How do you feel about a once a week "cheat day" ?

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  • JaymeBalesFitness
    JaymeBalesFitness Posts: 11 Member
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    I do it! I think its a great break. Keeps me sane too! Although I have decided to buckle down for summer and only do a cheat meal once a week. But if you are losing (and 1 pound a week is perfect) then why not?!
  • pamperedhen
    pamperedhen Posts: 446 Member
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    That's the only way I can survive! I've lost 10 lbs that way. As long as you eat at your maintenence on the cheat day, then start back at a deficit!:drinker:
  • becs3578
    becs3578 Posts: 836 Member
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    For me a cheat day is TERRIBLE. It makes me feel bad the next day and I feel for a few days after it that I am fighting to to burn that day off. I think once I get to goal weight I will be ok with them. But since I am LOSING MODE still I try to cheat at one meal just a little bit instead of eat whatever I want on say SUNDAY.

    The frustration, guilt etc on Monday is just too hard on me!

    I have found I can add a beer say to an evening out... but I make sure to factor it into my daily calories. That is working for me personally!
  • SoBodyMazing
    SoBodyMazing Posts: 159
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    I don't have a cheat day. I just have a cheat meal or ice cream!
  • csontos
    csontos Posts: 76 Member
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    I don't have a cheat day or a cheat meal. I just find a way to fit it into my daily calories. Today is my first day grabbing fast food (Panda Expess is my life) but I'm choosing a smaller portion and it fits very nicely into my daily limit!
  • LJFitzSimmons
    LJFitzSimmons Posts: 24
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    I've not been on this journey very long so far, but personally I intend to 'treat' myself on Fridays, as that's when my mum bakes something, and I don't think I'm ruining anything by enjoying a small slice of cake, or a couple of cookies... I don't see the point in a healthy lifestyle if your not enjoying what you're doing, and giving yourself a treat once a week can for some people (a.k.a. me, for one, haha) motivate you. If I said 'never' with regards to when the next time I was going to eat something chocolatey would be...

    I'd give up and eat a chocolate bar.

    Different things work for different people... personally, I treat myself, but make sure it fits into my calories for the day, (although it may not fit into my macros...).

    Me and my friends aren't big drinkers, but every few months there'll be a special occasion and for me, they'll be 'cheat' days, as I know I'll go over my calorie goal... but I'll stick to my 'maintenance' calories, make sure I still log everything, and accept the fact that I'm 20 years old, and every so often I'm going to get drunk with my friends, I just make sure it's not happening on a weekly basis...

    Anybody who thinks I don't 'deserve' anything because I'm okay with treating myself...

    Well, I've already worked harder than you can imagine whilst recovering from depression and anxiety, so if they think they have the right to decide I don't 'deserve' anything, because I let myself live in a way that makes me happy, can quite happily be ignored.

    Do what works for you hun, everyone's journey is entirely different. As long as you feel good about yourself, you are doing nothing wrong... if your cheat day's make you happy and help you stay motivated, then keep at it... if they leave you feeling bad and sluggish, then try a cheat meal, or a couple of treats spread out throughout the week, and find what works for you.
  • dmenchac
    dmenchac Posts: 447 Member
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    I've been doing a cheat 25 years until a few months ago.



    Don't do it.
  • notyouraveragetalia
    notyouraveragetalia Posts: 223 Member
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    IIFYM

    or just...Do what feels right for you!
  • laurie04427
    laurie04427 Posts: 421 Member
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    I'm doing the cheat day thing on saturday (although it stretched into sunday last week) but I'm still trying to figure out if it's working out for me or not.

    Booze calories pushed off to the weekend basically is what I am doing. Keeps me energetic and on track all week with my exercising and what not.

    The booze is more my thing to watch than the "cheat food" so this kind of works for me. For now.
  • Amanda_Gx6
    Amanda_Gx6 Posts: 320 Member
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    I don't like calling it a cheat day or meal. After reading through all this I'm realizing that a "cheat" anything doesn't sound so great. I would like to say that when I am enjoying a meal/drink/snack that I normally don't get to have it should be called a "vacation" meal. You don't get to take it everyday but when you do its enjoyable :smile: I think that having a "cheat" anything bring a negative connotation to it which can make you feel regretful after the fact.
  • CharleeCali
    CharleeCali Posts: 51 Member
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    I'm new at this and I haven't deliberately done cheat meals or cheat days, but I'm going to a house party on Saturday, so I'm going to be really, really good (under calories) on Friday and Sunday so I can enjoy myself and have some delicious food and chocolate wine.
  • Serebro
    Serebro Posts: 6 Member
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    Dieting doesn't HAVE to be about eating foods you hate--even if you just cut back on portion sizes and eat the same foods you like, you can still lose weight. As long as you have room in your daily calorie goals to eat that slice of pizza or quesadilla or some Ben & Jerry's, you'll still drop the pounds at about the same speed.

    In the last week, I've had spinach/portabella pizza, flavored oatmeal, veggies with cheese sauce, steak, mashed potatoes, and a particularly "inner-fat-kid"-satisfying penne pasta with homemade white clam sauce that my roommate wanted. It tasted SO unhealthy, but I got quite a surprise when I plugged the pasta and clam sauce into the recipe bank here--a reasonable serving size came out around 500 cal! I'll be trying to add in more recipes that have a ton of flavor without being horrible at nutrition.

    I've still got a pint of Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra in the freezer. Rather than eating the whole thing in 1-2 sittings, I'm planning on 4-6--a dozen or so delicious teaspoonfuls for a day when I'm craving chocolate or ice cream or caramel, then put the rest back. I've also got a couple of frozen Greek yogurt bars in there, and a bag of frozen blueberries.

    This is my first week back after a year-plus break due to health issues where I wasn't able to cook much for myself. In that time, I'd only gained back 4 lbs. It's as much in how much you eat as what you eat, and changing either of them long-term will affect your weight.
  • victoriousO
    victoriousO Posts: 63 Member
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    I would love it if I could stick to your schedule, it seems like I cheat every day!! Maybe your idea would be good for me:) I have been a hard cookie to crack because I can usually get the first 15 off but then feel so good I start to just eat a bite of this or that and it becomes much more than it was intended. I am definitely an overeater:(( I think whatever you find works for you, go for it:)))
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I normally do a cheat meal. It's typically dinner on Friday night. If not, one day would turn into two for me. It's so easy to slip back into old habits.

    Agreed. This is one reason I plan to do MFP or something similar for the rest of my life. I like going out to eat way too much. If I wasn't logging/counting calories, I'd eventually be dining out 2-3 times per day again and while you CAN do that and stay within calories, I know that over time the mochas and cheese fries would slip in under the radar and my weight would increase...no thanks.
  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
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    I don't do scheduled cheat days. And, if I did, I would log everything.

    When I do have a "heavy eating" day (not a cheat, just a day when I was really hungry so I let myself eat), I just log it. I don't stress myself about the calories. I just let them happen. I had a day that was over 3,600 calories a while back. Looking at the days around it, I see that it didn't really mean much in the long run. I just don't think it's right to not track it. You can view it as a freebie. You can say, "this doesn't count." Or whatever you want. But, if it happened, it gets logged.
  • ToraChan2310
    ToraChan2310 Posts: 45
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    When she's talking about a "cheat day" or "treat day" or whatever you want to call it, it's not about gorging herself with soda, cake, processed cheese, cheetos etc. We grew up in a culinary family (and still are!) and perhaps we still want to enjoy rich delicious cheese, yummy red wine, dark chocolate panna cotta, prosciutto and figs, neapolitan pizza, local restaurants and wineries etc. Having a meal that would be a "treat" one day a week and going over our calorie goal, does NOT mean we're stuffing ourselves to the brim with cake and chemicals.

    I so want to come to your house when you are having a cheat day. Sounds delicious!

    Tora Chan - There are no "good" or "bad" foods. . . . .there is just food.

    You wouldnt consider pork rinds "bad food"? There are good and bad foods; which is the whole point behind having a "cheat" day to allow yourself to eat those "bad foods".

    Ask Dr. Oz whether he thinks there are no bad foods that humans shouldnt eat and see what he says.
  • SavinnaMarie
    SavinnaMarie Posts: 108 Member
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    I used to have a once a week cheat day too on the first time I tried to lose weight. it was ok for me and it did not slow down my progress. plus I was used to eating healthy at that time already so I was not in a eat-everything-junky-i-was-deprived-of-in-my-diet during my cheat days lol! I still log cheat days and since I have an idea of the calories of most of the food i eat, i still control the portions

    but this time I won't be doing it once a week. when i get used to eating healthy i don't crave for unhealthy food. there are just some days where i randomly crave for something so I eat it. it happens once in a few weeks only. if my tummy doesn't want anything i used to love (donuts, fastfood, chocolates, cakes, cupcakes etc.) then i won't eat it :)
  • Amandawith3kids
    Amandawith3kids Posts: 367 Member
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    no. i tend towards working the things i want in my diet daily. i have ice cream almost every day (although yesterday i found i cant add in my head and went over on accident)

    this reminds me, i'm out of chocolate. i should pick some up while i'm out later.
  • sunandskies
    sunandskies Posts: 25 Member
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    When she's talking about a "cheat day" or "treat day" or whatever you want to call it, it's not about gorging herself with soda, cake, processed cheese, cheetos etc. We grew up in a culinary family (and still are!) and perhaps we still want to enjoy rich delicious cheese, yummy red wine, dark chocolate panna cotta, prosciutto and figs, neapolitan pizza, local restaurants and wineries etc. Having a meal that would be a "treat" one day a week and going over our calorie goal, does NOT mean we're stuffing ourselves to the brim with cake and chemicals.

    I so want to come to your house when you are having a cheat day. Sounds delicious!

    Tora Chan - There are no "good" or "bad" foods. . . . .there is just food.

    You wouldnt consider pork rinds "bad food"? There are good and bad foods; which is the whole point behind having a "cheat" day to allow yourself to eat those "bad foods".

    Ask Dr. Oz whether he thinks there are no bad foods that humans shouldnt eat and see what he says.

    There are certainly bad foods. Hemlock for one. Monkshood. Horse-chestnuts. Those'll kill ya! Literally. Because they are poison.
    But normal things found in a grocery store? None of that is "bad" for you if eaten in moderation. If you can honestly say that you haven't since starting your lifestyle change and seriously plan to never again eat a single piece of chocolate, or french fry, or
    scoop of gelato then you are crazy.
    But what do I know? I'll just sit back and eat my mini chocolate egg, which, for the record, fits my macros. Has a nice little hit of fat I was missing today.
  • easjer
    easjer Posts: 219 Member
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    I'm not cheating on anything, so no to the idea of cheat days or meals. However, I do sometimes consciously choose to indulge in higher calorie or foods with lower nutritional values, a meal out at a restaurant (or takeout/delivery), or to eat above my normal calories. Often, over the course of a week, it balances with my exercise to maintain the deficit I am trying to achieve, but I do not believe in complete food restriction over the long-term.

    I pre-plan as much as possible, especially when I know we're going out. We don't spontaneously go out frequently anymore (saves food wastage, money and my calories). I budget in exercise. I try to plan healthy meals with good variety of foods and hit macros, even with treats. I log everything, even when it's painful to do so and see my deficit shrink - but it does help me when I'm not hungry but want to emotionally eat to think - do I want to go for an extra run in order to eat this? Usually not, because I'm lazy.

    But I dislike the term cheating, because it implies something shady, something morally wrong, something that should be hidden. When really, you're just changing your priorities for a day - life happens. If someone were to tell me that I could never indulge in foods I like again because they are 'junk' or 'unhealthy' or 'bad' I would quit. I'd honestly rather be fat than never eat blue cheese again. Everyone's got different priorities. Eat well most of the time, limit your treats and splurges and be honest about your motivations and realities, look at your aggregate weekly intake vs burn and be honest about whether or not your approach is working. That is what is sustainable and reasonable.

    I'm all about reasonable and sustainable, because I've tried the other ways without success.

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