Cheat day

princessairy01

How often should you have a cheat day? Once a week once a month how often? What do you eat on your cheat day?

rankinsect

I don't have cheat days. On special occasions like birthdays or certain holidays I don't have calorie goals. Other than those days, I work all the food I like to eat into my normal days, I just make sure I do so in a way that meets my overall goals.

Shawshankcan

Cheat days can ruin an entire week's work.

MissusMoon

I can't tell you how many in my friend feed have cheat days and are sad when they aren't progressing. A few turn into cheat weekends, and then they're off track for weeks.

I incorporate treats into my caloric budget.

Rocknut53

I don't have cheat days, but I do eat more on days that I get my 4 hour hike in, at least 3 days per week.

AlyssaPetsDogs

I plan ahead to cheat for special occasions. I had a cheat night planned for after my final exams because I was good on my intake for the weeks leading up to the exams and during the exam period.

My best friend's birthday is next weekend so I'm planning on having several drinks so I'm making sure I build that deficit into my meals this week.

I try not to do cheat meals very often. I get treats and fit them in, but I hate when I work hard and see no progress.

fr33sia12

I don't have cheat days either, I eat what I want in my calorie allowance.
To me a cheat day is eating more calories than you burn or the same amount as you burn, which would mean not losing weight, so I don't want to sabotage that.

kwtilbury

I restrict it to holidays and special occasions. It averages out to about one per six weeks.

MelaniaTrump

The most horrific was of 6 months of my life = cheat days.

DanyellMcGinnis

I don't do cheat days or cheat meals. If I know I am going to have, say, a meal at an Italian restaurant, I make sure to do plenty of exercise in advance, I study the menu carefully and make a choice beforehand (including best guesses as to what the calories will be), and then I stick to the plan. (Even on my wedding day...) I can still have cake, candy, and potato chips, as long as they fit into my calorie goals for a given day.

I guess it's because my goal here is not only to lose weight, but to make lifestyle changes I can stick with. If I did cheat days, I could easily see myself undoing all my progress, and giving in to the desire to "cheat" more and more if I ever managed to make it to maintenance. Then I'd be right back where I started.

emmylootwo

I have a free meal every 14 days or so. Lost over 100 pounds in the past over a period of 9 months doing cheat days every single weekend, which I do believe contributed to me developing bulimia. I would workout and fast after a cheat meal and feel so guilty, and eventually that turned into binges and purging. Now that I've gone through some sort of recovery and gained back that weight, I have what I choose to look at as "free meals." I use this meal to eat foods that are hard for me to log only a regular day (like pizza from a local restaurant or popcorn at the movies), but like the others above, I do incorporate treats into my daily food intake. It's been working pretty well for me so far. I have a healthier mindset of not weighing myself and/or punishing myself afterwards.

dlkfox

Live it and log it is my motto. You can't cheat life, so no cheat meals. If an eating event is coming up, I work during the week prior to bank calories so my weekly calorie goal is met. Eating anything I wanted got me where I am today -- 70+ pounds overweight.

skinnyforhi

I go over my daily calorie allotment about one day each week- usually it's over by between 250-500 calories on that day. I don't worry about it. I don't care how long it takes to lose weight as long as the scale is moving in the right direction, however slowly. It's a much happier existence and very different than how I used to diet.

JeromeBarry1

I don't schedule cheat days. When you think about it, who are you cheating? Me? No. It's you. Don't you deserve better?

Pam_Shebamm

I save mine for special occasions, so like 1 or 2 a month. Otherwise I fit my treats into my daily allowance.

kgirlhart

I never have cheat days. I eat foods I like every day and fit them into my calorie goal. If it is a special occasion then I just eat at maintenance and don't worry about it.

Serah87

I don't do cheat days/meals. If I'm more hungry or special occasions I eat more.

CrabNebula

I like my Friday night cheat meal because it gives me something short term to focus on, plus it is fun.

The only thing that matters is the long term trend. I eat regularly at a deficit so that when high calorie meals occasionally appear, they are easily reckoned with. If I have a vacation planned, like the one I just got back from, I calorie bank hard. Then as soon as I get back, I get right back on the horse like nothing happened.

LazSommer

The secret is that there is no cheat day. The people who successfully "cheat" generally keep a certain deficit knowing they will go overboard on a certain meal. It's not cheating when you planned and worked towards it.

If you're not doing the above, reduce your weekly weight loss goal by .25 lbs for every cheat day, because that's what you're probably doing assuming accurate logging, could be worse. At that point you're only cheating yourself.