Cheat days

carpaedeyum

Those of you that do cheat days....do you do this on a regular day? is it a planned "event focused" day..ie birthday, date, anniversary? do you log anyway? How do you approach it?

I'm considering adding fridays as a no log day just to give my head a rest each week.

jbuzzo58

Good luck with that. For me it's a slippery slope that I don't usually recover well from. I'm just trying to leave enough calories each day to enjoy a small treat.

usmcmp

I do calorie spike days during competition prep. Usually every 14 days. They are still very controlled and usually higher carb, lower fat. Other than that I think it's better to raise calories slightly across the board and fit treats in.

Cheats (aka calorie spike days) work for some people, but as a binge eater I would lose control.

cwolfman13

when i was losing, I never considered it a "cheat day"...but I did have days where I'd eat to my maintenance calories because it was a special occasion of some sort and I didn't feel like not enjoying myself as much as I otherwise would. i don't think of that as "cheating" though.

ckspores1018

I can't have cheat days. Once I start I don't trust myself to stop, which leads to everyday being a cheat day.

I save enough calories to enjoy the foods I want so I don't feel the need to cheat. If there is a special event I plan around it so that I have the calories to spend so I can enjoy it.

If I screw up, then I screw up, track it and move beyond it. But, purposely scheduling cheat days defeats the whole purpose, for me.

ArtemisRuns

I guess you could call it a cheat day but I don't think of it that way. Mainly I have to keep myself sane and motivated. I don't go off into the weeds too deep, and sometimes it might be once a week or once every 2 weeks. I almost never eat above TDEE.

Susie_1

When I have dieted before, I always have a little extra or something really nice on my weigh day, after weigh in obviously :laugh: and this time I intend to do the same, I find having something nice to look forward too keeps me on the straight and narrow through the week, but never overdo it as that would be the end of me.

carpaedeyum

when i was losing, I never considered it a "cheat day"...but I did have days where I'd eat to my maintenance calories because it was a special occasion of some sort and I didn't feel like not enjoying myself as much as I otherwise would. i don't think of that as "cheating" though.

Reading all the comments and as a binge eater i really like this idea...it releases a bit of the pressure but doesn't abandon control which can be hard to get back...