What does "cheat day" means (in your own term)

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  • billglitch
    billglitch Posts: 538 Member
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    I dont do cheat "days" but i sometimes have cheat snacks...but not the whole day. It means that i have more carbs than i normally would or have a piece of candy or a sip of coke
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    The very rare day when I don't count calories and just estimate and enter '3000 calories' or whatever (I don't typically go over that).

    I still exercise whenever possible though.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    My definition: if I go to bed without being in physical pain from being excessively stuffed, it was not a cheat day. The 5600 or so kcals on Christmas was an example of a decent cheat day. Could have done better, but I didn't have enough free time to just cruise eat through the day. I am planning to one day take on the 10,000 kcal challenge, but I suspect that will be a few years down the road.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I quote me, "Be patient. Be persistent. Be honest. If you can't do those, you can't lose weight."

    Cheating on your diet fits in there, in the 4th sentence.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    I have done all of the listed options at some point and and don't consider any of them to be a deviation from my plan (if that's how you would define a cheat). The exception may be to have an unplanned all out calories day without tracking them or taking some measure to compensate, which is rare. A planned all out day is still not a cheat to me because I will have accounted for it somehow.
  • 3rdof7sisters
    3rdof7sisters Posts: 486 Member
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    To me it means a day going over my calorie limit for losing weight that will extend time on to getting to my goal weight. At this point, I try not to have cheat days, but life happens, so I move forward the next day and do better.
  • readytobeatfat54
    readytobeatfat54 Posts: 91 Member
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    enterdanger wrote: »
    cheat days. I don't log on MFP. I eats what I want. Yesterday was a cheat day. I had a cupcake at every meal, pizza, and numerous reeses eggs.

    You made my day. I don't plan cheat days, I just let them happen organically, which is generally one every 10 days. But I LOVE cupcakes, and will be getting one for my next cheat day. Thanks for the spark. :smile:

    My cheat day is just like enterdanger's. I don't track on MFP that day, except maybe breakfast since again I don't typically plan a cheat day, instead it happens organically. What I do find difficult is making sure that my cheat day lasts only on that day, as during a busy period in life (say, on vacation), it is all too easy to make every day a cheat day.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    It'll be just a cheat meal or treat for me, I have felt the urge to but haven't actually gone completely off the rails at all. I'll work out a regular amount and eat normally until the cheat/treat, like maybe I'll have steak and fries for dinner out, and just log it and carry on.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    stop viewing foods as cheats, bad, good, evil, etc.

    Eat the foods that you like and just make sure that you meet your calorie, micro, and macro goals...

  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,449 Member
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    To me cheat day means unhealthy view of eating habits. Going over is ok occasionally but guilt tripping myself over it is not. I am trying to change lifestyle not short term so no cheat concept. This is my life I can't cheat me.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    I wouldn't really define it as cheating since I don't really have any rules, but if I had to choose it would be a day where I have no care for my goals. If I am bulking, it could mean coming way under my cal goals (too many healthy salads haha), doing too much cardio, or skipping a lifting session because I'm lazy. Or if I am cutting it could be going way over in my calories and not even coming close to having enough protein or nutrients. But in the end I know it will all balance out so I'm good :)

    I was trying to figure out how to word my thoughts on this, but @sardelsa pretty much summed it up for me, too. Not a "cheat" day - more like a, "whatever" day.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    emyjuita6 wrote: »
    @DamieBird : what does TDEE means ?

    TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure...these are the calories that would be required to maintain. When you eat below what is necessary to maintain, you burn stored energy (body fat) to make up for the deficiency in energy. TDEE includes your BMR as well as your daily activities as well as exercise activities.
  • DavidRocketts
    DavidRocketts Posts: 80 Member
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    I don't like the term 'cheat'. If I am making progress I will have an occasional 'reward' day, when I don't log, and eat/drink whatever I want, fast food or otherwise... Have lost 21lbs since mid-December so it works for me. Maximum one such day per week...
  • Emily3907
    Emily3907 Posts: 1,461 Member
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    Cheat day for me = giving up

    Seriously though, I have tried the cheat day thing and *for me* it always seems to derail things for at least a week (or longer), in that I turn a cheat day into a cheat week. As soon as I give myself permission to go off plan, I always end up in disaster.

    So, now I plan accordingly, eat what I can budget for and bank calories (or exercise more) for special occasions. I am a believer in not restricting certain foods and eating what I enjoy, so if I am craving something, I just eat it, log it and move on.
  • chaosbutterfly
    chaosbutterfly Posts: 71 Member
    edited April 2017
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    I eat whatever tickles my fancy, whenever I feel like it.
    Chocolate cake at 10 am? Sure.
    I also don't log any of it.

    If I feel like being active and working out, then I will, but if I don't feel like it, then I just won't.

    The good thing is that I usually can't have many off program days (I try to avoid calling them cheats) in a row, or else I start to feel pretty bad, physically. Like I feel bloated, sluggish, uncomfortable...just bleh. Like if I decide to go off program for a weekend, by Monday, I'm usually eager to jump back onto the wagon, just so I can feel good in my body again.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
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    emyjuita6 wrote: »
    Which are your best definition of "cheat day"
    i) no exercise but still under calorie consumption
    ii) exercise but more then calorie consumption
    iii) allowing yourself to eatfast food, fake sugar, soda drink but under calorie consumption
    iv) no exercise, no calorie control, fast food, fake sugar and soda drink allowed

    Please do share and comment , tq
    ❤

    A cheat day to me, would be a day where I intentionally did not follow my normal eating plan to lose weight. I don't do cheat days.
  • DamieBird
    DamieBird Posts: 651 Member
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    I've seen a lot of people on here saying that they don't log their cheat meals/days. I'm curious as to why that is. Even when I go way over my daily target, I log it so that I can get a general sense of where I am that week/month. I'm not bothered by the number, I just like the data.
    What's the purpose of deliberately not logging?
  • cdkelly
    cdkelly Posts: 101 Member
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    For me it means eating something I'm craving that doesn't necessarily meet my goals for macros and that I wouldn't eat on a normal day. I still try and keep my calories within my target and I still exercise. I don't identify it as a cheat day or anything...I just let myself indulge in the odd "bad" craving. Like I had onion rings the other day. I didn't treat the whole day as a cheat day and go nuts and ruin all my hard work for the week. I just got the onion rings I was craving and ate healthy the rest of the day and still worked out. I don't consider myself on a diet though and needing cheat days. I just make healthy choices 95% of the time and really enjoy those treats 5% of the time. Or whatever the number is. I don't know...it's not planned.
  • DietPrada
    DietPrada Posts: 1,171 Member
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    I'm low carb, so I don't have "cheat days" as this would undo all of my hard work. Eating carbs would throw me out of ketosis, and I'd have to go through a couple of days of adjustment to get back to where I was. Not worth it. I do, however, occasionally eat more calories than my target while still staying low carb.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,865 Member
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    DamieBird wrote: »
    I've seen a lot of people on here saying that they don't log their cheat meals/days. I'm curious as to why that is. Even when I go way over my daily target, I log it so that I can get a general sense of where I am that week/month. I'm not bothered by the number, I just like the data.
    What's the purpose of deliberately not logging?

    I don't log during my diet breaks because I can't be bothered and really don't care.

    Usually my diet breaks occur when I'm on holiday or when I'm doing really long bicycle rides. Logging would mean trying to figure out what it was I ate at that rest stop 240 km into a 300 km randonnee ... or trying to find an entry for that meal in the little restaurant in the small town in the middle of nowhere.

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