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Cheat day..yes or no?
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WinoGelato wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »If you have to cheat, you're not making a lifestyle change - one you can live with.
Eh, I don't like the term "cheat" either, it makes no sense to me, but most people who use it just mean eating more indulgently than usual or going over their normal calorie goal. You can do that within the context of a "lifestyle change" (although there's a good discussion on that phrase elsewhere on the forum and I agree with the OP of that topic). You certainly can make a lifestyle change you can live with and have days where you eat more than usual. I like to go to a nice restaurant on the weekend and so plan for it.I made my decision that I want to be healther, less fat and more muscular. That's more important than pizza, oreos and ice cream. Will I have those things again? Sure. But not every other day and it won't be cheating. It'll be an occasional treat I'll plan for. In the meantime, I'm eating delicious food, staying under my calorie goal and I'm happy I found a plan I can live with.
Why can't you have an oreo (50 calories) or even a serving of ice cream (200 calories, depending) or sorbet (I like a mango sorbet that's 80 calories) every other day? For that matter, what's the huge difference between a thin crust pizza with lots of vegetables and lean meat and a pasta with lots of vegetables and lean meat? I don't have the pizza that often (I'm lazy so prefer to have it made for me in an Italian restaurant, as I might tonight), but I have pasta with vegetables and lean meat often, and I think it fits well in a healthful diet, as well as being a fast dinner that happens to meet my goals (largely healthy fats, adequate protein, and lots and lot of vegetables). Especially if you pair it with a salad!
I get that we all have different goals, so maybe you have some kind of fitness competitor thing, but in terms of losing weight, getting more fit, gaining muscle (I'm basically recomping at the moment), meeting training goals (I'm focused on some endurance training goals), and generally being healthy and getting in the nutrition you need, why would these foods be a problem, even having one or the other every other day. (Packaged cookies aren't my thing so I'll pass on the oreos, but they certainly aren't high cal, at least not individually.)
Maybe that's the problem... I used specific example, people ignored the context and jumped on those specific examples. The point I keep trying to get across is that if you stay within your own defined goals you shouldn't have to "cheat." "Cheat meals" ... "cheat days" ... it's stupid. Can an alcoholic have a "cheat shot and a cheat beer?" FOR ME (nobody else, for me), when I say pizza I'm not talking about a thin crust veggie. When I say oreos I'm not talking about 1 or 2. When I say ice cream I'm not talking about one half cup serving. There's a reason I and most people on here got fat in the first place. It's because we at a lot of crap a lot of the time. Is "cheating" eating 1 cookie or 1 slice of a thin crust veggie/tofu pizza? Not to me.
You have to know what others mean by "cheat meal." Often they just mean "different than how I normally eat." For example, I rarely have Chicago style pizza anymore but I do occasionally and might call that a "treat meal." (Well, I wouldn't call it anything special really, but I know that people could consider it such and I get it, even if I find the term "cheat" in this context grating.)
The alcohol example is really beside the point, as no reason someone into fitness couldn't occasionally have something off-plan. I used to overeat Indian food. I initially figured out how to eat it within my calories, but I decided I wasn't much interested -- I'd rather have it less often and eat whatever I want when I do. So I do, often on the day of or the night before a long run.
And when I say ice cream I mean a half cup and when I say pizza I usually mean thin crust with vegetables.
Well, I guess we all have different definitions for everything. For some of us overweight people, when we say pizza it's a little different than when you do, I guess. LOL! But I thought I did a pretty good job of explaining what I meant in my first post though. Anybody should have been able to figure it out. I think my basic message was pretty good... make a plan where you can be happy and don't have to "cheat" for a whole day. If you feel you're depriving yourself, in my opinion, you increase your chance of failing. I want to try and help people into the direction of success, not badger people into agreeing that what I'm doing is the only right way or insult anybody else's way.
That is definitely not how I read your first post which seemed to imply that eating things like pizza, Oreos and ice cream... And being healthy, losing weight, and improving fitness are mutually exclusive that you can't do both.
I don't have "cheat" days either, what I prefer to do is work those foods in every day, as part of an overall balanced diet. There are days where I know I will exceed my calorie target, but I still don't call that "cheating" because it implies I'm doing something wrong. I'm out of town visiting my family this weekend and am going to be eating and drinking more than usual. I saved up calories during the week to offset the overage on the weekend, but I still don't call it "cheating".
There are many people who get caught up in feeling they have to be perfect in order to be successful. That they can't eat certain foods (like pizza, Oreos and ice cream" and still lose weight. Why I respond to posts like yours, is to make sure anyone reading along knows that you don't have to cut any foods out, you don't have to eat clean, you can enjoy all the same foods as before even on a daily basis and still meet your goals.
Well, maybe you put it better than I did - I agree with you 99%. I just know I can't meet MY goals and have those items (the way I like them) on a daily basis. (Maybe I could eat a veggie thin crust pizza every day but it's not the same for me. I don't want a veggie pizza.)
Back to the original topic ... we both agree to "NO" on cheat days. And we agree to plan and prepare so we can have the things we want that make us happy and help us toward our own individual goals. I think that's a good thing. Thanks for your friendly and wise post.
This is why it's good to keep talking to understand what people mean.... A lot of time everyone gets caught up in a choice of a particular word or phrase and either don't bother to explain what they actually mean, or they don't bother to listen to what anyone else actually means...
For what it's worth, veggie pizza isn't my thing either. I eat 2 pieces of sausage and pepperoni with a salad and a single breadstick when we do get pizza. It's about half what I used to eat but I've found i can be perfectly happy with this amount.1 -
Well, maybe you put it better than I did - I agree with you 99%. I just know I can't meet MY goals and have those items (the way I like them) on a daily basis. (Maybe I could eat a veggie thin crust pizza every day but it's not the same for me. I don't want a veggie pizza.)
The bolded really spoke to me. I was, and to some degree, still like that. If I want ice cream, 1/2 cup just did not do it for me, I had to have the whole pint. I found though that I would under eat too much during the week to enable myself to over eat too much on the weekend. Physically I felt fine, but mentally I felt awful. IMO, I was well on my way to a disordered eating pattern. I had to train myself to be satisfied by 1/2 cup of ice cream, or 4 hershey's kisses, instead of the whole bag. I still have my moments where I throw caution to the wind and just enjoy without thinking, (you'll see that in my diary when I use quick add calories) but my habits are such now that it has no effect on me (mentally).
It's what we do most of the time that has the biggest impact on our health and fitness, not what we do some of the time.
Anyhow, I know this was a little off topic but your post really brought it out of me...3 -
yes, it happens
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Taylorgo90 wrote: »yes, it happens
Why the sad face? Do you plan on eating "perfectly" for the rest of your life?0 -
Have a cheat day , bu then work small cheat meals or snacks into your calories every day. When i did this , i found myself bored with *kitten* food and actually wanted to eat healthy. Also cheat towards the end of the day so you dont look for more. And drink a lot of water. Or fast the whole day , then cheat. Youll probably not even eat the calories you were suppossed to .0
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Waaaalllll, I have to admit now: I sort of have a "cheat day." It's just that on Sabbaths, if I choose not to keep track of my food, I don't. I still eat very carefully; it's just that I don't record every little thing.0
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Every cheat day has set me back 3-5 days.
No to cheat days
Work treats into regular eating and if you know you're going to have a really calorie laden day..:work it off in advance and after via excercise0 -
karinabree wrote: »Every cheat day has set me back 3-5 days.
No to cheat days
Work treats into regular eating and if you know you're going to have a really calorie laden day..:work it off in advance and after via excercise
Whaa you must have had some epic cheat days
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I have one low calorie day and one high calorie day. That I call my "controlled" cheat day.0
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You still have to live your life, so have that beer on the river! Experience all the fun things! Just fit it in to your daily allotted calories or work those "cheats" off with exercise. However, beware of triggering a binge of badness. I find that if I eat certain treats or high calories things I'll end up eating way too many and then saying f*** it and blow the whole day. LOL.1
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Apparently, we each define a "cheat day" differently. No big deal.2
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RainaProske wrote: »Apparently, we each define a "cheat day" differently. No big deal.
Oh most definitely. For some it means eating up to their maintenance calories, others have a free for all, some save their cheat days to eat their "forbidden" foods, for others it simply means not weighing or logging anything that day. There's probably a dozen more variations
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RainaProske wrote: »Apparently, we each define a "cheat day" differently. No big deal.
Yep -- no big deal unless someone else assumes there is a set definition of cheat day and since it didn't work for him or her it's a bad idea in general.
I hate the term "cheat day" and don't use it, but if someone else does, how am I to know whether it works for her or not? When I was losing, saving calories and eating around maintenance on the weekends, I continued to lose as planned, and I certainly did not go off on a binge. Most seem to be talking about doing something like I did.0 -
I prefer a "cheat meal" instead of a whole day, but I work it in to my calorie intake for that day so I still have a deficiency.0
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DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.....CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT.....IF YOU GET GOOD RESULTS SO WHAT...... EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT SYSTEMS REACT DIFFERENTLY....1
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I don't do cheat DAYS but I do a cheat MEAL only0
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My whole life is one big cheat 0
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I find when I am eating properly making good choices and eating an adequate amount I don't even think about cheating. If you are thinking about cheating on a daily basis I would say you are not eating enough.1
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I take a cheat day...more like a cheat meal or two one day per week.
It keeps me sane. I know there are stronger folks who scoff at guys like me. Laugh it up!
Knowing and owning my weak nature helps me plan ahead with that one day per week. Long-term it helped keep me on track. I wish I had more discipline with food, but it is what it is...
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Yes once a week.....I eat 1500 calories a day 6 days a week....On friday I eat double that or a little more...I look forward to my cheat day and it hasn't hindered my weight loss in any shape way or form...2
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