Cheat Days...

ChubbyBunny

Do they work? I haven't had the best eating habits this week, a lot due to stress and being unprepared. It's also the end of the year and some of my classes are having parties.

Today is my first "official" cheat day and I am trying really hard not to beat myself up for the splurges I am making. I mean, I do that whenever I go over on regular days. I even started tracking somr of the meals but....it's gonna depress me. Should you still track "cheat" days just so you know how bad they are and why you want to do better?

Anyway, I am still beating myself up. Should I just eliminate "cheat" days all together?

ChubbyBunny

Do they work? I haven't had the best eating habits this week, a lot due to stress and being unprepared. It's also the end of the year and some of my classes are having parties.

Today is my first "official" cheat day and I am trying really hard not to beat myself up for the splurges I am making. I mean, I do that whenever I go over on regular days. I even started tracking somr of the meals but....it's gonna depress me. Should you still track "cheat" days just so you know how bad they are and why you want to do better?

Anyway, I am still beating myself up. Should I just eliminate "cheat" days all together?

banks1850

sure, if you keep them relatively far between, and don't go crazy with it. A shock to the body sometimes helps.

Cassia

How far between is "far between" a week a month?

Life_is_Good

sure, if you keep them relatively far between, and don't go crazy with it. A shock to the body sometimes helps.

Going to my favorite italian restaurant for dinner tonight!

:happy: So a shock to my system with canneloni & white sauce will help? Wooo hoo!! :drinker:

beautifulbay

You should typically allow yourself 1 cheat day per week ...just don't go overboard on them....it helps you against urges to eat what you love, and it keeps you from utterly failing, because the more you try and convince yourself you can't have something...the more you want it .... so allow it once a week.

borjanap

i cant do cheat days..if I do something like that I end up going ovrboard.lol

ladylaycee

I have a cheat day once a week, cause if I don't I'll get tempted to eat crazy things!!! so don't get rid of cheat days, just don't go overboard whenever you do!



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lina1131

I have one cheat day a week. I usually enjoy one meal that I feel like having. One time I had a cheeseburger, another time I had a buffalo chicken wings wrap. As long as you don't sit there and stuff your face all day and take full advantage, you should be fine. I never gain after a cheat day, BTW. If anything, I usually stay the same or see a loss!

GIGINATOR

I have a cheat(splurge) day once a week. it's usually not the whole day, just dinner most of the time. I find it helps to do a overindulge day once in a while to break a plateau-maybe once a month. I think it confuses the body.

ChubbyBunny

I still am tallying my calories....I just have to.

It's kinda mind blowing how fast they add up! I am thinking I like the one cheat meal once a week idea.... that way I don't feel blah the whole day.

MisdemeanorM

I don't do cheat days. Or - at least I dont call them that!

There are days that I dont eat great or that I do nearly completely blow my "diet" but i work to not consider these cheat days - namely because cheat days lead me to think that my daily eating is abnormal and some kind of punishment for being overweight that I am "cheating" if I am not following it rigorusly!

I figure that if I am really not on a diet, but working toward lifestyle eating change that cheat days defeat that mindset. I acknowledge that I will not always stay under my calories for the day and that if I go over it just means that my weight loss will be a little slower - but overall my eating habits are better, I am in the practice of regularly exercising, I am very aware of what actual portion sizes are and how much my body actually needs to function / stay fit, and what the different calories of different foods are - so overall I am still coming out ahead, and I am more likely to stick with it long term.

Like yesterday, I had french fries and oreos - but I had a small instead of a super size and 5 oreos instead of 1/2 a package!! Cravings quelled and calories within reason!

I do sometimes go for the big icecream sunday with the hot fudge and nuts and cool whip - but I dont consider it cheating because the "old me" would have eaten about twice as much and several days in a row... and probably for breakfast...

Just keep it within reason, try to encorporate it into an overall healthy lifestyle, and most importantly... IF YOU GO OVER OR SPLURGE DO NOT FEEL GUILTY! If you are going to eat it - enjoy it! And then get back to a healthy lifestyle overall!

Oh - and DO log it because you have to be honest about what you are eating and you can keep track of how often these overages occure, how severe they are, etc!

Not sure if all my rambling makes sense to you! But it does to me :laugh:

tparkin

I don't do cheat days. Or - at least I dont call them that!

There are days that I dont eat great or that I do nearly completely blow my "diet" but i work to not consider these cheat days - namely because cheat days lead me to think that my daily eating is abnormal and some kind of punishment for being overweight that I am "cheating" if I am not following it rigorusly!

I figure that if I am really not on a diet, but working toward lifestyle eating change that cheat days defeat that mindset. I acknowledge that I will not always stay under my calories for the day and that if I go over it just means that my weight loss will be a little slower - but overall my eating habits are better, I am in the practice of regularly exercising, I am very aware of what actual portion sizes are and how much my body actually needs to function / stay fit, and what the different calories of different foods are - so overall I am still coming out ahead, and I am more likely to stick with it long term.

Like yesterday, I had french fries and oreos - but I had a small instead of a super size and 5 oreos instead of 1/2 a package!! Cravings quelled and calories within reason!

I do sometimes go for the big icecream sunday with the hot fudge and nuts and cool whip - but I dont consider it cheating because the "old me" would have eaten about twice as much and several days in a row... and probably for breakfast...

Just keep it within reason, try to encorporate it into an overall healthy lifestyle, and most importantly... IF YOU GO OVER OR SPLURGE DO NOT FEEL GUILTY! If you are going to eat it - enjoy it! And then get back to a healthy lifestyle overall!

Oh - and DO log it because you have to be honest about what you are eating and you can keep track of how often these overages occure, how severe they are, etc!

Not sure if all my rambling makes sense to you! But it does to me :laugh:

I totally agree with you!! It's not about "cheating" or not, it's about maintaining a healthy balance everyday and still keeping ourselves happy!

jenbar

Something funny about cheat days.
I looked back on my check ins. And noticed the plateaus. There were 2 of them for almost 3 weeks each. Then I noticed when the weight started coming off again. I looked at my nutrition report and wherever it peaked (Easter and a communion) when I ate more, is when the weight started coming off again. So.... I think every now and then, you need to eat a little more. I think it's strange, but it works. So when you are so strict with your calories for weeks, and are still losing, that's great, but when it halts for a week or two, shock it with 200-400 extra calories on one day and see what happens!
Worked for me!

Starlightdusk

I think that it might help if you used the MFP tools and looked up how many cal's a day you can eat and still lose, I think it goes to .5lbs a week. Then you can see how many cals over whatever you eat now you can still eat and still lose. I did this and if I go over my goal/target cals for a day I don't feel like it is bad/cheating whatever because I know that it is still under that number. So I know that it may be slower but I am still losing. did that make any sense?

ChubbyBunny

Thanks you guys, I appreciate the help.

Sadly, I gained weight cause of a crazy schedule and not being prepared. On top of it being "that time" I am sure my cheat day wasn't the sole cause of the weight gain but the erratic behavior the past 2 weeks was. :grumble:

I will try to be a bit more diligent. Although the "cheat day" was fun I felt very BLAH afterwords, just too much junk. I eat pretty normal (not a strict dieter) but I totally felt the difference between what I USED to do and what I've changed.