Do you have cheat days?

itsfatum

I don't. Cheat days are an excuse to keep eating the bullsh*t you are addicted to.
Good food is waaaay tastier when you get rid of those *kitten* meals.

jrline

One cheat day a week can be an ok thing as long as you are beating your goal the rest of the week. For me for the most part I did not need cheat days because I did not stop eating any food I enjoyed. I just kept my quantity in check.

4legsRbetterthan2

Do I have days where I go over my limit, even on purpose? Sure, I still like to live life and celebrate the times worth celebrating. You still have to log though, you always have to log! Basically what most people do is they create a nice deficit all througout the week and then they have their amazing cheat day once a week where they eat whatever they want and don't log. Sure its fun and seems like a great way to reward a few days of hard work, but then in a few months in they come back wondering why they have not lost any weight..... Normally it is because they erased a weeks worth of hard work in one day. You always have to log, otherwise you don't know what your cheat day is doing to your overall plan and cannot have sensible expectations of progress.

thismamarox

I have Friday "Free day" by that I mean, I eat some stuff that I normally do not eat during the week. Like most here, I tend to go over a little on my calories on the weekend (Friday and Saturday) due to family gatherings ect... I still watch what I eat to some extent.,..for instance, I will not sit down and eat a tall stack of pancakes...that would make me sick as well as I just don't think I could do it. Since I am on a 1200 calorie intake, its not too hard to hit that by lunch time. I do log my calories because I want to see what "old" eating habits look like. Although I eat in moderation, those calories can sneak up pretty quick. When eating out, I still make healthier choices...I think its psychological that I won't lose the weight if I am eating KFC (weird, I know). But I actually like healthier foods. I also like to log foods of free day because sometimes I "think" I am eating healthy, when really I am not. For instance, last weekend I went to Zupas for lunch. I ordered the Pina Colada half salad and a panini. Salad was 200 calories w/o dressing...panini was 900 (ouch)...guess I know what NOT to order next time I didn't feel guilty because I do not do it all the time. One thing I learned about dieting..is I CAN"T DIET!!! If I want something, I eat it...with this mind set, I rarely crave anything because I do not feel I am restricting myself.

NK1112

I don't purposely assign a day as a cheat day ... but I do seem to have a higher caloric consumption day on a regular basis, and it often coincides with a weekend day. I do log what I ate though, even though it is a depressing wake-up as to how badly I over-consumed energy that day.

I have found tha if I hve a break in logging for one day, it easily gets out of control and i don't log for more days ... My diary is viewable by putting in a code ... so it's private and therefore no one but myself sees it if that's the way i want it to be .... so who am I protecting my image from by cheating on my log? Myself? .... that defeats the purpose for me.

At one time, i did feel guilty over eating too much or of eating the 'wrong' foods ... I have gotten over that. I realize, finally, that it's not what I do one day ,,,, it's what I do consecutive days that makes my weight fluctuate or change in the direction I want it to go.

Thanks for the question. Hope you find a happy medium for what and when you log. Don't feel guilty ... just learn and move on.

RSEC75

I do have cheat days, but still log on those days and don't feel guilty. So I guess in some ways not a cheat, but I let myself go over, this Saturday was high because we went to my in-laws for dinner and they always consider days we are there as a special day to have all the indulgent foods they wouldn't normally have.

I used to think one cheat day a week didn't matter, but when I've started logging even the cheat days I realise that one really high cheat day in a week can stop me loosing weight, could possibly even make me put on weight... even if I'm really careful the rest of the week.

So I have cheat days, but make myself log them (so I can average the rest of the week to at least avoid putting on weight) and try not to let my cheat days be too over the top. There is cheating then there is cheating!

Like some others have said, I like to let myself eat everything I like in moderation, then I don't really crave stuffing my face with stuff I like but have been avoiding. Well not so much I can't pull my week average back on track anyway.

JustRedic

When I started trying to lose weight I only allowed myself a "Cheat Meal." Usually ordering out dinner or allow myself to have a few beers. After losing 50lbs I allowed myself to have both, so it turned into a "Cheat Evening." Now that I've lost 100lbs. I allow myself a full "Cheat Day," but I have changed my eating habits so much that I don't feel like eating everything under sun and usually end up having a slightly larger lunch and dinner, then a some booze while I bowl, and followed by drunk munchies.

FYI my "Cheat Day" is bowling night because it's the only night I go out and drink, and it's also my "Rest Day" from lifting/jogging. I just started on MFP last week, I logged my last cheat day, it was interesting to see how many calories I consumed and compare it to my good days, but I wasn't embarrassed by it, because I feel like I earned it.

At the end of the day, you have to have the mindset that, the harder you "Cheat" the harder you have to work to make up for it.

curiousgemfit

I am beginning to see that an entire cheat day is a terrible idea.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. Appreciate it

desidieter

I am beginning to see that an entire cheat day is a terrible idea.

I don't necessarily think so. But like I said in my previous post, if you're going to have entire cheat days, it's probably best to not have them very often -- definitely not once a week, because, as others have said, that will end up being counterproductive. I have entire cheat days, but just not often at all. Like, I've been back to this dieting thing for about 2 months now, and so far, I've allowed myself one major cheat day. The rest of the time, I just allow myself small indulgences along the way.

Ultimately, you just have to find what works best for your body and goals.

pander101

I think it really depends on your goals. You could undo your week's work having a day where you gorged yourself. I personally have this "cheat meal" twice a week during my school terms. But I don't eat for the rest of the day. I help out with a scuba group and we go out to eat afterwards and I want to enjoy that time but still want to not blow my calorie goals. So I rather have the burger and beer later in the day than just eat whatever the entire day. That's what's been working for me.

malibu927

No, I fit what I want into my goals, such as the brownie I just ate.

KittenKat1454

If I were to count anything as a cheat day, it would be the days that I eat breakfast. (I am currently doing intermittent fasting.)