Cheat days, I hear they are good for your diet?

I read a lot of posts. I am seeing people saying cheat days kept to once a week are good for your diet. I have not done this and am wondering what other peoples thoughts are on the matter. To cheat or not to cheat? We are talking about food here LOL
«13

Replies

  • LexiAtel
    LexiAtel Posts: 228 Member
    I "cheat" once a month, not once a week. By cheat I mean I consume more calories than normal... like 500+ than I usually allow myself.

    If I did this every week, I would probably never lose anything.

    As for eating "bad" things, I do this anytime I WANT to within my calorie goal. For the past week I have been "bad", but not too bad. I plan on getting everything back on control. It's hard to eat right when you are driving around in nice weather :)
  • No, my body def chooses it's own days and cravings. Sometimes yes, I allow myself to go all out but I don't schedule it to happen. For the most part, I try to keep it under control. Special allowances are holidays or when I am out with friends or family. I am not going to deny myself food because it goes over my allotment - that sort of thing.
  • sunlover89
    sunlover89 Posts: 436 Member
    They are good if you are very close to your goal or are at goal. For those who are obese or overweight, they are unnecessary because the body holds a lot of energy stores so it doesn't "worry" about running out. What I don't like about cheat days is that it assumes that you are not eating enough the other 6 days or not eating food you like. Eat enough tasty good food all the time and you shouldn't need a cheat day. Since becoming paleo/primal, my relationship with food has been based on fueling it like a machine to be able to reach lifting goals. I know that if I stuff my face with pizza and doughnuts for one day, my body will not like it at all and I won't reach those weekly goals. But that is just me. Other people who still feel the need for those types of food find one day a week to be able to eat them a psychological release.
  • Vivian06703188
    Vivian06703188 Posts: 310 Member
    I think it is good an valuable advice I have received from all of you. I have not had a cheat day. What I mean by cheat day to me means going over my calorie goal. I am not unhappy with my results but feel a little stuck. Which is probably unrealistic having lost so much this first month. I still have quite a bit of weight to lose. But I hear so many people say how much a cheat day (maybe once a month) boosts their weight loss. So I wanted to get other peoples opinions on it before I tried it.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    It depends what you mean by a cheat day and how often you do it. If you mean a treat once in a while or enjoying a meal slightly over your budget but close to maintenance then why not? If you mean take a day a week to eat anything and everything you've ever wanted and totally blowing your budget then it probably isn't going to be good. Why work all week to eat at a deficit if you're going to eat it back on a cheat day? 3500 calories is a pound and I know I could totally eat that much in junk in a day.
  • tatey2009
    tatey2009 Posts: 47
    I allow myself 1 day a week where I relax the rules so that I can drink alcohol with no guilt

    I find that because I allow myself to do this I don't fall off the wagon because I don't feel bad about it. I also know that 1 bottle of my favourite wine is approximately 650 calories so in my mind if I allow myself to have 1400 extra calories on the weekend it feels like I am not deprived ... in my mind it figures out at 200 calories per day which net would only take me to 1400

    I used this technique when I lost 2 stone on slimming world 2 years ago and even though I have only just restarted this week I fully intend to go by this strategy again
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
    Why undo what you have done. Plan your days so you can have a little of the foods you like.
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
    I have at least one day a week where my exercise calorie tally spikes high enough that the day feels like an all you can eat buffet :) Not technically cheating, but it does involve enough tasty rubbish to make me happy.
  • This content has been removed.
  • toothpastechica
    toothpastechica Posts: 250 Member
    As has been said on all the posts about cheat days before....some people can do it, some people can't. Some people its a day or meal or over-calorie amount that helps them not feel restricted, but can maintain self control. For other people, too many cheats are what got them to the weight they didn't want to be in the first place. I personally do have a :cheat day", but for me that is simply I don't log my food on the one day a week I have a day off, doesn't mean I stuff my face with everything I see (and I still run or walk on those days) so I don't feel guilty about eating something that might not be AS healthy as other days, and so I don't spend my time with my husband or my friends constantly logging.
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,659 Member
    I read a lot of posts. I am seeing people saying cheat days kept to once a week are good for your diet. I have not done this and am wondering what other peoples thoughts are on the matter. To cheat or not to cheat? We are talking about food here LOL

    Personally, if I cheat, I can sometimes struggle to get back on track. I have come to the conclusion that, sod it, I'll stick with what I am doing as it is working and I feel very well and when I get to my goal I can have a cheat day or two then.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    My personal trainer suggested I should have a cheat meal once a week. Not a day, just a meal! Or a dessert. Something that i wouldn't usually eat. He said to do this you have to eat perfectly all week or you can't have the cheat meal, so if you have a biscuit with your coffee one day, then no cheat meal allowed! I did this for about 8 weeks then I started letting a few little treats slip in in the week so I stopped, but now I've decided to trial it again. I'm very close to goal and really looking to tone up now more than lose weight.

    When I was doing the cheat meal before it was always on a day I exercised, so I doubt I ever went over maintenance calories anyway. I don't eat back exercise calories usually, so i probably have enough deficit over my week to allow for that' cheat meal.

    I find that having a treat to look forward to means I eat better during the week.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    What are you cheating against? If you have to so called cheat its showing you that your diet is not sustainable
  • clockworkgeisha
    clockworkgeisha Posts: 48 Member
    I really hope they are good for your diet, because I've just had the mother of all Chinese take aways.....

    Seriously, though, most of the time I can convince myself that I don't need to cheat, that I'm doing pretty well and that it's not worth it, and will happily have that salad for dinner and feel a bit smug about it.

    But very occasionally, like today, I simply have to have a break, and I know if I don't some part of me is going to have a tantrum and I'll end up jacking the whole thing in and being a big fattie again. One takeaway now is going to save me a whole lot of takeaways in the future.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,333 Member
    if you feel tired of your diet..and your will power is :drinker: . do the cheat day thing. if it keeps you sane and on plan the rest of the week..it can work. I say do whatever works to keep your willpower strong.
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
    No, i dont dare cheat on purpose. I am very overweight, so i apparently dont need a cheat day. However I choose healthy food as much as possible, i am too scared to go off on purpose, because I am doing well.. it would be like telling a runner in a marathon to stop and eat some cheetos while she is running the marathon. i sometimes allow myself something that is probably higher in the numbers, but it still is not going to hurt me.

    but im trying to take my fave restaurant food and make it at home, that should give me the pleasure of it, but be healthier MFP-wise.

    I just made me the best turkey burger with a lot of flavor that it felt like a cheat meal, but it was not. some food you can make at home is so damn good you feel like your cheating! you just have to find it.. like i will make some chicken red curry.. MMmmmMMM will taste good and totally be non-cheat but will feel like a cheat! :)
  • KardioKim
    KardioKim Posts: 160 Member
    I think I do best when I cheat about once a month or so. When I get on a good roll (eating well for days), it becomes harder to cheat because I don't want to break the cycle or mess things up. Eventually, cravings get the best of me, though. I just don't let it trip me up.
  • RobP1192
    RobP1192 Posts: 310 Member
    I don't think it's good for the body to be honest. I think it just sets you back a day. But when you're living a healthy lifestyle, you can handle setbacks easily. Doesn't take much to get back on track. But to me, that's what it is, going off track. But hey, i do it all the time, usually on weekends or holidays. Gotta live life. I wouldn't recommend cheat days for someone on a cut or trying to lose weight.
  • udt123
    udt123 Posts: 22 Member
    I cheat once every 3 weeks where I stuff my face with all the sweets I want(donuts, ice cream, cheesecake, etc etc) and I follow it with a day of no eating at all. On my cheat day, I probably hit about 10k cals. I'm fairly lean and at a carb deficit every day so my cheat day kick starts my metabolism and leptin levels. If you're not eating at a deficit, there really isn't too much need for a cheat day unless you need it to keep mentally sane.
  • g33kmommy
    g33kmommy Posts: 104 Member
    I've been told by numerous people that allowing yourself a "cheat" day once in a while is great for your metabolism.

    I've been on a very strict deficit for the last three months, and one day I allowed myself 2,000 calories instead of 1,200. I mostly had to, because I went to a birthday party where there was absolutely nothing healthy to eat. I wound up eating Pizza Hut to my hearts content, and chips with ranch dip. On my weekly weigh-in, I was down 3lbs which was more than the .05 ounces from the week before.

    I've heard it gives your metabolism a boost, because our bodies become adjusted to the deficit after a while.

    I'm not a scientist though, but I know that it didn't blow my diet - it seemed to help it! :)
  • CatMcCheesey
    CatMcCheesey Posts: 143
    I do a cheat meal once a week, but it's more for my sanity than my diet.
  • runningagainstmyself
    runningagainstmyself Posts: 616 Member
    My personal experience has been that cheat days are good for my sanity. I don't eat badly the WHOLE day, I just pick one meal that I will indulge without guilt -- say, having that pub burger with cheese, fries, and gravy that I've been craving -- and then eat well the rest of the day. By doing this, I still continue to lose weight successfully and consistently.

    I don't see any harm in doing this. One meal out of the 21 (at minimum) meals you have every week isn't going to cause you to gain all your weight back any more than eating one green garden salad with light dressing will cause you to lose all the weight you have gained by eating poorly. Logically, it just doesn't make sense.

    On top of this, cheat day gives me something that I can look forward to all week -- namely, I can plan (over and over again) what I want to eat for that one meal. And because it's only one meal, I have to make it count. So it better be worth eating!! At the end of that, I am back on track and ready to take on the world again.
  • udt123
    udt123 Posts: 22 Member
    I've been told by numerous people that allowing yourself a "cheat" day once in a while is great for your metabolism.

    I've been on a very strict deficit for the last three months, and one day I allowed myself 2,000 calories instead of 1,200. I mostly had to, because I went to a birthday party where there was absolutely nothing healthy to eat. I wound up eating Pizza Hut to my hearts content, and chips with ranch dip. On my weekly weigh-in, I was down 3lbs which was more than the .05 ounces from the week before.

    I've heard it gives your metabolism a boost, because our bodies become adjusted to the deficit after a while.

    I'm not a scientist though, but I know that it didn't blow my diet - it seemed to help it! :)

    Exactly =). It's not surprising to look much more lean and to weigh less after a cheat day. Your muscles get filled up with carbs again, your leptin levels increase and your metabolism gets a kick. You'll burn more in the long run.
  • Camera_BagintheUK
    Camera_BagintheUK Posts: 707 Member
    I've gone over my calories a few times, like at Christmas, etc, but I don't believe I've gone over 2000 which is supposedly the number of cals women need per day. So that's my cut off point.

    I don't have *cheat* days - I don't really believe in the concept. For me, cheating is bending or breaking the rules to gain an advantage, or to outdo an opponent. So eating too many calories gives me no advantage, and makes no difference to anyone else - it's not a race or a competition.

    But I don't deny myself.

    Obviously to eat my calories I need to make sensible choices, but I still eat chocolate, biscuits, bread, drink wine - just if I can *afford* it within my calories that day. So my exercise calories help out here, buying me a treat now and again. It's not a cheat - it's part of my diet, I have to live in the real world, and in another stone or so, I'll need to be able to maintain my weight and live my live, so that'll be easier if now, I re-educate my body and my palate to eat moderate amounts of those things. And because absolutely nothing is banned in my diet, I don't feel deprived, and don't feel the need to blow out - or "cheat" whatever that is! :smile:

    typos edited
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
    My cheat days are when I get together with friends or family occasions. But I consider a cheat a food that I normally don't get to eat day to day, like fried chicken or a burger and fries. I eat an appropriate portion and don't go all out and destroy my deficit I've sacrificed all week to build. I don't plan them but am happy when the occasional opportunity arises to let loose a little.
  • caviggia
    caviggia Posts: 63 Member
    1 cheat day a week can be good for sanity and your metabolism; however, you have to know yourself and know if you can continue back to eating at a calorie deficit and your healthy eating habits.

    And I'm not one to say keep within maintenance on your cheat day... I feel people would honestly throw up if they knew the calories I consume haha but I always start it off with a super workout (2 hours of intense cardio and cardio lifting for usually a 1100'calorie burn) so I don't feel as terrible when my total is 3500 calories for the day.
    Yes,the next day the scale goes up, but 1 week later it drops either 1-2.5lbs (less now that I am within 7 pounds of my goal).

    And honestly, you would have to eat around 8,000- 9,000 calories in 1 day to gain back 2 calories in 1 day- kind of ridiculous and impossible. So you don't ruin your week, you just have to understand the scale will go up a few days, then evens out, then BAM... Drops like its HOT.

    Haha that's just my personal experience. The month of June was filled with vacations and 2 weeks consisted of eating like there was no tomorrow and after a week I evened out. You have to live life and go with it and enjoy it. I will always be addicted to food, I just have to control it and find a way that works for my lifestyle.
  • shellygfields
    shellygfields Posts: 3 Member
    :smile: My husband are training and loosing weight together. Having said that...we will not give up our Friday night Papa Murphy's pizza. Instead of the "meat lovers" now we get the "vegi delight"- light on the sause and on the cheese. It works for us.
  • ncmedic201
    ncmedic201 Posts: 540 Member
    I don't do cheat days. If there is a special occasion then I enjoy myself, eat moderately, and not stress over it. I'm looking at this as a lifestyle change and the reality of it is there are going to be times that I'm going to exceed my calories.

    As far as what I eat, I try to watch it daily due to my blood pressure, but there are days that I exceed my micros knowingly. Again, it's a lifestyle change and I'm eating as I plan to for the rest of my life. I'm just consuming less calories right now. I don't consider anything completely off limits. Some things I just save as a splurge, again due to medical reasons.

    Eat what you enjoy. Eat in moderation. Don't feel guilty when special occasions occur and you eat at maintenance (or even higher) because this is for life.
  • katg73
    katg73 Posts: 77 Member
    I'm gonna go ahead and chime in on this because I've had 3 different levels of cheating...

    For the first few months of my journey, I was scared ****less to cheat, so I did it only once every 2 weeks. Yes, I lost weight at a steady pace (2 lbs per week), but it began to taper off the closer I got to my goal. My exercise regimen had also gotten more intense so I had to increase my calorie goal. Around that time, my body and mind was learning to balance itself out from the calorie increase. In that time came a stall AND the holidays... the holidays being the main culprit, I found myself having Balls-To-The-Wall Cheat Days. And this actually worked out really well for me for a while, but again, it eventually started not liking that.

    These days, what works for me is having a major cheat *meal* accompanied by some cheat snacks or possibly dessert (so something like a third of my eating day). And I've usually burned over 1,000 cals for the day in my workouts so it doesn't feel as bad. The reason for this is because now when I cheat for more than one major meal in a day, it wreaks havoc on my system. TMI ALERT -- I literally end up having to make trips to sit on the porcelain throne a couple times during the night. I know this because of things like family visits and mini day vacays.

    I'd say that all these different levels of cheating are what help keep my metabolism in check, keeps it guessing. My eating habits are a lifestyle change, but let's be real... life is short! So am I going to stress myself about allowing some indulgences here and there? Hell no. I'm also an IIFYM type of eater to help me stay sane on the daily :). As long as you get your macros in, you will be fine :).


    So I guess when it comes down to it (and you might not want to hear this... or you might want to, idk lol)... you must experiment with your body, find out what it likes and what it doesn't like. For some people, a full on cheat day is golden for them. For other's, it may be only a cheat meal, cheat half day, or cheat biweekly sort of thing. Anyway, no matter what yours is, I hope you figure out what your body needs!
  • 43932452
    43932452 Posts: 7,246 Member
    Cheat allowances have kept me from gorging in a bad binge.
    I have done remarkable in my own opinion with all the challenges
    and yet I promise myself this or that by prelogging it .. it keeps me
    looking fwd to it and working hard for it. In the meantime I behave
    in a strict manner. I think if it works for ppl, they should do it.
    You can't gain weight if ya do it right. :p