cheat days

smw2821

So I read in an article that you can have one cheat day once a week, however what if I save all my cheat days because I'm going to take a mini vacation. Is it true that you can have a cheat day once a week, like a cheat day to eat and drink what and how much you like? Can you please explain how a cheat day works?

Seffell

You lose weight by eating less calories than you burn. To lose 1lbs of fat you need to burn 3500cal less than you eat. So you need to make 3500cal deficit.

Say you want to lose 1lbs per week. Then 3500cal divided by 7 days equals 500cals per day. So if you burn 2000cal per day as an example, then you need to eat 1500cal every day to lose 1lbs per week. If you eat more than 2000cal per day you will gain weight.

In so called cheet days people eat more food and often much above their maintanance. For example say you eat at 500 calories deficit as the above example. 6 days per week times 500cal equals 3000cal deficit. Then say you eat 1500cal above your maintanance on the cheat day. Then your total deficit for the week will be 3000 minus 1500 equals 1500cal. That is less than 0.5lbs loss per week, instead of the planned 1lbs.

If you decide to go on a holiday and eat above maintanance every day you will gain as much as the amount of calories you overeat. Say you eat 1000cals above maintanance for seven days. Then you will gain 7000cals or 2lbs during your holiday.

This is how cheat days work.

It is not true that you can take 1 cheat day per week. You see that is some arbitrary rule for people who need rules. You can take as many cheat days as you want. It depends how quickly you want to lose weight.

Editted to add: Your body burns calories just to exist. These plus your movement burns make your total burns. Your maintanance calories are your total burns for the day. If you eat as much as you burn you will maintain your weight.

Mr_Healthy_Habits

Don't think cheat days, think cheat meals...

Focus on becoming the type of person that doesn't need cheat days or meals because you have ambitions and just enjoy eating healthy instead...

Learn to love shooting, not just hitting the target.

Then, you can have all the cheat meals you want, because you will want them few and in between!

Best of luck!

Pootler74

Some studies (please don't ask me to cite them!) that have shown that varying your daily calorie goal can lead to better weight loss in that it keeps your metabolism on its toes, and it makes the diet easier for you to stick to, AND it makes weight loss more sustainable once you reach goal.

You pick a weekly calorie goal, but vary the daily calorie goal. So, say my daily goal is 1700 total calories (I don't eat my exercise calories back, so my daily goal is set higher.) That's 11,900 calories a week. I could eat:

Monday: 1400
Tuesday: 1700
Wednesday 1300
Thursday 1600
Friday 1900
Saturday 1700
Sunday 2300

You could call Sunday a cheat day. But it still fits into my calorie goal for the week.

There's also evidence that taking a one-week diet break will boost weightloss in the long run for the same reasons as above. You'd eat at maintenance that week, then go back to cutting afterwards. Doing that every few months can make your diet much easier to stick to. It's not the same as saving all your cheat days for a holiday. You can do that, but you can expect to come home a bit heavier. But that weight will probably be easy to lose again because you've had a break. :-)

Lawman7788

Ive found whatever version of a cheat day I take, it hurts in the long run. Its always harder to get back on track for me. But yet, I still think cheat days are important. I'm still trying to figure it out myself.

peggym4640

I do my best to fit in foods I like into my daily calories and still create a deficit. I like the recommendations above to look at it weekly as well as to consider how quickly you want to lose the weight. If you do take cheat days, please know it will take longer to lose the weight and can lead to the "It's not working and I want to give up" post.

Good luck.

MelanieCN77

It's just maths. Have a cheat day, but log everything and then see how you feel about it. I think adherence to a long term diet would be better served by including small amounts of the things you crave and staying in your goal, than splurging once a week and constantly having to wait out the recovery period to see what happened and things are barely settled before it's time to cheat again. Also it's not difficult to wipe out a lot of progress in one meal, never mind a day. If I hit up Popeye's for lunch and get 3 strips, a biscuit and some fries and maybe a veg side, I'm looking at nigh on 1,000 calories and we didn't even talk about the other two meals and snacks yet. That day could be a pound of progress wiped out, no problem.

Anyway, try this - if you're going to eat whatever you want, log it. Or if you want a break from the logging, you have to eat as sensibly as you know how. One or the other.

My_Butt

I think it comes more down to a lifestyle you want. If you’re craving something hardcore, have it. You coding even have to wait for a specific day if it can fit into your daily goal.
And go ahead and enjoy yourself on a vacation. Sample local food you won’t usually find in your own city instead of binging on everything, including simple prepackaged treats you can find everywhere.

It’s about a lifestyle; not a way of dieting.
Also, most people walk more during vacations when they’re doing their tourist activities. So continue stepping. Also, don’t go home and then step on the scale. You’re going to be bloated from water retention due to sodium and repairs the muscles are making during recovery from walking.
Return to healthy eating and your body will balance out within a week.

countcurt

Who exactly do you cheat on a ‘cheat day’ or with a ‘cheat meal’?


It’s horrible terminology that society (and fat people) use when they’re really talking about splurging or treating themselves. Cheaters are naughty people without a conscience. They have compromised morals and limited self-control.

countcurt

Now, to the question at hand...

It is basic math. So, if you limit caloric intake over a period of time so that you can splurge for a vacation, you will stay on your weight loss plan. That is, IF your net average caloric intake over that entire period (limited time plus splurge time) is lower than what your body requires. Some people can manage that effectively. Some not so much.


You may be better served if you figure out what your weight management goal is for your vacation and leave everything else out. There are four possible goals:
1. Stay on loss program and continue all aspects including tracking, etc.
2. Attempt to maintain- slight uptick in consumption with or without tracking, etc.
3. Eat mindfully, including enjoying foods you might otherwise avoid or severely limit with goal of small gain
4. Balls out gluttony


I generally have done #3 and it’s worked for me. Remember, even if you do #4 and gain, say, five pounds, it doesn’t take that long to lose that weight again once you return home. So, if it’s worth it to you, why not go for it. Because there are few easier ways to ruin a vacation (for you and everybody with you) than to be all pouty because you’re unhappy with the eating situation.

AnnPT77

countcurt wrote: »

Who exactly do you cheat on a ‘cheat day’ or with a ‘cheat meal’?


It’s horrible terminology that society (and fat people) use when they’re really talking about splurging or treating themselves. Cheaters are naughty people without a conscience. They have compromised morals and limited self-control.

Oh, good grief: The pointless moralism! It's just tood, not a cycle of sin snd expiation.

Eat to your goals most of the time, indulge occasionally, log it all, decide which overages are worth it, and work incrementally toward a happier, healthier life.

Math, and a little psychology, that's what's in play. . . drama completely optional (and usually dysfunctional).

OP: I say, do the math, work toward happiness as you define it.

MelanieCN77

I think it's time to surrender to "cheat" as this terminology. Words are nuanced. It serves the purpose.

bemyyfriend0918

I don't necessarily have cheat days where I go crazy and binge all day, but I do have cheat meals once a week. Usually on Saturdays, because I like to go out to eat. Next week for example, I plan on having white castle for dinner, followed by a slice of apple pie with ice cream for dessert. I will still eat a healthy breakfast and lunch with no snacks in between. What I will do is set my daily calorie limit to maintenance level, and log everything to make sure I don't overeat to the point of gaining. My maintenance level is about 2800 calories though, and i'll probably end up eating 1800 between dinner and dessert.

The reason I do this is so I am still aware of how much I am eating that day. I wouldn't want to go OVER my maintenance level because then it's just undoing some work from the day before. The hardest part about cheat days is trying not to think about that apple pie the next day...lol

countcurt

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Oh, good grief: The pointless moralism! It's just tood, not a cycle of sin snd expiation.

Which was my point. I don't like the term because it represents a concept that is unhealthy. Namely, that there is a moral judgement to be made when somebody decides to treat themselves or splurge on a snack or meal. It reinforces and perpetuates some societal notion that fat people are somehow weak and/or inferior because they enjoy a Dove Bar or Fettuccine Alfredo once in awhile. We who are overweight then develop some very negative thoughts regarding ourselves because we seem to be unable to manage a 'diet' without having to cheat on it.

Plus, most 'cheating', even though immoral, is designed to advance somebody toward their desired goal. How exactly does that work when it comes to 'cheating' on a diet?

AnnPT77

countcurt wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Oh, good grief: The pointless moralism! It's just tood, not a cycle of sin snd expiation.

Which was my point. I don't like the term because it represents a concept that is unhealthy. Namely, that there is a moral judgement to be made when somebody decides to treat themselves or splurge on a snack or meal. It reinforces and perpetuates some societal notion that fat people are somehow weak and/or inferior because they enjoy a Dove Bar or Fettuccine Alfredo once in awhile. We who are overweight then develop some very negative thoughts regarding ourselves because we seem to be unable to manage a 'diet' without having to cheat on it.

Plus, most 'cheating', even though immoral, is designed to advance somebody toward their desired goal. How exactly does that work when it comes to 'cheating' on a diet?

Exactly.

janejellyroll

countcurt wrote: »

Who exactly do you cheat on a ‘cheat day’ or with a ‘cheat meal’?


It’s horrible terminology that society (and fat people) use when they’re really talking about splurging or treating themselves. Cheaters are naughty people without a conscience. They have compromised morals and limited self-control.

Come on, it's food . . . it's not like you're breaking your marriage vows or stealing from orphans.

Edit: Never mind. I saw your other post and now understand what you meant.

MommaGem2017

Once a week I have a meal out that I don't have to worry about "how do I log this?" I eat what I want, then go back to logging after that. It's less about wanting to "cheat" or eat like crazy, but just a little freedom from all the mental math of logging.