Is a maintenance day a cheat day?
RedheadedPrincess14
Posts: 415 Member
So just a little open ended discussion here guys. If you eat at maintenance for a day instead of at deficit (assuming you're trying to lose,) do you count that as a cheat day or just a day off? For me, that is a cheat day. So the question is- what is a cheat day to you?
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Replies
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I don't do cheat days. There are days where I may eat at maintenance (birthdays, holidays), but what am I cheating on?19
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Maintenance is just not eating in a deficit... it's not 'cheating'.
I follow IIFYM so I don't have 'cheat' days, I fit whatever I want into my weekly goal7 -
It's just a maintenance day. No more no less.9
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Why the need to label it, especially in a negative way? It's a day of eating at maintenance. You're not doing anything wrong, nor are you getting away with anything.15
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It's really pretty arbitrary whether you call it a day off or a cheat day. It's still the same thing.3
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Yeah I agree with everyone pretty much. I definitely don't like thinking of cheat days in a negative way. It's just the common term used.3
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RedheadedPrincess14 wrote: »Yeah I agree with everyone pretty much. I definitely don't like thinking of cheat days in a negative way. It's just the common term used.
Yes, it is common, but negative self-talk won't help anyone meet their goals. How would you feel if someone else called you a "cheater"?
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I don't cheat - so have no cheat days
I have maintenance days/times - when I am on or close to my maintenance level - often rest days as well so then my ability to stay low is really quite limited and I have that when I am on a holiday. When I am away on business for a few days or on a holiday I try to eat as much as I can at a maintenance level. It is my deficit break and is psychologically a great thing to do for me.
I have over/treat days. Mostly around a special day (a birthday or x-mas for instance) They are few and often far between. They are scheduled to be over and as a result they are not that much over these days :-)
I log it all, Don't have a logging break. I need to learn how to eat right and that means learning to be honest with food. I know I am already, but I also know that I could slip still. No cheating for me therefore
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You can maintain yourself or you can cheat yourself. How do you feel about yourself?6
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well i can definitely see how that could be problematic for some people. I'm just using the term colloquially and I don't find it negative nor does it bring up negative self feelings in me. But you're right that we maybe shouldn't perpetuate the use of the phrase since it could be toxic language for some peopleRedheadedPrincess14 wrote: »Yeah I agree with everyone pretty much. I definitely don't like thinking of cheat days in a negative way. It's just the common term used.
Yes, it is common, but negative self-talk won't help anyone meet their goals. How would you feel if someone else called you a "cheater"?
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I don't consider it a cheat day but I know it will set me back 1 day. So be it!2
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The way I see it, is that if you eat deficit more than maintenance you'll still lose weight, just more slowly than if you eat deficit every day. So how can it be cheating. The aim is to lose weight in a way that's manageable for you. It's not a race to see how quick you can lose it. I see it a bit like a credit card balance. It's not wrong to use a credit card, but you should always pay the minimum balance and keep within the credit limit, but it's always more beneficial to pay off the balance if you can.10
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I don't think it's cheating. I think eating over maintenance is "cheating" but I wouldn't do it unless I'd compensated with lower calories on the surrounding days.
I'm planning to eat at maintenance over Easter (10-23 April) as I also have 2 family birthdays at this time, and I will hopefully have just reached a milestone of 2stone (28lb) lost, which is 20% of my overall goal. I don't see it as cheating. I see it as being flexible and allowing myself to relax a bit over the holiday and have some yummy things that I haven't had over the last couple of months.
I'm planning to do similar maintenance breaks in the future when multiple "overindulgence" events coincide and when I reach big milestones, so that I don't get diet fatigue. Birthdays and holidays will still happen once I reach my goal weight, so I should get used to allowing myself to enjoy them.2 -
RedheadedPrincess14 wrote: »So just a little open ended discussion here guys. If you eat at maintenance for a day instead of at deficit (assuming you're trying to lose,) do you count that as a cheat day or just a day off? For me, that is a cheat day. So the question is- what is a cheat day to you?
To me the words "cheat day" imply that your daily diet is probably very restrictive in type of food and possibly unsustainable log term. On your cheat day you do not plan or track your intake that day at all- possibly consume a lot of very high calorie, low nutrition foods and drinks. Sometimes it means a person has emotional baggage about food and drink and often uses words like clean, junk, unhealthy, cheat, binge, guilt, naughty in relationship to food and drink. It belongs to the world of yo yo dieting.
A maintenance day to me just means that you eat up to your maintenance level of calories that day. You might plan or not plan your intake but likely do track what you do. There is still intention and awareness in your actions. You do not necessarily consume high calorie, low nutrition foods and drinks all day. Your daily diet may not be very restrictive in type of food just quantity. You likely don't feel like you are cheating.
I feel that I have nothing to cheat from. I eat food I like every single day and fit it in my goals. Sometimes I have a maintenance day and eat a bit more.5 -
I totally agree with you @Lounmoun. I eat a healthy diet that I love and I'm already a healthy weight so it's not something I needed to ever go all out on. Sometimes I just have an extra meal or a meal out that is still healthy but probably more salty and oily than I'd make it at home.0
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Cheat day, maintenance day, Refeed day, IDGAF day, oops i had an unplanned meal out day. You could call these days a million different things.
Yes i have these days sometimes, calling them cheat days doesn't effect me mentally in any way... I tend to call them "I don't have the energy or inclination to eat in a deficit today", then i try not to go over my maintenance calories.6 -
Interesting I didn't notice the connotation and all the misleading logic under the concept of cheat meals.
Athletes have very restrictive diets according to their life goals, Imo they can have the right to call something a cheat meal with the ironic sense, that unusually eaten food is actually more a hard earned reward.2 -
For me, there is no such thing as cheat days. Some days I eat what I want at maintenance and that's it. Go back to my deficit the next day. I can't be in that mindset anymore that "I've cheated". It just doesn't work for me. I eat. I log. If I've eaten too much (rarely) I move on7
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I don't like the word "cheat." You are either overeating or you are not. You are either eating at a deficit or you are not.8
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I'm with the "I don't cheat" camp. I either eat at a deficit, or I don't.5
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I find the whole "cheating" terminology to be pretty childish. We're not playing a game or taking a test, we're just trying to live a healthy lifestyle. Some days are more successful in that than others, and that's human nature.
Today I had cheese and crackers, pasta with italian sausage, bread, wine, and dessert. Definitely over my maintainence calories. But I wasn't "cheating" on anything. It's just life. None of us are perfect.5 -
No it's not a cheat day. In fact you have to read just your mindset and eliminate that term sheet Day. By calling it a cheat day you're implying you're doing something wrong and you're not.
You can't look at this as a diet. Diets suck and they don't work. you're constantly depriving yourself of stuff that you enjoy and it said negative and if it's negative process you're not going to be able to maintain that. What you have to do is look at this as a lifestyle change. It's a matter of educating yourself as far as what you eat and how much you eat and how it's going to affect your body. For this to work it has to be enjoyable.
Touring my weight-loss Journey I went on vacation. I'd say a couple of those days I drank my calorie limit alone. I still manage to lose the weight. Also I never gave up food that I liked it was just a matter of fitting it within my calorie goal. If I had to give up the occasional Wendy's hamburger pizza or beers on the beach I wouldn't never have been able to lose the weight and maintain the weight loss. Not once during the weight loss process that I look at it as an inconvenience or something negative. As crazy as it sounds it was probably one of the easiest things I have ever done2 -
It's your day. Call it whatever you want. Your body doesn't care, and your goals are yours to decide if you want to put them on pause.3
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No such thing as a cheat day. Such a negative term to associate with food. A day where you eat at maintenance or above is exactly that. Just a small blimp on your marathon journey of weightloss. If this day involved good times with family or friends then the health that came from that is also important. In saying that you don't want these maintainance or above days to occur too often if you want to continue losing weight but every now and then is part of a healthy relationship with food.1
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RedheadedPrincess14 wrote: »So just a little open ended discussion here guys. If you eat at maintenance for a day instead of at deficit (assuming you're trying to lose,) do you count that as a cheat day or just a day off? For me, that is a cheat day. So the question is- what is a cheat day to you?
No such thing as "cheat days".
I eat at a deficit when I want to do so.
I eat at maintenance when I want to do so.
I eat over maintenance when I want to do so.
And I take diet breaks where I don't log when I want to do so.
I am in control of what's going on and I do what I think is the best choice for me.5 -
Watched some random videos yesterday and came across a channel called "mind over munchies" or something similiar and I really liked her approach.
She just simply called them "treat" meal/day which sounds less negative for a lot of people.
Personally I really dont mind how to call them but Im also having them sparingly. Next one is gonna be on easter nightshift with some pizza. And for me thats just "traditional" nightshift which I only enjoy with a certain colleague.
But I do not think calling it a "cheat" meal makes it sound negative, personally.2 -
It's neither. It's just another part of your PLAN.3
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TavistockToad wrote: »
"un-structured refeed days" are the best.1 -
I agree. The whole mentality of cheating needs to go. It is all about simply budgeting your calories and spending them as best suites you.0
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