do you plan a cheat day?

hooah_mj

There's been a lot of talk about planning a cheat day and I am wondering if anyone has had successful weight loss with this type of strategy....(naturally, a single cheat meal sounds more acceptable to me).
Does calorie/fat intake matter and do you "make up" for the increase before and/or after?

I'm finding it very difficult to keep the family away from take-out, esp when it's my favorite most of the time!:noway:

mandavann

I try to eat as clean as I can every day and allow myself a cheat meal (and sweet treat) on Sundays.

AliciaJade93

What i do is have a cheat day, but i eat like a packet of crisps and maybe some take out, then i exercise using the Wii fit and dancing and generally more fun ways to work out. It works for me

staceyb_2003

nope mine generally just happens a few days before my time of month like today for example

togden

I guess I cheat everyday ... I love my 2 oreos a day for 140 cals ... but i ensure my sugar numbers are under and i work out each day.

Ltlmis

I have some food issues, so a cheat day is not really an option for me. I have had a real hard time climbing up on the bandwagon after such plans in the past, and I find my day-to-day food has a tendency to get squirrelly enough without me giving myself permission to binge!

bluespring

Hi ya.
I AM planning a cheat day....SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!
And I don't want any of that fake-chicken/turkey-crap-shaped-like-a-chicken-wing either. I want a real, meaty deep fried chicken wing with real sauce and real ranch dressing!
:bigsmile:
hahaha

sarahTV

My 'cheat' is eating something I wouldn't normally have, but I still exercise and alter the rest of the day to 'try' to stay under my calorie goal. Sometimes I go over by a little, but if I do, I work out longer/harder the next day or couple of days to compensate and I'm even more strict with my food to cancel it out. After doing that a couple of times, it's not as fun to cheat b/c I just kick my own *kitten* for it.

Tonight we're going out to eat (Japanese) which I consider my 'cheat' but I've already calculated what I'm going to eat and I have been good all day so that it'll work out.

taso42_DELETED

Yes. I am a strong advocate of the cheat day (which I prefer to call the free day). I lost around 30lbs in 12 weeks, back when I first got serious about getting fit, and I took a cheat day on most of those weeks. I have changed it up recently and do more like 1 or 2 free meals per week instead of a whole day.

I still remember my first ever cheat day. I went to burger king and ordered a double whopper with cheese, fries, and diet coke. I took about 3 bites of the whopper and felt full. But I decided to eat the whole thing anyway. I felt like total crap for the rest of the day. I don't recommend forcing yourself to eat when you're full. That was pretty dumb.

It's actually quite interesting how hard it actually is to have a big splurge meal once your body is in the habit of eating clean.

AndreSF

Friday is my typical "cheat day"... going out with the family, etc., however, I try to make "clean" choices even then. Don't mind being over the cals level a bit on those days, but not splurging too much either. Ice cream after restaurant meal is the worth I do on those days.

Good luck!

FutureMsFit

Cheat day? I would think that would defeat the purpose of learning to live a healthy lifestyle, but that's just me. For every 3500 calories you don't eat you could potentially lose a pound. I was eating well over 3500 calories a day before 1/1/11. Maybe you could "plan" what you're going to be eating when "cheat" and see how many calories you're potentially going to eat and see if it's worth it to you. Example: My boyfriend and I have date night religiously every two weeks on Friday night. I know where we're going to go for dinner because that's the same place we always go. I know what I'm going to eat and while it's not "diet food" I know I can estimate my calories for that meal and plan the rest of the day accordingly. I'm not sure that helps or hurts...you can find the nutritional content for most restaurants online so if you're going to Olive Garden, Applebees, Ruth's Chris...and you know possible what you'd like to eat...then you could plan the rest of the day to stay inline with your goals.

While I say the above, I will tell you this...I was on the Adkins diet for 4 months about 8 years ago and I lost 60 lbs. It was extremely hard not to eat carbs...but for one hour each week I would eat whatever I wanted...I still lost the weight...all the carbs I wanted in an hour didn't seem to throw me off...

I think you'll get out of "this" what you put into it...if you want to "cheat" then you'll probably go back into a unhealthy eating lifestyle. and I don't mean YOU and in YOU I mean that as in anyone who does it.

I'm going to be so hated after this hated but honest

iknowicaniknowican

I plan a meal once a month that is not on plan . For me it is important to have that meal once a month. It helps keep me focused and to not give in to temptations since I know I will be having a meal of my choice soon. Cindy

6Janelle13

I plan my cheat days, meals or weekends. If i have too many, my weight loss stalls out, but i haven't found a great balance for going out of town to see family and friends and having full control of my meals. I do make the best decisions possible but it doesn't always work out.

when it is just for me, I put my unhealthiest meal of that day in my planner so i know where I stand and try to balance the rest. For tomorrow I am making blue cheese burgers. I know that is likely a 500 to 700 calorie commitment. I know my sodium will be high too. My goal will be to have breakfast and lunch/ snacks be low and to consume lots of water. I want to enjoy my food and my life I just can't blow it too often. I guess it depends on how much weight you have to lose and what your goals are. Mine is to find a balance in food so that I can lose weight and maintain that weight loss while balancing what I love to eat and my social eating/drinking with others.

servilia

I don't really plan a cheat day but I know that inevitably I will have one on the weekend when my husband and I go out. So I keep to my plan during the week and if we end up going out and I eat too much I don't beat myself up about it. So far it hasn't really hurt me

myukniewicz

tonight is my cheat meal (normally its every Saturday). Japanese Steak House, here i come!!!

i watch what i eat during the day, and make sure i exercise, that way i can splurge on my dinner and i have lost 12 pounds so far, so it's been working for me

kbairdphillips

I usually go over my calories one day a week by about 400 or 500, but i work out hard that day and even harder the next day. On other days I'm under my goal by 200-300 calories. It balances out and I think it keeps me on track. It allows me to not be so obsessive about what I eat.

Plus, on the days that I do go over, I enter everything in my diary and when I complete my entry, it will still say I will lose a little weight if I continue to eat like that every day for 5 weeks. So as long as you don't go overboard or binge, I think it's ok to have a cheat day.

vickyplum

Hi

I dont have a cheat day I have a half a day off!!!

Mine is a Monday afternoon onwards I get weighed on a monday at 230pm at my fitness class
after I get home I eat what I want wether it be sweets or take aways!!

I have lost a total of 2stone 9lbs (37lbs) in just over a year(55weeks)!! so if I can take weight off and have
some time off from my regime then why cant others!!
The reason it works for me is that if I feel as if I am on a diet all the time I lose heart and motivation!!

This gets me by!!!

Good luck with everyones journey!!
We can do this

outersoul

I don't plan a cheat day, I kind of play it by ear. However I do work off what I eat on the unplanned cheat day.

teach1975

I do-then I am motivated the rest of the week!! Usually Sat. or Sun..It works for me, but may not work for all. I guess I am not as worried about it being unhealthy, better than 7 unhealthy days!!:)

hooah_mj

SO MANY GREAT MINDSETS!
I very much appreciate the thoughts put into making this a real.

I hadn't thought about changing my "weigh-in day" to coincide with a "free" meal...the two would certainly help to keep things in focus. Normally, I use the Monday scale day to keep me from cheating (too much on the weekends).

I tend not to thoroughly enjoy any weekend "free meal" (BTW, I love that term much better), since I usually weigh-in on Mondays. I know it's better to keep things real and develop healthier habits, but I never imagined that it's more about the food than it is about the workout (for me & esp bec' I'm getting older) in weight loss.

I'm moving to a new phase, as of today...exactly what that encompasses, I haven't completely figured out....
One thing is certain, I need to make friends with food...not love it so much & not hate it, either. Thx All :flowerforyou:

RebeccaM2386

I don't really have a cheat day but sometimes I cheat on a meal like last night but I did some extra exercise to make up for it