Cheat meals/days?

HardyHardyK

In your diet/workout plan, how often do you have cheats? I know some people dedicate an entire day a week to it, but to me I feel like I'd be undoing a lot of progress with that method.

_KitKat_

I do not plan on having a "cheat" day, I want to make a lifestyle change and to be honest, I am not a big planner. I just eat what I want and keep my calorie goal in mind, If I want something high calorie I just adjust my day to include it. Some say cheat days give you something to look forward to, I would just rather enjoy everyday. Moderation is key to everything we do.

lynn_glenmont

I don't have "cheats." I have occasional days (about every 10 days) where I eat anywhere from 200 calories above my goal to maintenance, so I'm not going backward, I'm just losing a little more slowly than I would eating right at goal. Sometimes they're planned (as when I know I'll be going out to eat somewhere that doesn't have much by way of moderate calorie offerings), but more often it's unplanned because I just have a day when I'm unusually hungry--sometimes it's the day after a day or a couple of days when I came up short of my calories goal. As long as I'm at a deficit for the week, I don't see any reason to view that as a cheat. I haven't stood up in front of family and friends, and in the sight of God promised to cleave only unto my "diet" until death do us part.

Francl27

I went over a couple times in 10 months, typically less than 200, I only went way over (1100 over) once. I try to avoid it, typically, but I know that life happens.

Mokey41

Who would you be cheating other than yourself? If you want to be successful long term you have to learn to live your life. If you work treats into everyday life and plan for events you don't need to cheat. If an unexpected event happens, you make the best choices you can and get back on track again. Once you've lost weight you still have to be mindful to maintain so you might as well learn how to handle it now.

darkrose20

I do not plan on having a "cheat" day, I want to make a lifestyle change and to be honest, I am not a big planner. I just eat what I want and keep my calorie goal in mind, If I want something high calorie I just adjust my day to include it. Some say cheat days give you something to look forward to, I would just rather enjoy everyday. Moderation is key to everything we do.

^^^This! I've been over cals a lot recently by a smidge. It's only a smidge. I don't find myself binging anymore. I'm still trying to learn how to eat out, though. I passed an apportunity to go out to eat with my date yesterday, since the only things open were the big chains...and you know how many calories are in one dish. Oh how I wanted a yummy pasta dish from some place like Shells, but I can't portion control or calorie control just yet at those places. *shrug*

mamadon

I do plan a cheat day once a month. I look forward to it and it hasn't set me back a bit. Yes, losing weight is a life style change, but part of that change for me is learning to have a way of life I can live with. If I did it all the time it would be different, but life events do happen, for example my next planned cheat day is Thanksgiving.

cafeaulait7

I've started going to maintenance calorie days 1x a week. It just works better for me that way as far as seeing the scale budge. I make sure to do it on days I've weight-lifted rather than a rest day. It turns out I'm also not very hungry for a few days after, so it doesn't mess up my particular schedule. But that's just me

I really like getting to have a bit more food, too. I think 1x a week is sustainable for life. I just have to remember that! No creeping in more of them, lol. Yes, I've done that before