Cheat days! Are they really worth it?
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quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »I wouldn't count a burger and fries as a cheat. I work it into my weekly calorie allowance and enjoy it. My scale will be a little higher the next day due to the sodium, but that's it.
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
Yes, the sodium is what scares me the most. I'll take the day off the scale tomorrow, and try not to stress it too much.
Why would sodium scare you? It's an essential nutrient.
Did you read the article I linked?
Sodium causes water weight. Water weight isn't fat gain. Nothing to be scared of.
But if staying off the scale helps you, go for it!
Yes, I just finished reading the article Thanks for linking it, it makes a lot of sense, and explains a lot of what I have been going through with my weight loss journey. I really despise the bloating feeling that I get from consuming a lot of sodium. Bloating sucks. 
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I think cheating can reset your metabolism when it starts getting too low. I try not to do it more than every 10 - 14 days. I do not practice "cheat days". I practice "earn meals". First, make it a meal that you want (including dessert if you must!), not an entire day. Next. Make sure you have earned it by doing well with diet and fitness prior. If you don't deserve it, you don't get it. It is much easier to work off a meal than an entire day of bad eating. Someone on one of my challenges had a great philosophy today regarding social events or traveling. She said "eat as healthily as possible and treat with portion control in mind." simple but brilliant for those social occasion & traveling days when restaurants are involved or food cannot always be chosen in advance. If I have treats with portion control in mind, I can have that cake & icecream, just not seconds! Best of luck to you.5
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There is some belief that a cheat day/meal revs up your body to burn the extra calories, so that the next day at the usual weight loss calorie range your body furnace is still expecting higher calories and burning hotter. I think that eventually eating say 1400 calories per day consistently might lead to a plateau as the body gets used to only getting that much and you won't lose weight. It would be terrible to have to keep lowering daily intake in order to lose weight! Spiking it once in awhile might speed it up. Some of this theory makes sense.
I don't personally include cheat days/meals because I eat everything that I want but track the calories and try to keep the portions within my daily range - which might mean cutting back on something else that day in order to do so. If I know that I have a planned meal out at a restaurant it takes quite a bit of adjustment, so I don't eat out too often anymore so that I don't have to be hungry all day in order to do so. (Really, how can a home cooked meal have so many less calories than the same meal in a restaurant??)3 -
dawnbgethealthy wrote: »There is some belief that a cheat day/meal revs up your body to burn the extra calories, so that the next day at the usual weight loss calorie range your body furnace is still expecting higher calories and burning hotter.
I love this!! Thank you for your insight.
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dawnbgethealthy wrote: »There is some belief that a cheat day/meal revs up your body to burn the extra calories, so that the next day at the usual weight loss calorie range your body furnace is still expecting higher calories and burning hotter.
I love this!! Thank you for your insight.
Unfortunately it isn't true.5 -
one day of burger and fries is not going to wreck your progress. I regularly eat a moderate portion of steak fries and a small cheese burger from Five Guys (like maybe once a month w/ the family) and it has no affect on my weight loss at all.1
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TavistockToad wrote: »dawnbgethealthy wrote: »There is some belief that a cheat day/meal revs up your body to burn the extra calories, so that the next day at the usual weight loss calorie range your body furnace is still expecting higher calories and burning hotter.
I love this!! Thank you for your insight.
Unfortunately it isn't true.
The 10k calorie challenge women report that her calorie burn when up after consuming the 10k as well as her body temperature etc she still had 1lb of fat hanging around a few weeks later but her calorie burn did increase due to the extra food in her system2 -
TavistockToad wrote: »dawnbgethealthy wrote: »There is some belief that a cheat day/meal revs up your body to burn the extra calories, so that the next day at the usual weight loss calorie range your body furnace is still expecting higher calories and burning hotter.
I love this!! Thank you for your insight.
Unfortunately it isn't true.
The 10k calorie challenge women report that her calorie burn when up after consuming the 10k as well as her body temperature etc she still had 1lb of fat hanging around a few weeks later but her calorie burn did increase due to the extra food in her system
There's a difference between a cheat meal and a 10k calorie eating challenge, no?3 -
The connotation of "cheat" is that you're doing something sneaky or are out of control. If you plan a splurge every once in awhile, then get back to it, then it's just part of your plan. I've actually planned in advance for splurges by cutting back other days of the week...maybe not having the dessert that fits into my macros, so I can use those calories on the splurge day, or getting up a little earlier and running a few extra miles to bank some extra calories. Those things combined can actually earn you 1000 calories or more to spend. My rule is that I can have whatever I want as long as a log it which can make me think twice about mindless nibbling. Instead I make conscious choices to enjoy things I don't normally have. Sometimes logging those things makes me realize they aren't really as "bad" as I thought, and I may be able to have some of them more often, and that other things "cost" way more than they're worth, so I make different choices next time. I've had days where I've gone over by more than a day's worth of calories, but I just log it and move on to meet or beat my goal the next day and the next. As long as you own your choices on your journey and are honest with yourself, you'll keep on moving toward your goals in whatever way works for you.1
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TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »dawnbgethealthy wrote: »There is some belief that a cheat day/meal revs up your body to burn the extra calories, so that the next day at the usual weight loss calorie range your body furnace is still expecting higher calories and burning hotter.
I love this!! Thank you for your insight.
Unfortunately it isn't true.
The 10k calorie challenge women report that her calorie burn when up after consuming the 10k as well as her body temperature etc she still had 1lb of fat hanging around a few weeks later but her calorie burn did increase due to the extra food in her system
There's a difference between a cheat meal and a 10k calorie eating challenge, no?
Yes obviously but someone asks about the boots to metabolism due to increased food which is true but may not be enough to negative the extra calories consumed2 -
I havent read all the posts so maybe someone has already said this, but a "refeed" day or days is so so important. It's not "cheating" you can still track it. One day at maintenance every couple of weeks (or more often, depends) is just a lifesaver. For me anyway.
I usually will eat "normal" diet the whole day then splurge on a nice gigantic dinner of whatever. I don't care so much about the macros as long as protein is hit, but enjoy whatever nice juicy burger and chips or whatever that i want.
makes me feel full and happy and ready to get back onto poverty macros the day after.3 -
Before joining myfitnesspal, I didn't even know what a "cheat day" was. I had one every week. I was maintaining at about 272 lb. Days of higher than usual calorie intake aren't bad. They're just days. If you want to lose weight you have to decide if the pause in your plan imposed by a high calorie day is within your set of goals.2
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Wanted to add since I don't think anyone has said this, that a little bit of extra exercise can go a long way. Not everyone wants to handle it this way, and that's okay, but what I like to do is go out for a good long run and earn some extra calories and then eat fries.
It's very easy to eat more fast food than you could possibly earn through any amount of exercise, so you can't completely go hog wild, but an hourlong 10k run (usually about 600 - 800 calories for me) will let you eat a hamburger (not the 1350 calorie giant triple baconator, but a normal sized hamburger) and some fries (not the 1310 calorie large fries at Five Guys, but a reasonable portion of fries.)2 -
Cahgetsfit wrote: »I havent read all the posts so maybe someone has already said this, but a "refeed" day or days is so so important. It's not "cheating" you can still track it. One day at maintenance every couple of weeks (or more often, depends) is just a lifesaver. For me anyway.
I usually will eat "normal" diet the whole day then splurge on a nice gigantic dinner of whatever. I don't care so much about the macros as long as protein is hit, but enjoy whatever nice juicy burger and chips or whatever that i want.
makes me feel full and happy and ready to get back onto poverty macros the day after.
I have heard this term a few times, but honestly never knew what it meant. So is it basically just eating at maintenance for a day?0 -
I say it is "worth it", so long as you don't overdo it or do it too frequently. You can't expect to never have junk food again for the rest of your life. I think it's okay to allow yourself a little freedom.
Personally, I don't devote a single day to cheating. If I want something unhealthy, I'll have it, I'll just make sure I still stay within my calorie limit for the day. If it would put me over my calorie limit, then I'll either wait to eat it the next day, or I'll make sure I have less calories than usual the next day.2 -
As long as you are eating within your weekly calorie goal, you can eat whatever you want in whatever quantities you want and still lose weight at the expected pace. That means you can save up calories for a bigger meal, and still lose weight as long as you're within your calories for the week. It also means you can have dessert every day as long as it fits your into your calories, and still lose weight.
If you go over your weekly calorie goal, you will lose more slowly, gain, or maintain, depending on the amount you exceeded your calorie goal.
Only you can decide whether you think that is worth it.0 -
Thanks everyone. Definitely some great advice. Spoiler alert, my cheat lunch was not worth it. I'm trying to drop the pounds, but I also want to feel good, and I was sluggish for a good portion of my day. Having said that, having a cheat day/meal was a good reminder that sometimes these "bad" foods don't give me the energy that I require to get through my day. I think I will stick to "healthier" splurges for the next little while.3
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Thanks everyone. Definitely some great advice. Spoiler alert, my cheat lunch was not worth it. I'm trying to drop the pounds, but I also want to feel good, and I was sluggish for a good portion of my day. Having said that, having a cheat day/meal was a good reminder that sometimes these "bad" foods don't give me the energy that I require to get through my day. I think I will stick to "healthier" splurges for the next little while.
I remember doing something similar with chocolate cake - made my skin break out, felt cruddy, didn't taste as good as I expected. Next time you will know this didn't do it for you and hopefully can find something that satisfies!1 -
TavistockToad wrote: »dawnbgethealthy wrote: »There is some belief that a cheat day/meal revs up your body to burn the extra calories, so that the next day at the usual weight loss calorie range your body furnace is still expecting higher calories and burning hotter.
I love this!! Thank you for your insight.
Unfortunately it isn't true.
The 10k calorie challenge women report that her calorie burn when up after consuming the 10k as well as her body temperature etc she still had 1lb of fat hanging around a few weeks later but her calorie burn did increase due to the extra food in her system
You Tube Challengers are definitely the scientifically reliable source we’ve all been looking for...4 -
I powered steak frittes, a hazelnut mocha and Chinese takeout (dumplings, sweet and sour chicken Sam's rice and chicken Lo mein) into last Saturday. I exceeded maintenance cals by a little bit, but overall kept an ongoing deficit. I'm still down in weight this week, though Sunday/Monday was up a few lbs, due to food volume and sodium I am sure.
It's not cheating, it's eating.2
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