Cheat Day

suzette8716

am I the only one that has a cheat day.
Weekend are my weakness. Help!!!

Lhenderson923

You’re definitely not the only one, but you want to be careful. You can easily blow a whole week’s deficit in a day. If you want a cheat day, maybe choose to eat at maintenance that day rather than a deficit. Another thought, it may not be your best bet to be eating in such a way that requires a weekly cheat day. Ideally you want a lifestyle change, one allows for treats and all food now and then.

AnnPT77

Nah. I have high days, sometimes over-maintenance-calorie days; some days I flex my nutrition goals, most days I don't, etc. It's all in the plan, one way or another: Decisions I make.

"Cheating", to me, is like Santa Claus is to me as an adult: A charming myth. Who or what would I be cheating? My body counts everything, I might as well own my eating/activity choices, manage them. I need to manage them - one way or another - if I have goals for weight, health, fitness.

One of the things I like to do is eat a little (not lots) under my calorie goal most days, to save up for the occasional indulgence. That, plus other strategies, has been working for nearly 7 years now, for me, to lose then maintain.

SoleTrainer60

My problem is I too have trouble staying away from junk foods during the weekend! Well, actually I think of junk food all the time! HELP! 😩

AnnPT77

SoleTrainer60 wrote: »

My problem is I too have trouble staying away from junk foods during the weekend! Well, actually I think of junk food all the time! HELP! 😩

What do you mean by "junk food"? Why do you believe you shouldn't have any? Or is it that you can't limit the quantity once you start?

Sometimes people think they have to stop eating all "junk food" (however they define it) and eat only "diet food" or "healthy food" (also vaguely defined ideas) in order to lose weight. It's not true. If we eat the right number of calories of whatever, we'll lose fat weight.

That's just weight, though, not nutrition/health or feeling full.

For nutrition/health, we need to get reasonable amounts of proteins, fats, and vitamins/minerals. Even many so-called "junk foods" have nutrients. Those count, for nutrition. We may have to manage the portion sizes, or frequencies, and fit in some other foods around the "junk" to get well-rounded nutrition, but it's not like (say) a burger has zero nutritional value. It has some.

Eating only foods that many people think of as "junk" can be . . . not very filling. So, if that's true for you, maybe eat some "junk food", then some other more nutrition-dense things, to get to feel full, have some treats, get decent nutrition - balance it out. The more nutrition-dense things can be foods you like, still, unless you're a really picky eater. It doesn't need to be "superfoods" or anything like that.

On top of that, some people go to some extremely low calories to try to lose weight fast, and end up being crave-y (because they can't fit in any treats) or hungry (because they aren't getting enough food of any type).

I get that we all want to lose weight fast! But sometimes trying to lose it more slowly actually gets us to goal weight sooner than trying to lose weight fast but ending up with binges, backsliding or giving up.

Think things through, figure out how to eat in a way you can enjoy (at least tolerate) at somewhat fewer calories than you burn, and you'll lose weight. If you figure out how to do that in a way that keeps you reasonably happy along the way, you're putting yourself in a better position to stay at a healthy weight long term.

Weight loss doesn't need to be some kind of extreme thing, an epic battle of good and evil where you absolutely need to "eat clean" and do punitive levels of intense, miserable exercise, in order to make up for the sin of being overweight. Drama is optional, and that's not the road to success, typically.

paperpudding

I do not use the concept of cheat days myself.

however I do look at my calories on a weekly basis - so I can bank some calories from earlier in the week - ie come under calories - so I have more to spend on weekend and the amount for the week, or the average over 7 days, is still on target.

This is a useful strategy for those who want a bit of indulgence on weekends or whatever days.

azuki84

Cheating is such a horrible word to use. You should rather use terms like balance instead- if you really want to eat at a surplus, and if you have willpower, offset it by lowering intake on other days. Or, just maintain. Too many other things to enjoy life on rather than eating.

cmriverside

When I started to lose weight I was completely clueless about all of it. I was mid-fifties, had been over-weight for about ten years but prior to that ten years I had never struggled with my weight.

Trying to eat 1200 (which is what MFP gave me to lose 2 pounds per week) was a huge challenge. I had been living on sweets and wheat. Probably 4000 calories a day of mostly cereals, crackers, chips, muffins, cakes, pie, cookies, ice cream, burgers and fries, pizza, chicken wings, soda pop, juice, desserts of all kinds. Beer, Margaritas, wine. You get the picture.

Having to change all that was major. That might be an understatement.

Just start. It won't be perfect. I had a lot of days where I was over my calories by 1000, 1500, 2000 calories. I did start getting better little by little. It's a process - not an event.

I lost the 80 pounds in 2007-08. I've kept it off. It's been a complete life change in every way - all for the better.

Just start. Do what you can. Maybe this week you can not eat one thing that is problematic or that you tend to over-eat. Maybe add a vegetable to every meal. Next week add or subtract something. Take a walk. Keep working on it.

You'll get there. The only way to fail is to give up.


________
edit to say: I would add that 1200 is not a good calorie goal for 99% of people. More is better and stops that binge/restrict cycle. After the first three months I abandoned 1200 when I was just so fatigued and my hair had started to fall out. I lost the rest of my weight at 1500-1600 PLUS exercise calories, so on at least five days a week I was eating 1900-2000 calories total. I'm 5'8", female. That left room for more treat type foods at least one or two times a week.

elisa123gal

I do a cheat meal ideally.. but you said "help" too. So.. if you find you blow it on the weekends and end up maintaining and never lose. I suggest weighing yourself on Friday morning and Saturday and Sunday mornings to keep it real.