poster said, I would rather focus on who I'm there with rather than the calories.
It's just something I need, and it's been working for me
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Instead of having a cheat day, I like to have one day where I can go out to eat for one meal. I don't even do that every week. More like every couple of weeks. I still try to make smart choices when I do but I cut myself a little slack.0
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In my opinion, it's so much better to have a cheat meal instead of a cheat day. You can do a lot of damage in one day!0
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I usually do 1-2 cheat meals, and my definition of a cheat meal is a meal that isn't tracked at all.1
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I don't think I'd do well with scheduled cheat days. Look, on Thanksgiving, I'm going to eat Thanksgiving. Will I eat less than usual? I hope so. Otherwise, I still tell myself I can eat whatever I choose. The key is to making that choice on a regular basis rather than thinking I'm on a diet every day. The other day while eating out with family I was struck with a crazy craving for a French dip sandwich. What I did was eat half the sandwich (sent the other half home with family that doesn't live with me). I didn't get fries with it, because I wasn't craving fries. I was craving the sandwich. I ordered a green salad with the lightest dressing they had, and I ate that first. Was that a "cheat day"? Nope. I still came in under my calorie goal when all was said and done.
To me the thought of cheat days means I'm dieting. I'm not dieting. I'm changing my lifestyle. There is room for everything I want to eat in that lifestyle, as long as I'm still going to exercise self control and make compromises, like making sure I had a healthy side with sandwich, and didn't over-eat.
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Yes! I love my cheat day, not even because I get to eat what I want, but because it has helped me lose weight (ironically). Anyways if you are trying to lose weight, lowering your calorie intake for too long eventually becomes less and less effective. But a little break and high calorie day really helps to shake up your metabolism so it doesn't get used to low calories. It's called zig zag dieting If you do it properly. It has worked for me - broke me through the plateau.0
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alexstenman wrote: »I've read things advocating both sides. 1 day per week where you are allowed to eat whatever you want. I am interested to hear what the MyFitnessPal community thinks.
Please cite any sources you may have!
Hi
I can not cite sources, However I will say a Cheat Day can undo days of Dieting.
Once a Week a Cheat meal less so. When I have a Large Cheat meal it can take me 4 to 6 days to get back where I was that morning.
Examples would be, Chinese Food or the Chinese Buffet or the Diner for breakfast or Lunch (Dinner)
For example without cheating You could work in a Skinny Cow Cone at 160 Calories or a Smart Ones Cone at 120 calories.
Good Luck
Roger
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At the beginning of my MFP journey, a few weeks ago, I had full intentions of having cheat days. However, I started having small "cheats" instead. I don't' call them cheats though; I call it surviving, lol. This is helping me learn that I can have a small amount, to not overdo it. Instead of a whole family size chocolate bar, I'll have a third or a quarter. I feel less like I'm missing out that way. I don't do it every day. There were a few days here and there that I would do that at first. I am learning to only do it on workout days (I only recently started making a deal with myself that it must come from workout calories - I'll see how that goes). Before my journey, I ate too many chocolate and salty snacks pretty much daily.
Also, if I plan on having a bigger dinner, I try to exercise that day or at least make sure I have enough calories saved for it without sacrificing my macro numbers too much. I'm getting much better with portion control. I do have a bit more than I probably should, at the larger meals, but it is absolutely no where near what I was having before.
There are items I've learnt I can't have at home yet. Snacks like chips and doritos, I am still not good at stopping myself before I have too many. I've started eating a healthier type of popcorn instead when I'm craving salty munchies. I did this the last couple of days and it has helped a lot, I'm better at keeping the portion at a decent amount.
I think the problem with cheat days is quantity of days and quantity of food on those days (particularly with weight loss goals). If a person has a cheat day every week, that one day can make a bit of a dent in your weight loss goals. Say you are at 1200 calories a day (after the 1000 deficit) if you want to lose 2 lbs a week. If you have one cheat day a week, that is 6 days of 1200 calories. Those 6 days, you ate 6000 less calories because of the deficit, which is 24000 calories less each month... equalling about 6.8 lbs of fat loss. If you did not take those approx. 4 cheat days, you would lose about one more pound of fat. You would have eaten 3200 calories less - one pound of body fat equals about 3500 calories. In 6 months, that's 6 pounds more you could have lost... and so on. Another factor is how much you eat on this cheat day.. that can change the numbers as well, especially if you go over your deficit. This does not factor in exercise. I am merely showing a small example of the impact it can have. Of course, this is fine if you are ok with that. It simply slows down your goal.
I hope that made sense. I'm new to this and learning as well. I can only give advice on what I think might work and any experience, big or small, I may have.2 -
So much applause for Pascooty above. I can choose to eat whatever I want on any day. I make room for reasonable portions and only indulge in the specific craving. The free for all mentality sort of scares me. I couldn't personally live with a pattern of six days of diet and one free for all. I'd rather integrate this or that into my life and not go nuts with any of it. That way I'm not on a diet, I'm changing my lifestyle and being mindful about food in the long term.2
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I cheat day once every 2 weeks, however I still stay at or a bit below my calorie goal, and do my exercise on cheat day, just be smart about it! 0
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If you have reached a plateau on your diet where the weight is just not going down, my dietician told me to have a large meal (not huge but regular home cooked, as if you were not on a diet). Of course don't overdo it, but something like pasta and chicken would be good I suppose. What happens is that it jumpstarts your metabolism and for the next 72 hours to the best of my understanding, your metabolism stays up while you go back on your diet the next day. But don't do it too often. Also, cheating weekly is an invitation to go off your diet. We all know that life happens, so save those cheats for plateaus and if you have a plateau and have to go to a wedding reception, well aren't you the lucky one.2
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alexstenman wrote: »I've read things advocating both sides. 1 day per week where you are allowed to eat whatever you want. I am interested to hear what the MyFitnessPal community thinks.
Please cite any sources you may have!
Eh, I'm not so much a believer in "eating whatever you want" on a cheat day. Maybe a cheat meal? But definitely not a whole day. Of course, it's inevitable that it's going to happen! Birthdays, outings, vacations, you'll let your diet slip up and that's okay. Just crush it extra hard in the gym to make up for it and use those excess cals for muscle growth.1 -
Eating "whatever you want" for a day will easily negate any progress you made that week, so no, a cheat day in that regard is completely counter productive. It's all calories in vs. calories out.
Instead design a "cheat day" with your goals in mind. If you're shooting for 1800 calories all the other days, your cheat day is no different, just you're going to allow yourself to eat "non healthy" foods to get to 1800 calories instead of going nuts. Personally I don't even make it that rare. Almost daily there is something in my diet that would make the average diet nut frown but it's all weighed out and carefully fits into my diet for the day. I never have bad cravings and never go binge eat. I simply have a healthy understanding of the calories I'm taking in, both good and bad and daily I'm at a deficit which means I'm losing weight. That's really the best way to diet in my opinion. The less restrictions the easier it will be to follow through on0 -
When there is a special occasion I allot a day to go over my normal goal. Depending on the occasion I assign it to maintenance level - TDEE - at goal weight (nearly there) or a just relax eat what I want day. For instance christmas or my anniversary. If it is the latter I also have some lower net cal days before and after (read I excersise a little more). However I have also noted that on the relax days my calorie count is lower than what it used to be. Many foods I simply do not find that appealing anymore and I am imply full quicker.
I do not consider it cheat days as I am not cheating. I am mindfully allowing social occasions. They are fully logged (if at all possible) and I know in advance when it is going to happen so it is built in.
I feel it is necessary to have these more relaxed days occasionally. I see them a little bit as with the rest days for excersise. Just a way for the body and mind to recouperate and to then fully focus again. Personally I think the effects we notice are more of a psychological than physical effect, which happily fits with my goal of feeling better about myself.1 -
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It's less about differences between bodies as different approaches to "cheat day."
I think that terminology is stupid, but when I first started I ate a bit lower on other days so I could have a dinner out on the weekends and not worry about it (my free day, although I'd normally eat lower cal for breakfast and lunch and work out). I typically aimed for maintenance those days or didn't think about it (but I didn't use it as a reason to overconsume in any kind of crazy way). There's a limit to how much I can or want to overconsume in a day anyway, though. I gained weight by being consistently over on a daily basis, not by binging.0 -
When I first started out losing weight last year, I had one cheat day a week. But now that I'm starting to get closer to my goal weight, any "forbidden" food that I eat can easily put on the extra pound. It is really up to the person and how their bodies react to being fed this food after doing so well for so long. It can be very rewarding to allow yourself at least one meal out of a day that you wouldn't normally eat, or a "cheat meal" so to speak. There is also the option of substitution. Like if you feel like having a pizza, you can always have a vegan pizza or make your own homemade one with tons of veggies. This is so that you're not giving in to take-out (which is extremely processed and high in fat and sodium) and this ultimately will help your craving, while it is also not too unhealthy to have. Much better than a regular take-out pizza. Just something I've learned from experience! 0
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I do not believe in cheat days..IMO, you're only cheating yourself. That being said, I do have days, where I do not worry about logging everything correctly. If we go out to eat, have a couple of beers, etc. I am not going to go..give me the 40 oz steak and 12 beers..I just eat what I want, make sure I log it as close as possible, and get back on the bike the next day..A day off to enjoy yourself, w/o worrying ..is that too much potato salad, should I have another burger off the grill, can be a good thing.0
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I consider cheating to have short term gain with long term negative consequences. I have days when I eat more. I usually eat 2000-2500kcal per day but I also have days that are 3000+kcals. I am not regaining weight, my health doesn't suffer, so I do not consider it to be a cheat.
I have celiac disease. If I chose to eat gluten that would be a cheat. It would taste good but within the hour I would feel poorly and the negative effects like arthralgias and migraines might last another few weeks. THAT ould be a cheat. I dumb thing to do. I would not cheat.
I eat a very LCHF diet to treat my insulin resistance and to help reduce inflammation. If I ate high carb my BG would shoot up, I would feel poorly, and my autoimmune issues would have a set back. Drinking a soda or having candy (beyond 1 for a taste) would be a cheat. It would hurt me. I wouldn't cheat.
Eating more for a few hours, a day, or a few days is just eating more. Not a cheat in my mind.1 -
I wouldnt say i have specific cheat days. But like once a week to once ever 2 weeks there will be a night that i eat a very unhealthy dinner or a big dessert thats my cheat. I dont make an entire day of it. I eat healthy but dinner is my weakness so everyonce in awhile i treat myself to like chili cheese fries or onion rings or ill eat a big piece of chocolate cake after dinner because i crave sweets sometimes. But i wouldnt make an entire day of it. Thats just too much id gain 3lbs back haha0
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