Cheat day??

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xxfjs77xx
xxfjs77xx Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
I am fairly new to the MFP community and I was wondering what are your thoughts on the whole idea of a cheat day once a week? Feel free to add me as well as I am looking for motivation and inspiration too! :)

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  • Traveezy
    Traveezy Posts: 57 Member
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    i think "cheat days" make no sense. last night I went out to dinner and went over on my calories for the day. it felt like I had just **** on all my hard work for the week. I guess it was just a weak moment for me but I don't plan on using "cheat days". seems to defy the purpose of dieting. no reason to work hard all week and then go and mess it up on one sloppy night and then start over the next week. "cheat days" seem like a made up excuse for people to use when they have weak moments and mess up on their diets.
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
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    Cheat days can be a great boon. If you are able to keep to goal the rest of the week, then one day will NOT ruin an entire week's worth of progress. Those who think that are misled and misinformed on how the body works. I have my cheat day every game night, as it's just more fun to kill goblins and fight dragons (D&D) when there's cookies and cheetos on the table.

    That said, if you have problems with keeping it at one day, then take time to develop habits before you implement a cheat day. Some people genuinely have difficulties getting back on track the next day and that CAN wind up undoing a week's worth of work.
  • watfordjc
    watfordjc Posts: 304 Member
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    I've had a few days where I've eaten at a 1,000 calorie surplus and a few weeks ago I had a day with a 2,000 calorie surplus. "Cheat days" might help, they might not. I generally fit everything in I want to eat so I don't need planned cheat days, although I have usually had an unplanned "maintenance/surplus day" approximately once a month since I started (usually due to visiting family).

    Having said that, that 2,000 calorie surplus (and a smaller surplus a few days before it) were not cheat days, they were binges. After analysis I decided to start lifting regularly again, drop my deficit to 1 lb/week, start calorie cycling, and after 4 weeks decide whether I still need those surplus and maintenance days each week (I expect as my recovery rate improves I'll be able to increase my deficit again).

    If you log everything, you can implement a change and later look back and see if it is working for you. You can also look back and spot patterns and theorise a way of fixing anything that looks wrong or working around it... yesterday was leg day with a planned surplus of 300 kcal (3,399 calories consumed) and today is chest day with planned maintenance calories - those 3 days last week I consumed 3,000+ calories on weight training days seems to have got rid of the wild swings in deficit/surplus I was having (although I still appear to be fuelling my running with Snickers bars, but at least they aren't causing surpluses any more).

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