Cheat Days

kwickey1982

What is your take on cheat days and what do you consider a "cheat"?

Machka9

When I was on a mission to lose weight, I did not take any cheat days. They would have defeated the purpose.

So, I stuck to my diet every single day without fail for 16 weeks and reached my first goal ... 15 kg lost.

Then I took a 1-month break while deciding what to do next.

Then I returned to the diet for another 16 weeks, sticking to it absolutely every single day, and reached my second goal ... another 10 kg lost.

I've been maintaining since then so most days I'm on my diet, and some days I'm not ... mainly depending on what I'm doing in the way of training.


For me a "cheat" would have been going over my calorie limit during one of those 16 week stretches when I was focused on my goal, and as I mentioned ... there would have been no point in doing that.

SezxyStef

I don't do "cheats" in a day or a meal...to me that means I am doing something bad and I am not doing anything bad if I choose to eat a high calorie meal.

I have treats when I want to, I go over my goal when it's a good reason and I don't dwell on it.

But if that is something you want to do just remember 1 day does not undo a months/weeks worth of being in a deficit....*depending on how much you go over and how big of a deficit you have*

fr33sia12

I don't have cheat meals/days. For me a cheat meal/day is going over my calorie allowance which I don't do. If I eat more I exercise so I still have a deficit.
For most people, I think if you call a meal or day a cheat it sounds like you're doing something wrong, when all you're doing is eating something you want to eat. Instead of calling it a cheat, just count it into your calorie allowance and eat it.

jodieelol

I would have one cheat meal a week but still stay within my calories for the day.
My Macros are 20% carbs, 30% fat and 50% protein so my cheat meal is usually something carby, my favourite being home made spaghetti carbonara
I wouldn't go over my calories for the day as I feel like it can really set me back and I don't want to waste a week of hard work for nothing

xvolution

I usually have one "cheat day" every two weeks when I go eat out at a chinese/japanese buffet house, but even then I try to keep my total caloric intake for the day below my TDEE [which is around 3300 calories on those days since I increase the amount of exercise I do].

kwickey1982

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm not big on cheat days because I'm worried it will derail me but I wondered what everyone else thought.

cwolfman13

I personally hate the term because it implies that one is doing something so very wrong and "bad." I personally call it living life...realistically I'm not going to be bang on 100% of the time. There are always special occasions and usually we're attending some BBQ or whatever most weekends...I really don't see these things as particularly relevant to the whole of how I live my life day to day.

If a day here and there derails you, I would think you have a pretty unrealistic approach...all of this is about sustainability over the long haul...as in the rest of your life.

kgirlhart

I don't do cheat days. I work treats into my day every day and I eat out frequently but stay under my goal. There are times I do go over, like holidays or special occasions. But I try to make good choices and eat reasonable portion sizes. I don't like the idea of cheating. I'm just eating. I don't consider foods good or bad.

CoachJen71

I have little treats during the day, bank cals during the week, and have a splurge meal and/or dessert on the weekends, unless it's a holiday or birthday party that falls during the week.

kwickey1982

I like hearing everyone else's take on this subject. I don't judge what others do, I'm just curious because I knew how I felt personally about it but I tend to be an emotional eater so I try to be careful about things like "cheat days". It would be very easy for me to derail and turn every day into that. I personally need to discipline myself more to keep on track. Thanks for the input everyone.

vismal

I'm with cwolfman. I don't use the term cheat day either, I don't even really give the day a name. Sometimes I just don't log and I eat whatever I want. I don't make up for this with exercise and I usually don't bank calories from previous days either. How does one get away with this? By being consistent the other 97% of the time. There are probably 20-30 days a year I don't log at all. About half of those I probably still stay at or near my calorie goal just for whatever reason I'm not logging (Eating at family/friends house or whatever condition that creates so much estimation that I don't bother logging). The rest of the days are generally holidays, birthdays, vacations, or special occasions where I eat and drink what I want and don't worry about calories or macros. I'd say 10 or less days per year do I really and truly through caution to the wind and really pack in the calories.

So if 335/365 days I'm logging and hitting all my goals (92% of the time) and 20 of the 30 days I don't log are probably at or relatively close to my goals (5% of the time), that only leaves 3% of my year as what most would consider "cheat days". Since if it's only 3% of the year, and almost always planned in advance, who am I really cheating?

I will concede that I met my weight loss goal a long time ago and my current goals are alternating periods of muscle gain and fat loss to achieve a specific physique. When I was in active weight loss mode I struggled a little bit with the concept of not tracking on occasion due to the fear of such days derailing me and allowing old habits to resurface. There is some merit to that and if you want to forgo untracked eating for some period of time, I think that's fine. Eventually you will need to come to some kind of balance though. There will come a time when the ability to occasionally not track what you eat will be very handy and psychologically beneficial, especially if you one day plan to not track calories anymore.

CoachJen71

vismal wrote: »

I'm with cwolfman. I don't use the term cheat day either, I don't even really give the day a name. Sometimes I just don't log and I eat whatever I want. I don't make up for this with exercise and I usually don't bank calories from previous days either. How does one get away with this? By being consistent the other 97% of the time.

My hubby can do this as well. For me, though, it doesn't work mostly because I consume a huge amount of calories on those splurge days (eg: breadsticks, a couple slices of a large pizza, and a hard ice cream cone or slice of pie for supper and dessert) and I am too short a woman to just accommodate it. Doing that every weekend over the winter without a bank caused me to gain some weight that I am now shedding again. So for my petite middle-aged self, my being consistent includes banking, mostly through lots of walking because I don't like feeling deprived food-wise during the week, and I like to splurge weekly rather than monthly.

STEVE142142

Your mistake is referring to it as a chear day. By referring it to as a cheat day you're implying you're doing something wrong. For this to succeed you have to enjoy it and by depriving yourself of stuff that you enjoy or going out with friends or family and blowing your calorie limit for the day it's not going to work.

What you have to remember is this is a lifetime Journey it's not a quick Sprint. It's also a lifestyle change it's not a diet. The only way it'll will derail you is if you do it on a consistent basis day after day.

I started my weight-loss Journey this January. Weight was approximately 288 pounds. During that time once a month I would go out for a nice dinner didn't care about the calories. In March I went on A 4 day vacation. Ate too much drink too much but enjoyed myself. There were one or two days where I probably drank my calorie limit alone. As of today my current weight is 218 pounds.

If I couldn't enjoy the process I would have never succeeded and for you to enjoy the process and be successful you have to enjoy the journey.

vingogly

I had two scoops of high-fat ice cream last night, and logged it. That's not cheating, that's simply making a conscious choice.

I find the term "cheat" a problem and refuse to use it because it implies a moral choice. Ditto with the term "diet" -- by saying "I'm on a diet" you're implying there will be a point at which you're not on the diet any more. So, what then? Will you be "not on a diet" until you have to be "on a diet" again? (ad infinitum -- also known as yo-yo dieting)

The words we choose can have power over us, because they reflect and form the things we tell ourselves about our eating habits, our choices, and ourselves.