Can One Cheat Day Ruin Your Diet?

leesey1

Hello, I have been eating very healthy, if i want something I take a small bite so I dont feel deprived. When I dieted before I would give myself a cheat day, but this diet I do not allow myself to have a cheat day. I am scared that one day could ruin my small progress, so do you think that one day could make you gain weight? I am doing the 30 day shred everyday & i go to the gym in the evenings 3x/wk

elzettel

I think it depends on your own self-control. I would do a cheat day before and as the diet progressed more and more cheat days came about. Now I don't do it. Instead I try to plan it out a little more. For example if we are going to a party, outing, whatever I watch what I'm doing before, make sure to work out and then enjoy myself...still moderation. I make sure I have the calories to have my indulgence or I may have to extend my workout a little. I like pizza and I enjoy sweets. Thanks to my hardwork, results and dedication I'm happy to say I make much better choices and have found some new rewards but if I want an icecream I hit the treadmill a little extra (or whatever) and enjoy. Moderation is key and I don't need these things every day. This is a lifestyle and mine includes chocolate so I need to figure out a way to enjoy it rather than have it taunting me all the time :laugh:

MOUSELADY

I think you can as long as you eat in moderation. Just dont over do it and I think you will be fine.

tammyhoff2004

I had a cheat day while at the river last weekend and gained 1.4 lbs by doing so. I didn't even cheat all that much but it was what I ate that made it bad. That and I had too many sodas. I was so discouraged when I got home. Now, I lost that weight and one more pound in one week. Keep it up. Maybe, just have one cheat meal instead of a whole day. That way it's not so much. I've really been thinking about all the processed foods we were eating before and know that it'll hurt your system too. God bless you on your weight loss journey!! :happy:

LastFighter

One bad day can ruin a weeks worth of work. Try having a cheat meal but go to the gym afterwards.I went to the movies last week had pop and candy , spent 2 hrs in the gym working it off. Ive managed to do 14 in 34 days with camping for a week. I dont really deprive myself but if i do bad, i pay for it with sweat

leesey1

thanks, i am thinking maybe a cheat meal so i will not fall off the wagon, and i will definitely track my calories still, because other times i had cheat days i knew nothing about calorie counting & it ended up very negatively.

absie107

...no. i don't need to list the reasons why. if you haven't had a piece of chocolate in two weeks and you're losing weight, one or two pieces of chocolate are not going to hurt. a whole candy bar won't ruin it. I highly suggest you have a little bit of a treat every single day, but that it's either a) something you made yourself or b) something with either a small number of ingredients or at least ingredients that you can pronounce and know where they came from. for me, every day I have a bit of homemade zucchini bread or a bit of chocolate. lately i've had a weight watchers ice cream every other day but once my parents finish the rest of them i don't want more. those things have weird ingredients and if i'm going to indulge, i want the real thing, not weird awkward-tasting crap. i'm serious. eat real food. what's in your diary? i ate falafel and white, chewy pita bread with tahini and hot sauce and cucumber and tomato for dinner last night, but only had half of it, and ate the rest today. don't deprive yourself of real food. sure, fill up on (hopefully seasonal) veggies and fruits, but as for bread, make it yourself. just use plain rolled or steel cut oats and add your own stuff to it. you'll save calories and you'll know what's going in your body.

that probably was a bit more than I needed to say... but if you say 'cheat day', it tells me that your diet is not sustainable for the long term. why do you feel the need to 'cheat'? what is a 'cheat' food? is it fast food? is it something packaged, something you didn't make yourself? i strongly suggest you reevaluate your lifestyle. diets are not sustainable and don't work... so when you use that word in describing how you eat, it concerns me.

and, if everything else I said sounds dumb, consider this quote from Emerson: "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you will begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." If you have a day where you cave and eat a Reeses blizzard from Dairy Queen, every day is a new day. It is up to you to find where your priorities are the day after, to see if eating that thing was worth it, if you felt better, if you felt okay with it.

nurseenf

One cheat day will not ruin your diet. Just workout a little more than usual after. I have a cheat day every so often, and I have lost 12lbs so far.

leesey1

...no. i don't need to list the reasons why. if you haven't had a piece of chocolate in two weeks and you're losing weight, one or two pieces of chocolate are not going to hurt. a whole candy bar won't ruin it. I highly suggest you have a little bit of a treat every single day, but that it's either a) something you made yourself or b) something with either a small number of ingredients or at least ingredients that you can pronounce and know where they came from. for me, every day I have a bit of homemade zucchini bread or a bit of chocolate. lately i've had a weight watchers ice cream every other day but once my parents finish the rest of them i don't want more. those things have weird ingredients and if i'm going to indulge, i want the real thing, not weird awkward-tasting crap. i'm serious. eat real food. what's in your diary? i ate falafel and white, chewy pita bread with tahini and hot sauce and cucumber and tomato for dinner last night, but only had half of it, and ate the rest today. don't deprive yourself of real food. sure, fill up on (hopefully seasonal) veggies and fruits, but as for bread, make it yourself. just use plain rolled or steel cut oats and add your own stuff to it. you'll save calories and you'll know what's going in your body.

that probably was a bit more than I needed to say... but if you say 'cheat day', it tells me that your diet is not sustainable for the long term. why do you feel the need to 'cheat'? what is a 'cheat' food? is it fast food? is it something packaged, something you didn't make yourself? i strongly suggest you reevaluate your lifestyle. diets are not sustainable and don't work... so when you use that word in describing how you eat, it concerns me.

and, if everything else I said sounds dumb, consider this quote from Emerson: "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you will begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." If you have a day where you cave and eat a Reeses blizzard from Dairy Queen, every day is a new day. It is up to you to find where your priorities are the day after, to see if eating that thing was worth it, if you felt better, if you felt okay with it.

i dont know why i still call it a cheat day, because i have basically modified the way i eat. i do not really call what i am doing a diet now. i like the idea of making my own bread, very helpful. i eat rather healthy, and i plan to continue eating healthy for the rest of my life, but every once in a while i want something a little naughty. not a teeny little bite, but i no longer want to pull every junk food out the refrigerator and go to town on it. thank you for the info i really appreciate it!

gemfox

Absie made some excellent points!
Ive been 'dieting' for 8 ish months, lost 25lbs and am damn proud...do I still eat chocolate..Hell yea! I just dont eat a whole load every day like I used to!
I make sure I manage a 'treat' into my calories every day. Whether it be doing a bit extra working out or just having a healthier meal (or smaller portion). I havent deprived myself of anything doing this so called diet and can see the results.
It should be a lifestyle and not a diet. As people have said, in the long term the weight wont stay off. You know this as have said it yourself.
So NO a treat a day wont ruin your loss but make sure you work it into your allowance.

Good luck hun, if you need any more encouragement just pop me a message!
xxx

absie107

anytime! I highly recommend you read In Defense of Food as well as The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. He's not a diet expert and the books aren't about an eating plan, more about all of the elements that go into how and why our food system is the way it is including history, business, politics... He's a journalist and he has tons of sources to back up what he discusses. I also suggest you take a look at The End of Food by Paul Roberts. The books really, really help you understand where your food comes from. Making real connections and always 100% of the time thinking about how eating what I eat is affecting the environment, the economy, etc... Well, since reading those and some other books... I lost 10 pounds during the year at my first year of college and I've lost another 10 this summer since starting MFP. I feel great about myself and I'm about halfway to the numerical goal, but mostly I'm happy that a) I feel amazing, b) I feel more in shape and c) I fit into single digit pants without having to suck it in yesterday. Anyways... food is a huge, HUGE thing and a part of everyone's lives, a bigger part than we think. Hope that helps!! congrats on the progress you already made!!!!!

alphaip

I say cheating is part of a healthy eating program. Any program you can't do for the rest of your life is not worth doing for a day. This is the long haul

xTattooedDollx

I think it depends on the person. I will allow myself to have a cheat meal but an entire day just made me lose control for two weeks.

michelle29714

If I have to workout another hour each time I want to chet its not worth it for me...thats just my opinion. I do have something every now and then but very little.

Lucindaq

I allow myself to splurge on the weekends. This means that one day i eat not normal food but stay within my calories and then one day I allow myself to go over my calories up to 700. I do this every weekend and have been able to lose 1-2lbs per week. You can't be perfect all the time so allow yourself some time to splurge. It keeps you from going insane! I hope it helps!

sacnvr2l8

Yes, because there is no such thing as a cheat day or successful long term "diet". End of story.

At some point you have to turn the corner from diet to lifestyle and from cheat days to days of more calorie consumption then normal. If you are eating less or dieting just to lose weight I hate to be a pessimist but success is unattainable you will lose your weight but it will come back on the second you go back to the lifestyle that got you over weight to begin with.

You have to learn to do it because you know the foods you once ate are bad for you or the amounts you consumed the food you ate was bad for you.

When I started eating differently 3 yrs ago I would have a "cheat" day once a month. I even tried to be "good" eggs, turkey bacon and belgian waffle with syrup, maybe a red robin cobb salad for lunch, a mocha mid afternoon and dinner out at a restaurnt with appetizer and Oh yeah dont forget dessert since you were so good all week or month! Doesnt sound to bad I even tossed in a salad for lunch... that day is probably 5000-6000 calories!!!!! That is 3 FULL days + of food for me today.

Cheats and treats are all foods we know are not good for us and we eat because of our addiction to food and in memory of our old lifestyle. I think of it like this I dont eat stuff that is no longer good for me any more. Much like a drug addict or alchoholic doesnt think a cheat day is acceptable why do we "overeaters" think that every so often it is ok to eat things that are bad for us or more so why do we WANT to.

It comes down to this and you've hear it before a million times. Calories in and clories out want an ice cream as a treat go to the gym a little longer walk further and eat 50-100 calories less at you other meals and enjoy the ice cream...but here is the kicker dont eat the ice cream as an award for something just eat because it tastes good and find healthy natural dairy ice cream, a natural fruit smoothie ect dont eat the natural items because the have less calories eat them because you are no longer poisoning your body with to much food of bad food.

I lost 50 lbs 3 years ago. It's not miracle weight loss and I did it over an entire year! There will never be a show about me or a commecial. I will not be asked to endorse a single product...After all no one would buy it any way cause no one wants to lose weight slowly and have to eat good forever. I didnt diet at all I ate healthy I excercised more and I ate portions that matched what someone my age and size should be eating. I quit having cheat days and occasionally ate more then my normal days but I didnt eat the garbage I ate before...I still wanted it but if a crack addict can stop taking crack one day at a time cause he knows it's bad for him. I can stop eating crap one day at a time cause obeisity kills a hell of a lot more people then crack does so which is worse for you.

So anyway i didnt answer your question directly but if you understand what I said hopefully it changes you life.

You can buy my book here....Just kidding I'm just some every day person on here trying to battle my food addiction

Ms_Natalie

I have cheated every weekend since I started this lifestyle change and I have lost ALL of the below pounds since joining MFP in April! In the week, I am excellent with my calories and exercise, but I go a little wild on the weekends...however, this wild, is nothing compared to what I would have done 6 months ago...my stomach has shrunk and I no longer crave junk food!

If you don't "cheat" then it is possible that you will cave in to the things you fancy and end up ruining your lifestyle change. That's what it is...so you can enjoy those naughty calories now and again...and savour every little bite of them...

Good Luck! :flowerforyou:

leesey1

Yes, because there is no such thing as a cheat day or successful long term "diet". End of story.

At some point you have to turn the corner from diet to lifestyle and from cheat days to days of more calorie consumption then normal. If you are eating less or dieting just to lose weight I hate to be a pessimist but success is unattainable you will lose your weight but it will come back on the second you go back to the lifestyle that got you over weight to begin with.

You have to learn to do it because you know the foods you once ate are bad for you or the amounts you consumed the food you ate was bad for you.

When I started eating differently 3 yrs ago I would have a "cheat" day once a month. I even tried to be "good" eggs, turkey bacon and belgian waffle with syrup, maybe a red robin cobb salad for lunch, a mocha mid afternoon and dinner out at a restaurnt with appetizer and Oh yeah dont forget dessert since you were so good all week or month! Doesnt sound to bad I even tossed in a salad for lunch... that day is probably 5000-6000 calories!!!!! That is 3 FULL days + of food for me today.

Cheats and treats are all foods we know are not good for us and we eat because of our addiction to food and in memory of our old lifestyle. I think of it like this I dont eat stuff that is no longer good for me any more. Much like a drug addict or alchoholic doesnt think a cheat day is acceptable why do we "overeaters" think that every so often it is ok to eat things that are bad for us or more so why do we WANT to.

It comes down to this and you've hear it before a million times. Calories in and clories out want an ice cream as a treat go to the gym a little longer walk further and eat 50-100 calories less at you other meals and enjoy the ice cream...but here is the kicker dont eat the ice cream as an award for something just eat because it tastes good and find healthy natural dairy ice cream, a natural fruit smoothie ect dont eat the natural items because the have less calories eat them because you are no longer poisoning your body with to much food of bad food.

I lost 50 lbs 3 years ago. It's not miracle weight loss and I did it over an entire year! There will never be a show about me or a commecial. I will not be asked to endorse a single product...After all no one would buy it any way cause no one wants to lose weight slowly and have to eat good forever. I didnt diet at all I ate healthy I excercised more and I ate portions that matched what someone my age and size should be eating. I quit having cheat days and occasionally ate more then my normal days but I didnt eat the garbage I ate before...I still wanted it but if a crack addict can stop taking crack one day at a time cause he knows it's bad for him. I can stop eating crap one day at a time cause obeisity kills a hell of a lot more people then crack does so which is worse for you.

So anyway i didnt answer your question directly but if you understand what I said hopefully it changes you life.

You can buy my book here....Just kidding I'm just some every day person on here trying to battle my food addiction

thanks, i am not on a diet, i learned a while ago i am not one of those people who can lose weight quickly with pills, & shakes, i have been doing just like you changing the way i eat slowly, but surely. thank you for your post, and making me laugh a bit.

snowsflake

You know...this very much depends on the person. I will say that when I first started my lifestyle change that having a splurge meal was SO important to me. I meant that I could "never eat that food again" mentality that I had when I went on a "diet" was not there. I also struggled with being on point one week and then splurging more than I should have the next week or two. The point was that I didn't give up. Just like eating poorly is a habit so is eating healthier options. Splurging today is still very important to my success in weight loss.

If you over do it, it may cause you to gain weight, but that's a part of how you learn to change your habits. For instances I used to eat pizza about 4 times a week and now I eat it about once every 1-2 months. That happened because I didn't like the way it made me feel and today I still don't like how it makes me feel, so who knows when I'll eat pizza again. My splurges got less and less bad as well, usually I just have ice cream or something like that.

I also try to not beat myself up if I eat "more than I should have" it will all work itself out.

Good luck on your journey, being aware is so important and it seems like you are!

dj_stevie_c

I had cinema popcorn today.

However I sort of planned for it and I was able to have enough to satisfy and still have the cals for the rest of the day. There's no reason why you can't add 'treats' into your diet if you can learn how to do it and not ruin a day then you're on to a winner.

That said if you do have one bad day where you go crazy, don't beat yourself up over it, just reboot the next day and go back to doing what's right.

leesey1

You know...this very much depends on the person. I will say that when I first started my lifestyle change that having a splurge meal was SO important to me. I meant that I could "never eat that food again" mentality that I had when I went on a "diet" was not there. I also struggled with being on point one week and then splurging more than I should have the next week or two. The point was that I didn't give up. Just like eating poorly is a habit so is eating healthier options. Splurging today is still very important to my success in weight loss.

If you over do it, it may cause you to gain weight, but that's a part of how you learn to change your habits. For instances I used to eat pizza about 4 times a week and now I eat it about once every 1-2 months. That happened because I didn't like the way it made me feel and today I still don't like how it makes me feel, so who knows when I'll eat pizza again. My splurges got less and less bad as well, usually I just have ice cream or something like that.

I also try to not beat myself up if I eat "more than I should have" it will all work itself out.

Good luck on your journey, being aware is so important and it seems like you are!

thank you very much i appreciate all the info & congrats on your weight loss success for i hope to be there one day as well.

aproc

What kind of cheat day are you talking? XP 3,500 calories to gain a pound. So unless you eat that much added to your daily intake already, your not gonna gain a pound from that one day. Its not going to ruin you. You should be able to enjoy something every once in a while.

LotusF1ower

I think it depends on your own self-control. I would do a cheat day before and as the diet progressed more and more cheat days came about. Now I don't do it.......

That is exactly why I don't have cheat days this time round either.

Strange phenomenon that is, I just figures it is best not to start - I never was one for moderation anyway, it had to be all or nothing :laugh:

I admire people that can have, say, one square of chocolate or a slither or cake and leave it at that. No, not I, it would have to be a giant bar of chocolate containing 65,000,000 calories or a cake the size of three wedding tiers :laugh:

crystal081

I think it's really about moderation. I know that if i want somthing i feel is "cheating" then I have to be willing to work it off later. It's a compromise i think.

Self_Kontrol_Is_Key

I've been on my journey for about 2 weeks, have never cheated, but i just had a small bar of chocolate 240 cals. i feel so guilty , im thinking of skipping dinner. I didn even enjoy it the way i do normally.

ninerbuff

If total body transformations happened in one day..................then yes. But we know that doesn't happen.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

AskTracyAnnK28

I'm on the fence with the 'cheat day' idea. I had one last Saturday (first time in months after losing 40 pounds) and I ended up consuming 2,251 calories. Which means that in order to stay at a deficit for the week I had to reduce my caloric intake massively - we're talking under 1,200 caloriesa day. To me, it's just not worth it. I've been misrable all week

KylaDenay

No

WhatMeRunning

No. It is preposterous to think one day of eating badly will prevent you from future health.

The key is to simply make being healthy part of your every day life going forward. Yoy may make mistakes now and then, but those are far less of a problem than giving up and not taking care of yourself every day simply because you had a cheat day and have deemed yourself to now be a "loser" or some other such nonsense crapola that people trick themselves into believing simply because they may not want to do the work to keep going at it for a lifetime.

rbfdac

Ms_Natalie wrote: »

I have cheated every weekend since I started this lifestyle change and I have lost ALL of the below pounds since joining MFP in April! In the week, I am excellent with my calories and exercise, but I go a little wild on the weekends...however, this wild, is nothing compared to what I would have done 6 months ago...my stomach has shrunk and I no longer crave junk food!

If you don't "cheat" then it is possible that you will cave in to the things you fancy and end up ruining your lifestyle change. That's what it is...so you can enjoy those naughty calories now and again...and savour every little bite of them...

Good Luck! :flowerforyou:

This! I am only 20 pounds down at this point (in 40 days), but have lost weight in the past with the exact same method. In the past I had an entire cheat day every wekk and lost weight. This time, I have more weight to lose, so I am restricting myself a little more, but I cheat every Saturday night and still lose just fine.

When I do eat healthy like this, I find that cravings for junk are less, but there are occasional days where I want said junk. Those days I just think "Well, you can have it on Saturday". I never end up caving in during the week-- I just look forward to the weekend!

dopeysmelly

There have been days when I haven't been able to log because of business trips/vacation/dinners out, when I ate what I wanted with moderation (avoiding empty calories, avoiding desserts etc), and there are days when I'm eating at home and I work ice cream, muffins, cocktail, glass of wine etc. into my daily calories. I don't call either of them "cheating" (who am I cheating? myself?? huh?), and I've still managed to lose 70 lbs.

Now, if your treats start turning into something more sustained which pushes you out of deficit for a reasonable duration, then, yes, the laws of physics determine you will stop losing weight.