Are Cheat Days A Myth?

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  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    I assume that every body is just a little bit different. The Cheat Day is to avoid binging, right? Some people can handle eating their trigger foods within reason but others cannot.

    In addition, I've heard that the science behind "just a treat" as compared to a full-on cheat day is that the body won't be satisfied with just the treat; it needs more than that, as in a full day.

    I guess you have to do what works for you.

    I like candy and make it myself but limit it to an ounce a day, of the healthy stuff. I like soda with rum and have one when I crave it. But I don't fry foods, eat mayonnaise-heavy foods, or bake fattening cakes. I don't even like that stuff.
  • wailinwonder747
    wailinwonder747 Posts: 1
    I think you have to define what cheat day means.
    If you want to look at a weekly total and have a daily average which is lower to give you some 'ceiling' on the weekends, that's one version.
    I ran into the cheat day concept in the 'slow carb' diet advocated by Tim Ferriss in 'The 4-Hour Body'. I've done really well on that, before ever finding www.myfitnesspal.com. To summarize several hundred pages in one sentence: the point of cheat days on that diet is that there are NO sweets or starches, among other things, on 'regular' days, so, on cheat days, you eat those things to 'reset' your metabolism. (Remember, that was a very brief summary.) One of the best suggestions in that book is to plan your cheats by writing down your cravings, and sort of allaying that craving by promising yourself to have it on cheat day.
    I find that by the time I have one 'cheat meal' and maybe a snack, mid afternoon, I'm already feeling a little 'gross' with the change in diet, and I sometimes have to force myself to consume meals/snacks/beer later on--ok, I don't have to force myself too much, but it's easy to go back on the wagon the next day.
    I really haven't been tempted that much between cheat days.
    Of course, everyone is different, and I think this program suits the combination of my metabolism and exercise preferences. Chacune a sa cuisine prefere.

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