"Cheat" Days

SlipperySlope

I'm curious if there are others out there who feel the same way I do:

I don't believe in "cheat days."

I'm not saying we should never treat ourselves and I'm not saying we should fall apart if we have bad days--they happen, we all know...but I'm trying to make permanent changes in the way I view (and consume!) food...if I intentionally go back to the old way of thinking for one day per week (or however often), I don't feel committed to changing for good.

I know different things work for different people, and I'm definately not judging if you disagree with me or if a cheat day works for you...just wanted to hear from some different perspectives...?

farids

I have to have cheat days, if I didn't I would go crazy. But even with cheat days I dont go overboard. Say I want to eat fries I have half a portion of it.Like this past saturday I really wanted to eat pizza, I had half of a personal pizza. It felt good, and I did not compromise my diet in a big way.

happy115

I agree with you. Moderation is key and if you allow yourself to not be in that mode of thinking - even for a day - it doesn't help the progress. I've questioned that too - whether I should allow myself a "cheat day"... I tend to binge eat on those days - which offset the hard work that I've done the rest of the week. No more excuses.

abyt42

I don't have cheat days. I log what I'm eating, and try to keep my numbers close to 1200 every day. I have had one day when I was way over since the end of July when I started on mfp. I just know I have a difficult time building good habits when I'm not staying consistent. Since I'm trying to build healthy habits, I don't want to cheat myself.

kgs0201

i agree with you... i don't do cheat days. I have bad days (oh trust me do i ever)... but if i eat more I generally make myself go for a walk or do an exercise to make up for it. I don't think that allowing myself one day where I can eat whatever I want is going to benefit me at all...

I'm curious whether or not people's "cheat" days have a limit on them or is it just a whole day of eating without counting or caring? because if i had a day where i allowed myself to do that i would probably eat enough bad food to gain a whole pound.

my philosophy is everything is okay in moderation. i refuse to cut out stuff from my diet. if i want chocolate then i can have it. if i want bread, i eat it. calories in, calories out. it works for me.

moonport

I guess it depends on how you define a "cheat" day. I eat out once a week on Saturdays and I make cookies on Sundays. I look forward to these things and I've lost 28 lbs. in 7 weeks.

Yasmine91

I do have them hehe and they do work for me

I do understand what you mean though about continueing the cheat days for longer than it should be. But I really got to have a cheat day, makes dieting so much more easier

SJSchwartz

For me personally, I don't considering anything I eat to be cheating. I can eat whatever I want, as long as I stay within my calories. I do have bad days and go over, but I consider those bad days, not cheating. I don't prohibit any certain food, otherwise I will end up craving it so much, that when I do have it, I would go overboard. My motto is everything in moderation. So if I feel like having junk food for lunch, I know to plan to eat less calories at supper. But I am slowly training myself to eat more filling stuff (which also tends to be healthier stuff), so I don't have hunger pains, and want more to eat a half hour later. If there is something that I really want to eat, but it's extremely high in calories, I (usually) just eat less of it than I normally would have pre-mfp. So my tastebuds are happy, and mfp calorie count is happy.

NoAdditives

I don't consider my "cheat days" as cheating, I just think of them as days off. I don't go to the gym and if I happen to go over my calories, it's not a big deal. And if I want to eat some pizza or something I wouldn't during the rest of the week, I do. I'm making healthy lifestyle changes that I'll have for the rest of my life and in order to do that I have to be able to relax every now and then, I have to be able to indulge without worrying about calories.

That said, I don't go crazy all day long. Since I know I'll probably go over on my calories, usually at only one meal, I try to make my other meals smaller and have fewer calories.

CombatVet_Armywife

I agree with you completely. I've seen AND experienced the reason cheat days don't work. The way I see it now is cheat days are what they say they are...cheating yourself. Out of the necessary lifestyle change and out of the success you're looking for in this journey. By all means, everyone is entitled to do what works for them.

firetuck

I used to believe in cheat days - but I don't anymore. For me, all they did is remind me of all the things that put me where I am today.....and make me continue to miss them the rest of the week. I've recently decided that I'm probably a sugar/fat-aholic. I am sooo much happier now that I just don't allow myself to indulge in those items.....because like an alcoholic...once I start I can't stop. So - no more cheat days for me. If I want to be healthy and be at a healthy weight I need to put the right foods in my body. It's obviously not the same for everyone - but this is where I am.

kathleennf

I'm with gainskb- everything in moderation. That includes a moderate cheat occasionally.

ErinMarie25

Depends on what you think a cheat day is. I have them every Saturday, but it's not really a cheat DAY. I will have something I normally wouldn't. Maybe go out to eat or have some candy. That's it. It keeps a lot of people same from cravings in fact and keeps them from binging.

heathersmilez

I have removed cheat DAYS from my world and do a cheat MEAL once a week.

I usually do it Saturday night after a day of fasting (see the Eat Stop Eat thread for more info) so that 1200 calorie dinner actually still falls into my daily calories.

I found that if I allowed myself an entire day I went too far. Too many pancakes for breakfast, Pb&J sandwiches & chips for lunch, like 400g of jube jubes after dinner. Most items were healthy but too many calories overall.

The one-day a week fast really helps with the deficit and weight training on this day (like others) maintains lean muscle mass. Eat Stop Eat actually suggests 2 fast days but I only do one to prevent binges on a weekday (stress-eating at work).

howardrw

I can understand what everyone is stating.
I have as we call it "cheat" days and that is usually only on Sundays.
On that day I just eat what I feel like eating.
Once the day ends, I go right back to my diet and workouts.
I usually work a little extra hard on Monday and I don't eat as much on Monday, because I am still full from Sunday.
So far this method has worked for me, but everyone's body is difference and for some people they may get off the wagon when they have a cheat day.
Like one posting stated, I look at it as a day off.
I also relax when I am on vacations and holidays, but I still make sure that I workout during my relax times.

Sweet13_Princess

I only have "cheat days" on holidays or special occassions, otherwise I try to practice moderation. If I eat something high in calories, I have to adapt my next meal or workout longer. It's all about balance. However, I don't think we shoudl give up enjoying life. Which is why I think splurging once in a while is acceptable.

Shannon

markciagne

I have a cheat day about once a week, but as others have said, I never limit myself to a certian set of foods or deny myself anything. I am fairly compulsive about logging all my food and very rarely if ever go over.

The way I see it , if you are deny yourself and absolutely avoid something (be it chocolate, french fries, potato chips or whatever) it still has control over you and you are still under its influance. Temptations in life are never going to go away, but you have to learn to deal with them in a healthy way. Only then have you really to a lifestyle change.

kayemme

i don't have cheat days, i just log what i eat. even if it's "bad".

i also keep my diary open to the public to remind myself to not be embarrassed by what i eat. and i log everything.

normal, healthy people aren't ashamed of what they eat, so i not ashamed of what i eat.

Lyadeia

I don't have cheat days, but I do have cheat meals.

I eat 35 meals a week, and 34 of those meals are healthy as can be...so once a week I eat one meal that would be considered not so healthy. I still log those calories, though. Last week I ordered pepperoni pizza with extra cheese from Domino's. (Weird thing is, it actually fit into my diary since I burned off over 800 calories exercising that day before dinner).

I believe you can have things in moderation, and that works for a lot of people. For me, it doesn't. This is simply because when I have things like cheesecake, I will never ever eat a little sliver of a slice and be satisfied. That's just me. So I cut it out of my normal daily foods, and I have it as a cheat every now and then.

I have dropped from 191 to 143 before MFP, and now down to 139, by eating 35 healthy meals a week and 1 horrible cheat meal. I have never starved myself, I have never deprived myself...and I have no regrets whatsoever.

And weird thing is, I have honestly noticed that my weight drops the day after my cheat meal.

I've read in books written by Tom Venuto (bodybuilder, health and fitness trainer) that he and many other bodybuilders actually advocate the use of cheat meals as way to boost the metabolism. The reasons for this include the fact that it shocks the system and reminds it that it is never going to go without food. Some people experience plateaus because they eat so little for extended periods of time, other people eat so few calories that they go into starvation mode...but having a higher calorie meal once a week prevents all that. It's like doing interval training in the gym. He also says that carb and calorie cycling works the same way with the same principles as having a cheat meal once a week.

But a whole cheat DAY? Never! :noway:

kennedar

I think it depends on how you define cheat....When we go to my inlaws for dinner I know that I am not going to be able to log my meals. She cooks traditional Italian meals, which are wonderful, but are very different than anything you would ever find in a chain restaurant (ie, using crepes instead of pasta in lasagna). Plus, I don't measure my portions, although I do have just a scoop of everything. I count this as a cheat meal, although I know I am not going crazy. If DH and I go on a date, I dont usually order the most healthy thing on the menu, but I dont order the worst thing either KWIM? I try to make sure I hit the gym these days and count them as a wash. I figure that I am good most of the time, but I am not going to be obsessive over what I eat, that would only last a few weeks!

miss_jamaica

This is an old thread, but a topic of interest to me. Today is, in fact, my cheat day and I am enjoying it. I give myself 1000 extra calories every Saturday which is the same day as my weigh-in. I feel like the 1/3 of a pound is well worth the enjoyment I get, especially since I won't be hitting the scale again for a week.

MakingAChoice

I agree with you, I do not have 'cheat days' either. It implies I have something to cheat on. I just do my best to balance my meals throughout the day. If there is something that is a poor choice that I want I serious consider the impact to my body and goals. Last night I indulged in a serving of potato salad at a restaurant. To me this was a treat because it is not something I would have in the course of a normal day. It was just one item in the day, not an entire day loaded with mistakes.

Russellb97

I've had a full blown "spike day" at least once a week for the past several years. It's not "cheating" when it's planned and helps you lose weight.
My rules are; eat whatever you want, no food restrictions.
Calorie limit is 2X(BMR)

After spiking; you feel great, have strong workouts, lack cravings, and avoid plateau's

Check my food logs if you're curious, yesterday I had awesome cheesecake.

edryer123

I don't have a cheat day per se.... If I want to eat something I'm craving, I look at the calorie count of a full portion and if it will keep me in my calorie count, if not I eat half. I get the taste I want but i refrain from scarfing the whole freakin' thing. Chips and salsa are my weakness, but I refuse to give it up entirely. I make my own salsa and then i count out a serving of chips and that is it.

GooneyAngel

Ah, those good ole cheat days.......When I started this life change, I told myself that I would have one cheat meal a week, that way I could enjoy the old fat foods that I so love. But, now that I am almost 4 weeks into my lifestyle change, I have only cheated once.......Everytime I think of having that "fat" meal, I get feelings of guilt and know that I will have to work extra hard to take off the weight the cheat meal would put on. So, for those that believe in it, do it! If it will keep you on track of being healty, do it! I know for me, I will have a cheat meal in celebration when I reach my GW and fit into size 6-7 again!