Cheat day

chani8

I have a 2 day cheat period. I pre-log my calories to get an idea of how I want to cheat, and then afterwards, I go back and log every.thing. In that time, I can eat as much as 1000 calories over my TDEE. So I've adjusted my weekdays to be at a deficit enough to cover for my weekend partying.

SCV34

I have decided to make Sundays my "cheat day". Not in the way that I will eat whatever I want and consume as much of it as I want, but decided that I would not log for one day and that day would be Sunday. I am so picky about what I enter to make sure everything is correct I decided I needed a day off from that.

MizTerry

No because what if I slip? (more often than I care to admit)

I just try to climb back on the horse immediately when I fall off.

mammamaurer

no but i have "rest" days

mmuzzatti

So this thread is not about sex right?

emAZn

I have a "cheat meal" on the last day of every month. I call it that because it's not logged and never will be... but I tend to go over on my calories a lot with what one might consider "cheat" foods and I just try to work them into my weekly net. I couldn't have a whole cheat day... I would probably eat myself out of house and home... Then my bf would be mad because we'd have no home and his gf would be chubby

LaurenEllexx

I don't have "cheat days" but mostly cheat meals like twice a week. Usually it is dinner and completely unplanned. Sometimes I stay within my macros which is awesome but sometimes I go over...

jbee27

I do have themoccasionally, but I try to save it for days when I know that it's going to be difficult or impossible to log and/or stay within my macros.

For example, I'm going to be going on a weekend trip with a few friends next weekend. I don't plan on tracking those two days, and we'll be eating out for all meals, as well as imbibing a little more than I usually do. I am going to try to make somewhat healthy choices, but I also know that two days of slightly unhealthy eating doesn't make you overweight (many months/years of unhealthy eating does!)

DeadliftAddict

Cheating is such a bad word. Eating food should not be considered cheating. Now that I got that out of the way. On to your question. I don't think taking a whole day each week will help you. In fact, it can set you back. I will have a more calorie dense meal once or twice a week. Being as it is a meal and not a day it is surrounded by nutrient dense meals so I don't have an issue. If I do a day, it can easily turn into a weekend of "cheating". Man I hate that word. Think of it as calorie dense vs nutrient dense.

ryry_

I used too...But all it turned into was "Excuse to consume 5,000 calories before dinner" day.

Now I eat whatever food I want, try to eat enough protein and meet my calorie goal everyday and not go too low on calories.

Efflictim

I don't have a cheat day. I have a cheat meal once a week usually on Saturdays.

SCV34

So this thread is not about sex right?

LOL, I don't think so. But then again this is MFP so who knows it could be. I have seen some pretty racy stuff on the message boards.

Th3Wall

I met my weight goal in the fall after dropping approx. 35 lbs. I now have a so-called "Cheat dinner" on Wednesday (3000 calories for the day) and a 6000 calorie cheat day on Saturdays. The rest of the week its 2000 calories before workouts, with 5x workouts a week (lifting). The whole program works amazing for me and enables me to have whatever I want on Saturdays so I don't feel like I'm missing out on fave foods... the key for me is discipline for the workouts (esp after a cheat day) and being strict for tracking food intake and quality the rest of the week.

dftlaw

I will typically have one meal over the weekend in which I "cheat" over my caloric count. This allows me to enjoy a nice meal with my wife and not feel guilty. Also, I find that it jolts my system and kicks up the weight loss. At least that was the way it was for me last year when I was really sticking to the plan. I do find that sometimes I get stuck and there is no further weight loss. At those times, if I go off the diet one meal or so, I begin losing again. Hence my theory of "jolting" my metabolic system.

Always_Smiling_D

Now that I am back in action, I am planning on implementing a cheat day once a month... though I do eat what I want when ever I want it, in moderation of course... one day to give myself permission to pig out is awesome

Angold83

I just call it Saturday.

^^^^^ this^^^^^^ :-)

pineapple_jojo

I don't plan a "Cheat" day but I still have a life to live which includes going out. Saturday we went for brunch and I had eggs benedict and hasbrowns and a pint. Over the course of a week I worked out a little harder, left some calories on the table and my week ended up with me only being 100 calories over plan. I don't consider that a cheat, just living.

Basically, I do the same. It's not a cheat day, but a cheat meal every 7-10 days. I try to even things out for the week. It's a part of my life to enjoy going out. I don't binge but when eating out, the calories add up fast.

Same for me - I don't ever have a cheat day, but I do like to eat out every week or so and I try to work around the meal so that I don't go too far over. In my head cheating implies I'm on a diet - I like to think that I'm choosing a sustainable healthy lifestyle for the long term.

birdiecs

No, that way of thinking isn't for me. I eat what I want as longs as it fits within my macros and sometimes even if it doesn't. I don't like living as if I'm in stasis waiting to reward myself.

aprilh47

surely to have a treat instead of a cheat and keep it within your limits is the best way. If you look at is as a cheat your more likely to continue cheating. but treats are just that treats.

f1redshoes

Usually, mine is more of a cheat meal/snack than an entire cheat day, eg. I'll know I have ice cream in the freezer that I really want, so I'll swap out the pasta from my dinner for a serving of vegetables and maybe have a slightly smaller serving of another meal, or even just make up for it over the next week or so through exercise. But it's rare that I'd need an unplanned treat like that as I don't limit myself when it comes to any food. If I want chocolate, I'll have it (in moderation) and work around it.

I always enjoy it more if it's spread out, though. My daily chocolate treat is far nicer as just that - one or two treats in a sea of great food - than it is if it's chocolate all evening. I'm getting to be the same with takeaway food too. It's always much nicer when we're passing the Chinese place and I pop in for egg fried rice and only that, than if we order a whole meal in.

chezjuan

No, that way of thinking isn't for me. I eat what I want as longs as it fits within my macros and sometimes even if it doesn't. I don't like living as if I'm in stasis waiting to reward myself.

^^This. I live my life, and generally strive to eat a balanced diet consisting of food that I enjoy. That includes everything from ice cream to bacon to collard greens to lean meat to bourbon. Usually I meet my goals, but some days (maybe once a month or so) I go over. I never call it a cheat though because life happens. Some other days, I go under my goal, so in the end it balances out and lets me maintain my weight.

czechwolf52

No, not intentionally.

I try to stay under everyday and save up a bit for when life happens. About once a month something will happen where I'll end up having to go over no matter what I do. I recently went to a wedding, so I had no control over the types of food. Even though I ate very little before and during the wedding I still ended up being over. I end up going over about once a month.

But I still enjoy my "bad" foods everyday. I love pizza, chocolate, ice cream, etc and I'll continue to eat it, just in smaller amounts.

animatorswearbras

I don't plan to cheat but I'm usually fairly lax on weekends, strict during the working week, doing this I averaged about 3 pounds a month loss

darrensurrey

Does anyone have a "cheat day"?

A whole day could be devastating for someone. A cheat meal can keep you focused for the rest of the week, though, without causing too much of a problem.