Anyone else feel the "cheat day" is a huge part of the problem?
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SymbolismNZ
Posts: 190 Member
I've used various diets pretty successfully; all of which included a cheat day. I once dropped around 40KG in the course of a year while obeying the "create a deficit six days a week, and cheat eat on the seventh". I always exercised like a savage (sub three hour marathon at my peak) but usually over a period of time, a circumstance in life would change and my old eating habits would return...
I'm now in the mindset that I can no longer diet, I'm getting older, my body is a bit broken down from sport and in particular running so I can't turn up the volume on the exercise like I used to and crush out results.... and in that mindset I know now that the food I consume must fit my lifestyle and be something I do the rest of my life.
On that notion, I reckon the cheat day is highly counterproductive, because you're not at all working on the psychology behind why your appetite doesn't keep you in check, and why you over-eat/over-indulge; you're still viewing food as a reward for good behavior, which isn't too far away from seeing it as a condolence for bad situations.
Anyone else share similar sentiment?
I'm now in the mindset that I can no longer diet, I'm getting older, my body is a bit broken down from sport and in particular running so I can't turn up the volume on the exercise like I used to and crush out results.... and in that mindset I know now that the food I consume must fit my lifestyle and be something I do the rest of my life.
On that notion, I reckon the cheat day is highly counterproductive, because you're not at all working on the psychology behind why your appetite doesn't keep you in check, and why you over-eat/over-indulge; you're still viewing food as a reward for good behavior, which isn't too far away from seeing it as a condolence for bad situations.
Anyone else share similar sentiment?
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I do. I've struggled with it, though, unnecessarily. Now I'm back to basics, and feeling so much better.2
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Cheat days work for some people, but I'm not one of them. I find if I choose to indulge in more carbs than I should (and not even sweets, just complex carbs), it kicks off cravings that take me days to get over. As you said, "highly counterproductive," both mentally and physically for me.0
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I think that the impact of cheat days depends on why you are doing keto. If you're on it for health reasons- blood sugar control, decreasing inflammation, chronic pain etc a cheat is going to damage your body and your health. The older I get, the more I value my health and the less I want to compromise it for a short term pleasure with long term consequences.3
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SymbolismNZ wrote: »I've used various diets pretty successfully; all of which included a cheat day. I once dropped around 40KG in the course of a year while obeying the "create a deficit six days a week, and cheat eat on the seventh". I always exercised like a savage (sub three hour marathon at my peak) but usually over a period of time, a circumstance in life would change and my old eating habits would return...
I'm now in the mindset that I can no longer diet, I'm getting older, my body is a bit broken down from sport and in particular running so I can't turn up the volume on the exercise like I used to and crush out results.... and in that mindset I know now that the food I consume must fit my lifestyle and be something I do the rest of my life.
On that notion, I reckon the cheat day is highly counterproductive, because you're not at all working on the psychology behind why your appetite doesn't keep you in check, and why you over-eat/over-indulge; you're still viewing food as a reward for good behavior, which isn't too far away from seeing it as a condolence for bad situations.
Anyone else share similar sentiment?
In spades! These days, I don't burn the candle at either end.2 -
I think that the impact of cheat days depends on why you are doing keto. If you're on it for health reasons- blood sugar control, decreasing inflammation, chronic pain etc a cheat is going to damage your body and your health. The older I get, the more I value my health and the less I want to compromise it for a short term pleasure with long term consequences.
What she said. I'm doing keto for life and for health, the weight loss is a bonus. That said, I don't plan cheats, but I have occasionally strayed out of my "safe" food zone to have a bite of something to be polite in situations away from home, which do not derail me once I return to my safe zone (my own kitchen, where everything is safe to eat).
I also think most food that I don't allow on keto is rubbish, and don't miss it, in general. So in my mind, cheating is over-indulging in something I really LOVE but is still keto foods, and well, life is short. Sometimes I just go ahead and have that extra piece of bacon, slice of tomato, dollop of cream, or what-have-you. Not as a reward, but just for pleasure.0 -
I think it's a huge problem. It is subconsciously signalling that what is being done the other 6 days is not enjoyable or sustainable. Essentially using off plan foods as rewards for the hard work those 6 days.
Islip up a lot but it's not because I tell myself I can, it is because I am striving towards a permanent lifestyle change.5 -
If I do it makes me sick. Literally sick. IBS and legarthy for 8-12 hours.
So now I might indulge in a small treat, like a square of chocolate, but I make myself fit it into my macros.
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When I quit smoking, I looked in vain for a book, even a guide from Marvel Comics, that would direct me to choke down a pack after church.
(There were smoking chums who would say the word at the drop of a hat, of course...)
And I don't know any serious plans for kicking the bottle that let you sip through a flask of whiskey or even mouthwash on Sunday.
Gambling? Opiates?
Tickle the tail of any sleeping addiction and pretty soon you've got a waking, hungry beast on your hands again.
Better
than : 
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I never had a large enough calorie deficit (speaking calories only not calories+exercise) during weight loss to allow much of a cheat and I refused to get into the mindset of exercising more to allow more food. I was a calorie counter during weight loss and now that I eat more along the lines of medically therapeutic keto, I count calories and macro grams. I've had to work really hard at moderation with food. I lost 60 pounds in a year and have maintained for 2+ years but I still want to over eat. Not over eating isn't a struggle unless/until I start.
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I think that the impact of cheat days depends on why you are doing keto. If you're on it for health reasons- blood sugar control, decreasing inflammation, chronic pain etc a cheat is going to damage your body and your health. The older I get, the more I value my health and the less I want to compromise it for a short term pleasure with long term consequences.
Generally I agree with you. When I was just working to lose weight, as long as I chose when to eat without worrying about calories (rather than having it imposed on me artificially . . . don't get me started about work birthday parties), I had no problem at all with them. My weight fluctuates up to 5 lbs in 24 hours, anyway, so it never had more than a fleeting impact, if any at all.
I'm much stricter about what I'm eating since what I put in my mouth has an immediate, measurable, and negative impact on my blood glucose levels.
That said, I've had two days in 15 months where I ate more carbs than my body can process easily. The first was an oral glucose tolerance test, intended to see if I had progressed in my goal of heading toward remission (I went from diabetes to prediabetes). The second - I decided to allow myself a one meal pizza-and-cinnamon roll fest about a month ago. The surprising thing is that after eatng as much as I watned, at two hours after eating my blood glucose was below 140. It did stay at that elevated rate longer than after a normal meal - and I think even went up a bit, but not as dramatically as I expected. I'm kind of sorry I chose not to measure at 1 hour, since now I'm curious to know how bad it was.
I won't do that often, but the ill effects were much less dramatic than I feard - so I may allow myself some leeway once a year, or so . . .2 -
Cheating on my diet has never worked for me in any capacity. I've never intentionally planned cheat days, but when I used to eat low carb (100g) and low fat,I frequently ate off plan on the weekends. I consistently lost 2 lbs during the week and gained 2 lbs on the weekend. Needless to say, my weight loss progress was at a permanent stand still. It wasn't until I went VLC and increased my fats, which resulted in greater food satisfaction and reduced hunger that I no longer had such an overwhelming desire to eat off plan. Now that I'm consistent in the way that i eat and no longer "cheat" on the weekends, the weight is dropping.3
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When I quit smoking, I looked in vain for a book, even a guide from Marvel Comics, that would direct me to choke down a pack after church.
(There were smoking chums who would say the word at the drop of a hat, of course...)
And I don't know any serious plans for kicking the bottle that let you sip through a flask of whiskey or even mouthwash on Sunday.
Gambling? Opiates?
Tickle the tail of any sleeping addiction and pretty soon you've got a waking, hungry beast on your hands again.
Better than :
This is pretty much what I came to say. You don't kick an addition by feeding it. Or, for those who don't think it's an addiction problem, you don't retrain your body/habits without consistency.4 -
When I quit smoking, I looked in vain for a book, even a guide from Marvel Comics, that would direct me to choke down a pack after church.
(There were smoking chums who would say the word at the drop of a hat, of course...)
And I don't know any serious plans for kicking the bottle that let you sip through a flask of whiskey or even mouthwash on Sunday.
Gambling? Opiates?
Tickle the tail of any sleeping addiction and pretty soon you've got a waking, hungry beast on your hands again.
Better than :
Ya, but the difference is that we literally & unequivocally _need_ to eat food. Smoking, alcohol, gambling, and drugs can all be 100% abstained from and a person can live their live.
Because food is legit necessary, it becomes a question of "what type of food" and that is what bogs people down.
The question of a cheat day is really a subjective "n=1" thing, because we can find plenty of success stories where it works quite well for people.4 -
Cheat days, at least those involving chowing down on foods that I don't normally eat, aren't even an option for me any more. Those "treats" send my digestive system into a panic, which I guess is a good thing.
It did occur to me not long ago that you know you've gotten pretty boring when a second helping of home-made, long-fermented yogurt and sugar-free cooked apples constitutes a binge. Oh well, that's where I am now.1 -
When I quit smoking, I looked in vain for a book, even a guide from Marvel Comics, that would direct me to choke down a pack after church.
(There were smoking chums who would say the word at the drop of a hat, of course...)
And I don't know any serious plans for kicking the bottle that let you sip through a flask of whiskey or even mouthwash on Sunday.
Gambling? Opiates?
Tickle the tail of any sleeping addiction and pretty soon you've got a waking, hungry beast on your hands again.
Better than :
Ya, but the difference is that we literally & unequivocally _need_ to eat food. Smoking, alcohol, gambling, and drugs can all be 100% abstained from and a person can live their live.
Because food is legit necessary, it becomes a question of "what type of food" and that is what bogs people down.
The question of a cheat day is really a subjective "n=1" thing, because we can find plenty of success stories where it works quite well for people.
Unless you have food allergies, sensitivities, diabetes, alcoholism, sugar addiction, etc., in which case you might narrow the range of options a mite (assuming that's not cheating).
But yeah, you're right.
Why are we calling it "cheating" ?1 -
It doesn't have to be. I think it's a matter of what you consider a cheat day. If it's three pizza pies and stuffing with yourself even more because it's a cheat day, then it feels like total failure. Though if it's a cheat day of say planned out of plan foods and you have control over what you eat etc. I think it can be productive. I feel like if I decide I will never eat bananas or watermelon again I wouldn't be able to do this. Part of what made it possible for me to start losing weight this time around was realizing that I can create keto versions of most things I like. It's not going to smell like bread perhaps but I can still have delicious keto bread etc. I still think of food as reward if I'm honest. It matters to me to prepare nice stuff. I really think it's a matter of staying in charge of what happens. I wasn't prepared for Christmas and my will wasn't good after a couple of days and I lost charge and then it turned into a well since I'm not keto let me eat this and that too thing for a few days. It gets better as now I know how much better I feel about being on track.1
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That is the key for me. I used to work at a place that had mandatory birthday lunches (with the restaurant chosen by the birthday person), with mandatory desserts (chosen by the birthday person). They were often delayed for a variety of reasons, and we typically ended up having at least a half dozen birthday parties between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. At the time I wasn't eating low-carb, but I was watching calories. Now-a-days, with at least a third of the meals being pizza + cake, to stay in charge would mean I would need to sit through all of those meals twiddling my thumbs while everyone else ate.I really think it's a matter of staying in charge of what happens.
Not for me, if it is my choice. It is only a failure for me if the cheat day is imposed on me - i.e. I am not in charge of what happens. It's unlikely that I would choose to eat 3 pizza pies and stuff myself with more these days. But I was quite thrilled with the single pizza and half-dozen cinnamon rolls I ate in the only meal I have allowed myself to eat without paying attention to carbs in 15 months.If it's three pizza pies and stuffing with yourself even more because it's a cheat day, then it feels like total failure.
Eating carbs doesn't make me feel ill, nor does it mess with my GI system. It actually helps stifle cravings I have all the time, since grains are the only thing that quell those. It just wreaks havok on my blood glucose levels. And - in a pleasant surprise - it wasn't even that bad as to that overriding aspect of my health.
. . . . from the resident slightly resentfully low carb member of this forum.
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I have mixed results with cheat days/meals. If I still keep the carbs relatively low (no moret than 80-100 gm carbs/day) it often works for me to do occasionally. Other times it kicks off major carb cravings and hunger. The key seems to be being strict with myself about staying on plan after indulging so carb creep doesn't happen.0
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That's very good, one day in 15 months! You deserved it.
I do a lot more oftebn, but I'm kinda new at this still I guess.
Lots of carbs trouble me, though it's true that I get better at tolerating, say the first day, issues come back after a couple of days of old ways.
That is the key for me. I used to work at a place that had mandatory birthday lunches (with the restaurant chosen by the birthday person), with mandatory desserts (chosen by the birthday person). They were often delayed for a variety of reasons, and we typically ended up having at least a half dozen birthday parties between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. At the time I wasn't eating low-carb, but I was watching calories. Now-a-days, with at least a third of the meals being pizza + cake, to stay in charge would mean I would need to sit through all of those meals twiddling my thumbs while everyone else ate.I really think it's a matter of staying in charge of what happens.
Not for me, if it is my choice. It is only a failure for me if the cheat day is imposed on me - i.e. I am not in charge of what happens. It's unlikely that I would choose to eat 3 pizza pies and stuff myself with more these days. But I was quite thrilled with the single pizza and half-dozen cinnamon rolls I ate in the only meal I have allowed myself to eat without paying attention to carbs in 15 months.If it's three pizza pies and stuffing with yourself even more because it's a cheat day, then it feels like total failure.
Eating carbs doesn't make me feel ill, nor does it mess with my GI system. It actually helps stifle cravings I have all the time, since grains are the only thing that quell those. It just wreaks havok on my blood glucose levels. And - in a pleasant surprise - it wasn't even that bad as to that overriding aspect of my health.
. . . . from the resident slightly resentfully low carb member of this forum.
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I don't think "cheat day" works on keto/low carb. The whole point of reducing your carbs is to get your body to that point where you've reduced your hunger, become a better fat burner, reduced your inflammation and any other diet related issues. For many people eating carbs triggers the uncontrollable desire to eat more carbs. Why would you undo all the hard work? A cheat day can turn into a cheat month or more once the hunger comes back.
I've managed keto for 4 years by picking certain days (Xmas, birthday, other event - usually once a month) and eating without regard for calorie limits. But still keto, and still able to continue on the next day with no harm done. I'm not sure I'd call that a "cheat day" more just living life, and eating in a way that I can sustain.2
