Cheat or "Free" Days/ Rewards

daniellee725

The plan I'm following (Chris Powell's carb cycling) allows for a reward day (1000 more calories than you generally have on a normal day) per week. I think having it is fantastic. It helps me to say no to temptation throughout the week, because I know I can always have it on Sunday. For me it's easier to have a day of not being perfect because I can't really do small cheat meals intermittently because it will lead me to binge. I'm not great at moderation, so I like having a whole day to not worry about a diet. (Only works if you keep it within reason, no 10,000 calorie cheat days or anything)

xXBabyBelleXx

This weekend has been a couple of cheat days. I went out in town last night with my girlfriends. So I stayed within my calorie allowance for food but did go over with alcohol. Today I've completely written it off, as hangover equals lots of sugar and lying on the sofa. Tomorrow I will be back on the plan for at least another month or more until I go out again. Do I feel like I've let myself down - not really, as it was a fantastic night and I felt a milon bucks in my new smaller dress! :-)

SherryTeach

In two years I have gone over my calories maybe a half dozen times, never than more than a couple of hundred. If this really is a sustainable lifestyle change, I have no need to cheat. I'm getting all the food my body and soul needs.

cece5300

I don't have whole "cheat days" because I would do some serious damage, but I will indulge occasionally. Last night I had a giant snickers bar and some Pringles and it was amazing and so worth it. I work out 7 days a week and I figure, I'm trying to do a lifestyle change. I think about the rest of my life and there are going to be days when I have candy or junk food, I personally couldn't see the rest of my life nibbling on sugar snap peas on days when I'm craving a darn snickers bar. I just reached my goal weight and throughout the past few weeks I've still had occasional pieces of deep dish cookie cake and brownies and peanut butter cookies. It's all about moderation.

Chris_Pierce

For a while I was eating a big deficit 6 days a week and focusing mainly on hitting my fat and protein goals, the 7th day (refeed) I'd still work out normally, but I'd eat at maintenance or a little over. These days usually involved pizza, thai or Mexican food, lots of it. I'd still hit my macros though. I always eat whatever I want, as long as I can fit it into my goals, I'm lucky because I don't ever feel the urge to eat an entire pie or a jar of peanut butter. Over all I really like the concept of refeeds. It does a lot for your mental well being to be able to say," no, I will treat myself at the end of the week" and then stick with your diet. And it worked well for me, since I wanted to lose weight. One month I lost nearly 10 pounds while making improvements on my lifts.

socialdchic

I rarely have cheat days, when I do it makes me feel like crap and its so much harder to get back on track, not worth it imo