Cheat days, yay or nay?

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SEJ721
SEJ721 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've always heard that you should allow yourself a cheat day or really, more of a cheat meal to indulge yourself and to keep the cravings at bay. What do you think bad idea or good idea? If you do this how often do you do it. I nfeel like once a week may be too often maybe bi-weekly or even monthly?
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Replies

  • Laughter_Girl
    Laughter_Girl Posts: 2,226 Member
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    Yay! Every two weeks seems manageable for me, but you have to do what works for you. On my cheat days, I always track what I eat, and I don't go overboard. That's usually my day to eat a really yummy dessert (Cold Stone Creamery).
  • fattymcrunnerpants
    fattymcrunnerpants Posts: 311 Member
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    YAY!!!! It keeps you sane, OMG it keeps you sane.
  • sarahwilson12
    sarahwilson12 Posts: 70 Member
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    Definitely! I agree - it does keep you sane. I find that as long as I have an overall deficit for the entire week, it's beneficial. Essentially, I count for 6 days a week, but am always under & try not to eat all my exercise calories back. Then, on my "cheat" day, I also track & try not to go too far over. Then, at the end of the week, I still lose weight due to the consistent deficit.
  • XTSH
    XTSH Posts: 129 Member
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    YAY!!!! It keeps you sane, OMG it keeps you sane.

    Qft.
  • skinnybythanksgiving
    skinnybythanksgiving Posts: 159 Member
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    For me a horrible idea. For you? Only you know.
  • indianarunner76
    indianarunner76 Posts: 108 Member
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    Heck yay!!!!
  • RaggedyPond
    RaggedyPond Posts: 1,487 Member
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    I read this as chest days... and the answer is yes.
  • supergirl222
    supergirl222 Posts: 88
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    100% yey, have one once a week, i feel it speeds up my metabolism. A cheat day for me is going out to dinner, having a bottle of wine, some bread, ordering the special, dessert and coffee. Just once a week though.... it all tastes so yummy :).
  • SerenaKitty
    SerenaKitty Posts: 142
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    That depends. If you have a history of yo-yo dieting and disordered eating, I would not recommend it. It is a personal choice though, and greatly depends on the individual.
  • czechwolf52
    czechwolf52 Posts: 194 Member
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    Meh. I'm patient enough and I can just wait until I have to do something (birthday dinners, weddings, a dinner with friends, holiday) so about once a month I go over. Other than that I can pretty much fit anything that I want to eat into my daily budget, and if I want more I'll exercise to earn it. I'm also on the last 10 or so pounds so I really need to keep my calories in check to keep the scale going down.

    I just fear if I intentionally set aside a day a week, in addition to the other things I already do, I could regain my weight, and I'd rather not do that.
  • Invictus000
    Invictus000 Posts: 7
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    It depends on the person. Some people can manage it and some people can't. If you have a problem with moderation then maybe it's not for you.

    For me, I cheat usually every couple of days, but I always schedule it into my eating plan for the day, which means I watch my calories and my macros and check what I want to cheat with and make sure I still am below my goals for the day. Like today there were so many things I was craving thanks to stress and I was having a tough time with it so I had a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (just one) and voila. My cheat. But it kept me from eating any number of other not-so-great things that wouldn't have inevitably put me over just about everything.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
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    Personally, I eat everything in moderation and don't have planned "cheat" days or meals. If I am going out to a restaurant or a party, I try to work it into my day as best as possible.

    I do, however, let life happen and go over my calorie goal or don't worry about my macros on occasion (birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.).
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I've always heard that you should allow yourself a cheat day or really, more of a cheat meal to indulge yourself and to keep the cravings at bay. What do you think bad idea or good idea? If you do this how often do you do it. I nfeel like once a week may be too often maybe bi-weekly or even monthly?
    Not for me. I allow myself what I want as long as I stay within my calorie allowance each day.
  • oldholden
    oldholden Posts: 11 Member
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    More like cheat things - I am approaching this with the attitude that you can eat anything you like as long as you are honest and accurate with what you record and are aware of how much you can consume. If I feel like a chocky bikkie or two I have them, record them then adjust my daily intake to keep on track. It's all about portion control and not restricting what you eat. All the other diets have not worked for me, sure I lost the weight with the "Super Shake" but let's face it they are not a regular food item and you soon slip into the old habits again. This time I am using "real" foods, including so called "cheat items" but trying to limit portions - wish me luck
  • MrsCZM138
    MrsCZM138 Posts: 116
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    Personally, I eat everything in moderation and don't have planned "cheat" days or meals. If I am going out to a restaurant or a party, I try to work it into my day as best as possible.

    I do, however, let life happen and go over my calorie goal or don't worry about my macros on occasion (birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.).

    This is exactly what I was going to say. +1
  • shoesforme
    shoesforme Posts: 7
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    I cannot afford to do cheat days; 1 day of cheating puts me back 4 days. NOT worth it. I guess you must also ask yourself if you are on a "diet" or if this is part of a lifestyle change.
  • Sharrybash
    Sharrybash Posts: 1 Member
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    I personally have a "treat meal" if you want to call it that, i do save an exercise for it, but as a reward after I have weighed in I normally have something a bit more calorific than I normally would.
    The massive downside to this is, if you do have a bad week and gain, it can cause you to eat a lot more than planned?

    It depends on the person to be honest
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    Personally, I eat everything in moderation and don't have planned "cheat" days or meals. If I am going out to a restaurant or a party, I try to work it into my day as best as possible.

    I do, however, let life happen and go over my calorie goal or don't worry about my macros on occasion (birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.).

    This is exactly what I was going to say. +1

    +2
  • DR2501
    DR2501 Posts: 661 Member
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    I have cheat meals also, Fridays night and Saturday night are cheats and I have what I want. As said, it keeps me sane.

    This won't be forever, just while I'm losing. Once I'm at a weight I'm happy with I'll eat what I want in moderation.
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    I have cheat meals also, Fridays night and Saturday night are cheats and I have what I want. As said, it keeps me sane.

    This won't be forever, just while I'm losing. Once I'm at a weight I'm happy with I'll eat what I want in moderation.

    Why would you do that? Why not spend your "losing weight" time as a time to learn HOW to "eat what you want in moderation?" If you think you're going to diet yourself thin and then magically just "know" how to eat everything in moderation, I fear you have another thing coming.

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