Thoughts on monthly cheat days?

crossrunner1497
crossrunner1497 Posts: 19 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So if you have read any of my previous posts, you know I have an enormous appetite and sometimes have issues controlling my food intake.
I was wondering if anyone has had success with monthly cheat days. I tried much smaller weekly cheat days or just a cheat meal, but it is not enough to satisfy my cravings. If I maintained a slightly larger calorie deficit over the span of three to four weeks, I would have an extra 5000-7000kcal for one large cheat day while still meeting the caloric goals for a 1lb a week loss.
The calculation makes sense, but my question is, has it worked for anyone to do it this way?

Replies

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    I have done this:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10735146/the-six-day-calorie-deficit-aka-banking-calories/p1

    You have to keep your banked calories reasonable so that you do not create such a drain on your energy that it creates a physical demand for a binge-like overfeed.

    I would strongly encourage you not to see it as a cheat but as a treat.

    Also while I believe in compromising with my cravings you need to understand that they are optional. You do not want to live feeling overly deprived but you do not want cravings to rule over you either. The habit to over-prioritize cravings is an easy one to develop but they are just thoughts. They should be controllable just like your non food related cravings.
  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member
    I don't like the language "cheat" - who are you cheating exactly?

    Instead I have the occasional treat days where I do not count calories at all and have pretty much whatever it is I have been fancying - which is quite often some bread, cheese and some chocolate - so food I cannot trust myself with normally.

    I don't bank calories so this slows my weight loss for a good few days so I limit it to no more than once a month, but they are planned. I also make sure that all the treat food that entered the house is either consumed or binned and the next day I just carry on calorie counting as normal.

    For me, losing weight is not a race so as long as I am staying on the path and the trajectory continues down, I am happy. Very happy in fact.

    But on the topic of a huge appetite - at 20 stone I consumed one heck of a lot of food but as I have shrunk over the last year I have automatically found I am happier with smaller portions than I used to eat. I have not forced this on myself, it has just happened.
  • MeganD1704
    MeganD1704 Posts: 733 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    I have done this:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10735146/the-six-day-calorie-deficit-aka-banking-calories/p1

    I just want to say thank you for that thread- I often view this journey as incredibly restrictive (my maintenance is 1600 ish calories, thanks height and BMR) and it helped me change my view this afternoon in a refreshing way :)
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    I have one meal a week that I eat what I want. Normally on the weekend. I call it a re-fead, not a cheat meal.
  • crossrunner1497
    crossrunner1497 Posts: 19 Member
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    I have one meal a week that I eat what I want. Normally on the weekend. I call it a re-fead, not a cheat meal.

    I have tried the weekly cheat day or refeed day before, but it just does not satisfy my cravings. I only use the term cheat day to refer to the fact that I will be eating unhealthy options. Basically anything I crave. A refeed, to me anyhow, is a day where I would eat more but still choose healthy options. It is a l out more controlled.
    I just want to have a day to look forward to that I can just let loose my cravings, as they just keep growing and growing over the weeks. I don’t want to ruin all of the progress I have made though. Slowing it down a little is okay with me, as long as I am still going forward. I hope that makes sense.
  • RockingWithLJ
    RockingWithLJ Posts: 243 Member
    Is there really such a thing as banking calories? I say indulged and let it be. Once a month won't hurt and if it makes you happy and satisfied then go for it. Don't worry about logging the calories for that day if you really don't want to think about it
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,600 Member
    RockingWithLJ wrote: »
    Is there really such a thing as banking calories? I say indulged and let it be. Once a month won't hurt and if it makes you happy and satisfied then go for it. Don't worry about logging the calories for that day if you really don't want to think about it

    Different things work for different people, but I do think there is such a thing as banking calories.

    Weight loss is a little different**, but in maintenance, calories in and out need to balance pretty closely on average, or body weight won't stabilize. I like to have an indulgent day or meal now and then, so I do eat a little under maintenance calories most days, in order to balance out some bigger days.

    OP, like others, I've found it effective to keep the banking relatively minor, in the 150-250 (max) daily calorie range. If I don't, my control over the process tends to decrease. I'm sure this will differ for different people, so perhaps you could experiment, if you're very certain it won't derail you completely, either by causing fatigue, setting up unplanned binges or something else. If you're concerned about derailing, maybe try gradually working your way toward the monthly indulgence, starting with biweekly but more indulgent than your weekly bigger meals, then increasing the interval and the high-calorie meal size if that goes well.

    I'm hearing hints in your post that you may be denying yourself certain foods most of the time. I'm not certain whether that's because they're inherently high calorie and/or hard for you to moderate, or because you think they're somehow not a worthy part of healthy eating. If that latter, I'd encourage you to think about which of them you'd be capable of moderating, and instead consider including reasonable portions of those in your eating more often, within the bounds of decent overall nutrition most days. Sometimes, keeping both calories and food choices battened down and bottled up creates more pent-up desire than necessary, if there's a workable alternative. Personally, I want to balance enjoyment and healthy eating (calories, nutrition) on a day to day basis, as much as possible. I eat small treats quite routinely (chocolate, rich cheese, craft beer, etc.), but keep a mind to calories & nutritional minimums as I do so.

    Early on, I found it helpful to log my higher-calorie days (even if I had to estimate), just to get an idea of what was going on, in an overall calorie sense. Now (almost at 5 years at a healthy weight), I'm not as rigid about logging the high days. If they're not too difficult to log, or I'm extra curious, I'll log them. If it would be a wild estimate or very time consuming, now I sometimes don't. I've figured out from experience that my personal *really big* days usually top out somewhere between 5-6000 calories, so I'm not as concerned about estimating the data every time. (I'm not saying all my over-maintenance days are that much, BTW - just that the top end for me is usually somewhere in that zone. I'd note that I'm smaller and older than you, if I remember your demographics correctly. I'm 5'5", about 128lbs right now, age 64.)

    Like Novus and others, I prefer to think of this as figuring out my own workable plan, for overall balance. Personally, I don't feel helped by concepts like "cheat", "treat", "cravings", "giving in", etc. I want to think of myself as in control of the process, able to make a plan for good balance in my eating, including my personal preference for some high-calorie meals or day now and then, but also daily enjoyment of my eating, routine good nutrition, and average calorie levels that keep my bodyweight and other health markers where I want them, as well as maintaining the energy level I want for both daily life and exercise. I freely admit that I don't exercise perfect control every single time, in the face of fatigue, temptation, or whatever. But I want to assume that I have control, that I'm a free agent with choices (not a victim of external or uncontrollable forces), and that if things go awry I can make more effective plans that help me achieve my goals consistently.

    I get why you're asking about others' experience, and it makes sense, but ultimately I think there are things we need to sort out for ourselves, by experimenting.

    Best wishes!

    ** I looked at the weight loss process as maintenance practice: A time to figure out how to eat to be happy, and also maintain a healthy weight, long term. The weight loss (calorie deficit) creates a bit of a cushion during that period, so the calorie "cost of" of failed experiments is more easily absorbed.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    crossrunner1497 wrote: »
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    I have one meal a week that I eat what I want. Normally on the weekend. I call it a re-fead, not a cheat meal.

    I have tried the weekly cheat day or refeed day before, but it just does not satisfy my cravings. I only use the term cheat day to refer to the fact that I will be eating unhealthy options. Basically anything I crave. A refeed, to me anyhow, is a day where I would eat more but still choose healthy options. It is a l out more controlled.
    I just want to have a day to look forward to that I can just let loose my cravings, as they just keep growing and growing over the weeks. I don’t want to ruin all of the progress I have made though. Slowing it down a little is okay with me, as long as I am still going forward. I hope that makes sense.

    Have you thought about an approach where you include some of the things you crave in your daily meal planning?

    I'll give some examples from my life, although the foods you crave may be different than mine.

    I love chips and salsa. I found out that I can have an ounce of tortilla chips for about 140 calories and the salsa is only a few more. If I include this with a meal (instead of trying to make the chips and salsa a filling meal like I would have in the past), this is a food I can have regularly.

    Dark chocolate with sea salt is another favorite. Half of one of my favorite bars is about 180 calories, which easily fits into my snack allowance on a weekend day when I'm more active.

    Potatoes are a favorite of mine, so when I make roasted green vegetables, I'll throw in 1-2 small potatoes (about 100-150 calories, depending on the exact weight). It's a little treat for myself, combined with a lot of lower calorie vegetables to help fill me up.

    Personally, as someone with a larger appetite, I found I pretty much had to say goodbye to the concept of eating the higher calorie foods I crave in the quantities that make me feel really full. I could easily eat 1,000+ calories of french fries or 3-4 slices of cake. But I figured out that I can create meals that include the foods I crave along with other foods that have fewer calories and help fill me up -- and as a result I walk away from my meals feeling happy and satisfied.

    I'm not saying this approach will work for everyone, but if you're a person with strong food cravings who also likes to eat a lot of food, I think it is worth trying.
  • crossrunner1497
    crossrunner1497 Posts: 19 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    crossrunner1497 wrote: »
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    I have one meal a week that I eat what I want. Normally on the weekend. I call it a re-fead, not a cheat meal.

    I have tried the weekly cheat day or refeed day before, but it just does not satisfy my cravings. I only use the term cheat day to refer to the fact that I will be eating unhealthy options. Basically anything I crave. A refeed, to me anyhow, is a day where I would eat more but still choose healthy options. It is a l out more controlled.
    I just want to have a day to look forward to that I can just let loose my cravings, as they just keep growing and growing over the weeks. I don’t want to ruin all of the progress I have made though. Slowing it down a little is okay with me, as long as I am still going forward. I hope that makes sense.

    Have you thought about an approach where you include some of the things you crave in your daily meal planning?

    I'll give some examples from my life, although the foods you crave may be different than mine.

    I love chips and salsa. I found out that I can have an ounce of tortilla chips for about 140 calories and the salsa is only a few more. If I include this with a meal (instead of trying to make the chips and salsa a filling meal like I would have in the past), this is a food I can have regularly.

    Dark chocolate with sea salt is another favorite. Half of one of my favorite bars is about 180 calories, which easily fits into my snack allowance on a weekend day when I'm more active.

    Potatoes are a favorite of mine, so when I make roasted green vegetables, I'll throw in 1-2 small potatoes (about 100-150 calories, depending on the exact weight). It's a little treat for myself, combined with a lot of lower calorie vegetables to help fill me up.

    Personally, as someone with a larger appetite, I found I pretty much had to say goodbye to the concept of eating the higher calorie foods I crave in the quantities that make me feel really full. I could easily eat 1,000+ calories of french fries or 3-4 slices of cake. But I figured out that I can create meals that include the foods I crave along with other foods that have fewer calories and help fill me up -- and as a result I walk away from my meals feeling happy and satisfied.

    I'm not saying this approach will work for everyone, but if you're a person with strong food cravings who also likes to eat a lot of food, I think it is worth trying.

    Hm. This actually isn’t a bad idea. Eat the lower calorie and filling foods first, then allow small portions of the craving foods. I might just try this and see how it works. Thanks!

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