Husband says have a cheat day once a week.....REALLY ?

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Replies

  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    I'm human, and yes I will have a cheat day once in awhile. I will eat a brownie or gasp a cheeseburger (oh my gosh the horror of it all)!!!! I am still working hard, and I will not punish myself for treating myself to a goodie now and then.

    Is it a "cheat" day because you went over your calories? Or because you ate those particular things? (I hope you only call it a cheat day for the former, not the latter).
  • Dcharold
    Dcharold Posts: 1 Member
    edited March 2017
    I've lost about 12lbs on slow carb diet which mandates a cheat day once a week where you can eat ANYTHING. You write it down when you want it during the week, deferring it to later. Usually on cheat day you can't get through half what you wrote down before you're full. It's a great diet, super easy rules. I just use My Fitness Pal to keep an eye on how it's working since one of the rules is 'measure everything'.
  • samihyvonen
    samihyvonen Posts: 2 Member
    Dcharold wrote: »
    I've lost about 12lbs on slow carb diet which mandates a cheat day once a week where you can eat ANYTHING. You write it down when you want it during the week, deferring it to later. Usually on cheat day you can't get through half what you wrote down before you're full. It's a great diet, super easy rules. I just use My Fitness Pal to keep an eye on how it's working since one of the rules is 'measure everything'.

    This. If you're on a super-low-carb diet, a cheat day full of carbs really gets the weight loss going fast. Without it, things slow down after a while.
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
    edited March 2017
    I have "cheat days". Usually a meal on a the weekend, but I try to do a bunch of cardio to offset the calories... a little. I need it for the mental break. And it also is easier for me to stick to my calories/planned meals during the week if I know I have a day to look forward to where I can indulge in some of the things I love. So for that reason, I 100% recommend a cheat day. As for any other benefit besides the mental break? Don't think there is one.

    Whatever works best for you.

    ETA: I only call it a cheat day b/c it's outside my normal routine. I don't really consider it cheating at all though.
  • samihyvonen
    samihyvonen Posts: 2 Member
    I have read that a cheat meal a week is good. It has an effect on thyroid levels.

    Read better sources. ;)

    "Conventional wisdom" isn't always right for everyone. I've read the same thing, tried it, and it works really well.
  • Ck103084
    Ck103084 Posts: 139 Member
    This thread helped, thanks! I eat strict for a month or so and then cave, horribly. (Like yesterday. It wasn't pretty. :s ) Maybe a cheat day once a week will help or even once every two weeks. :)
  • EmBee_Meister
    EmBee_Meister Posts: 5 Member
    Rocknut53 wrote: »
    When I cheat:

    kcdwo7oh7os6.jpg

    story of my life. (more like a month or 6 go by)
  • stephie59
    stephie59 Posts: 23 Member
    I have done a lot of research and talked to professionals, most of them say have a cheat day. Not eating a ton of junk food once a week but adding a treat in that you don't eat the rest of the week.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    What if someones says instead of having a cheat day once a week they say you should binge once a week. Same thing.

    Now I'm not considering a cheat day going over your normal calories by say 30-40%. I'm thinking the double +.
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    What if someones says instead of having a cheat day once a week they say you should binge once a week. Same thing.

    Now I'm not considering a cheat day going over your normal calories by say 30-40%. I'm thinking the double +.

    Who in their right mind would advise someone to binge? I think everyone has their own definition of what a cheat day means for them.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    fascha wrote: »
    I could make a spectacular disaster in one day a week, highly don't recommend doing a yolo day once a week lol

    That's where I'm at. What I think of as a "cheat day" (there is no such thing, btw. Your body counts the calories whether you do or not. They don't sneak by) generally involves a smorgasbord. One of those every week and I'd never lose. Sometimes I might have a heavy meal, or save my calories for a controlled pig-out, but ad far as the "not counting, eat whatever" scenario, I'm planning on doing one of those a month as I get closer to maintenance and see how it goes.
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  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    I have read that a cheat meal a week is good. It has an effect on thyroid levels.
    Oh yeah? I heard cheat meals cause baldness in laboratory rats.

    :worried: BAN ALL THE CHEAT MEALS! :worried:
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    edited March 2017
    brittyn3 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    What if someones says instead of having a cheat day once a week they say you should binge once a week. Same thing.

    Now I'm not considering a cheat day going over your normal calories by say 30-40%. I'm thinking the double +.

    Who in their right mind would advise someone to binge? I think everyone has their own definition of what a cheat day means for them.

    If someone defines a cheat day as eat whatever and however much one wants, isn't that the definition of a binge?

    That is why I would question the idea of a cheat day, unless the "cheat" involves just a moderate increase in calories as opposed to as much as one wants.
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
    edited March 2017
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    brittyn3 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    What if someones says instead of having a cheat day once a week they say you should binge once a week. Same thing.

    Now I'm not considering a cheat day going over your normal calories by say 30-40%. I'm thinking the double +.

    Who in their right mind would advise someone to binge? I think everyone has their own definition of what a cheat day means for them.

    If someone defines a cheat day as eat whatever and however much one wants, isn't that the definition of a binge?

    I'm not sure what you're trying to get at. I have not seen anyone on here suggest a binge. Even if you tell someone to eat however much they want - why does that assume they are going to gorge? Why couldn't it be, I wanted 2 pieces of pizza for dinner, so I had two pieces of pizza for dinner?

    You're trying to put assumptions on self defined parameters. But if that's how you think and define it - then obviously you know what you should/shouldn't do and what's best for you.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    zyxst wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    brittyn3 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    What if someones says instead of having a cheat day once a week they say you should binge once a week. Same thing.

    Now I'm not considering a cheat day going over your normal calories by say 30-40%. I'm thinking the double +.

    Who in their right mind would advise someone to binge? I think everyone has their own definition of what a cheat day means for them.

    If someone defines a cheat day as eat whatever and however much one wants, isn't that the definition of a binge?

    That is why I would question the idea of a cheat day, unless the "cheat" involves just a moderate increase in calories as opposed to as much as one wants.

    Not really.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binge_eating
    https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/binge-eating-disorder
    http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/binge-eating-disorder/home/ovc-20182926

    Good to know you feel/think I'm a binge-eater because I eat twice my calorie goal on my IDGAF days.

    I eat what I want in amounts I want.

    I don't eat until I'm physically sick from all the food.

    I don't eat all my calories in 2 hours.

    I overeat. I don't binge.

    I <3 this, because the definition of a cheat day I've set for myself sounds an awful lot like Packerjohn's binge. I just friggin love food.
  • tmoneyag99
    tmoneyag99 Posts: 480 Member
    IJNIPA wrote: »
    So he says if I have a cheat day once a week, then it will reset my metabolism. Is that really true? He also says it readjusts how your glycemic foods register inside your body. Sounds crazy to me. What do you guys think ?

    no. The onlything to "reset" your metabolism is to increase your exercise capacity, increase your muscle mass (which takes a while for a woman) or lose weight (Which reduces your metabolism)

    What a cheat day DOES do for you though (depending on your personality) is reset your psyche. If you allow yourself to have 1 meal or 1 day where you can eat (with in reason) anything that is highly caloric. Maybe something you particularly enjoy.

    This past weekend I had 2 slices of pizza. The only 2 I have had since October. My logic was "It's been so long" Now I know I must get back on track. It's not an excuse to snowball. BUT I don't feel deprived either. While *I* personally can't do a cheat day or meal once a week, once ever few months helps me not sit and think about all of the foods I'm missing. I just had the pizza so I don't get to say "How long" it's been since I have had crap food. It's been exactly 1 day since I had crap food. So no justification allowed now.
  • caroldavison332
    caroldavison332 Posts: 864 Member
    I wouldn't say anything to hubby, but would assure him that you still love him, that he's important and you will occasionally still make or supply his favorite ?lasagna? just like you used to. Then I would eat half as much "lasagna" as I used to to stay in my guidelines.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    The thing about serious calorie deficits of 20% cuts, which is a commonly used goal for losing about 1% of your body weight each week, is that for many people that amounts to a deficit that is more than 500 kcal below their starting Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, NEAT. That number, -500 kcal daily, has been proven to, over the course of 8 weeks, cause a person's NEAT to fall about 10% below the level it should be for their current weight.

    That same experiment demonstrated that one week of eating at maintenance caused the NEAT to recover its normal value for the new lower weight. Of course, this value of NEAT is going to be lower than the initial value of NEAT because 30,000 kcal have been avoided. That's close to 9 pounds lost.

    The problem is, we humans tend to go nuts and want to exercise too hard because we can, then not eat back exercise calories because we can, until we can't. Then we lose control and binge.

    Rather than chase that dragon, I prefer now to have no more than a monthly high calorie day, and I prefer to eat back enough exercise calories to keep my daily deficit no lower than 500.

    The wrong idea of scheduling a weekly I DON"T CARE day is that you yo-yo around the same 5 pound range, wasting your effort. You can, if you do care, schedule a big fun food date weekly and mindfully keep weekly calorie deficit intact at -3500 or -7000 per week. The more obese you are, the more easily you can manage a -7000 kcal weekly deficit.
  • dangerousmezzo
    dangerousmezzo Posts: 30 Member
    I believe we all have to tailor our WOE to us and our circumstances/psychology/history with food. It's impossible to dictate to another adult human being how to do this. You're in this for the long term -- you need to find a system that works for you for the rest of your life -- and it may take some time. You need to experiment. You can't give up. I believe a WOE has to be intentional and conscious. It it slides towards unconscious, you need to refocus on taking care of yourself.

    I personally think "cheat day" is a lousy name for giving yourself psychological space to eat whatever you want in a certain span of time -- because for me thinking of some food as forbidden has always backfired. When I approach my WOE from the point of view of giving myself delicious food that fuels my body and makes me feel really good, I overeat less. If I tell myself I can have that donut, only not right now (and then follow that up at a designated time by having that donut) all works well. I don't have five donuts, I don't feel deprived and I track everything.
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
    The thing about serious calorie deficits of 20% cuts, which is a commonly used goal for losing about 1% of your body weight each week, is that for many people that amounts to a deficit that is more than 500 kcal below their starting Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, NEAT. That number, -500 kcal daily, has been proven to, over the course of 8 weeks, cause a person's NEAT to fall about 10% below the level it should be for their current weight.

    That same experiment demonstrated that one week of eating at maintenance caused the NEAT to recover its normal value for the new lower weight. Of course, this value of NEAT is going to be lower than the initial value of NEAT because 30,000 kcal have been avoided. That's close to 9 pounds lost.

    The problem is, we humans tend to go nuts and want to exercise too hard because we can, then not eat back exercise calories because we can, until we can't. Then we lose control and binge.

    Rather than chase that dragon, I prefer now to have no more than a monthly high calorie day, and I prefer to eat back enough exercise calories to keep my daily deficit no lower than 500.

    The wrong idea of scheduling a weekly I DON"T CARE day is that you yo-yo around the same 5 pound range, wasting your effort. You can, if you do care, schedule a big fun food date weekly and mindfully keep weekly calorie deficit intact at -3500 or -7000 per week. The more obese you are, the more easily you can manage a -7000 kcal weekly deficit
    .

    Again, I'm missing where anyone suggested the free for all, food shoving in face escaped. I don't understand where the controversy is in this post.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Careful with those cheat days. You could wipe out the entire week's deficit in one sitting. :o
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    Heh. If I had a cheat day weekly, I would never lose weight.

    I include my favourite foods daily within my calorie goal.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    I have read that a cheat meal a week is good. It has an effect on thyroid levels.

    Not according to the endocrinologists I've worked with. How would a cheat meal do that, exactly?
  • BedsideTableKangaroo
    BedsideTableKangaroo Posts: 736 Member

    i have a button on my bedside table that i press every sunday night to reset my metabolism.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    edited March 2017
    I subscribe to the "everything in moderation" philosophy. I don't cheat because I haven't cut anything out. Worked for my weight-loss and works in maintenance too, for me. There are so many negative psychological connotations with "cheating" that it can affect how we see the food we eat in an emotional way that just doesn't need to be there.

    If I want it, I figure out how to make it fit or modify the recipe so it works for me.

    Your hubby's obviously reacting to something with his prayer. Talk to him about what his concerns are, if you haven't already.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    i have a button on my bedside table that i press every sunday night to reset my metabolism.

    Does it also reset it according to daylight savings time so your evening calories don't turn directly to fat when your sleep pattern changes?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited March 2017
    I have an i dont care day every couple of weeks or so. Sometimes i eat up to my maintenance calories, others i might go 600-700 calories over. I'm stuffed and happy by the end of the day. Other than an increase on the scale of water weight over the next day or two, doing this has not affected my weight loss at all.

    ETA: I was over by 600 and something calories on Saturday, this morning (Tuesday) i had a 1.5lb drop on the scales.