What does a "Cheat Day" mean to you?

Laelee

This is exactly how I feel too and its the reason why I don't have cheat days. I don't need to, what I chose normally, fullfills my needs. I find the farther along I go, the more I crave healhy stuff and prefer it over what I used to eat. You know, all the junk that got me into trouble in the first place! I still have treats, so to speak, because my family brings them home, but they just don't have the same appeal anymore and I'm able to finally control my intake of them. Usually after a bite or two, I'm done. Too salty, too sweet, too greasy etc etc.

A cheat what? Nah not me. I love my good food to much. Have so many great foods I have found that taste amazing and recipes that I feel like everyday is a cheat day for me. If you are tired of "healthy" food then you might need to broaden your horizons and look for something more appealing. Just a thought not a slam...its hard to say stuff nice by text. ha! I have some great recipes if you want them message me.

K see ya! =0)

mattyh21

to me there is no such thing as a cheat day. When losing weight or trying to become "healthy" it is not a short process but something that your body will be doing for its whole life. Being on a diet for a year is pointless, you need to have fun with life and take it to the max, if it means one day you go a little crazy and have a few slices of pizza then so what. You have your whole life to take that "weight" off, the next day go a little harder or a little longer. It is limiting how many cheat days in a month that will help everyone lose weight. If a "cheat day" is occurring less and less then great! if not, as long as you keep working out and getting the proteins your body needs, nothing will be out of reach!

Good luck and enjoy life, enjoy food, and be merry!

locococo

I think cheat days are ok and healthy, as long as you can control yourself. If you have a habit of not being able to do moderation, avoid them.

Day to day counting is good, but generally what really counts is what happens over a week. If you deny yourself something you really crave too much, you set yourself up for a binge, etc.

So every so often I let myself eat something not so healthy and not feel bad about it, even if I go a little over the daily calories. There's no need to freak out over an oreo or slice of cheesecake.

hummzz

My cheat day is something that I don't usually eat in my daily foods. I try to keep them within my calories. Like I'll have lasagna or a fried food and keep it to a minimal.

Dtho5159

I don't do "cheat days" I do a cheat meal. usually once or twice a month we go to this awesome chinese buffet and I don't keep track of what i eat there. If I do feel I ate a ton, then I eat something really low calorie for dinner like veggies but more times than not, Im still full from the chinese. I only eat 1 plate when we go which is much better than the 2+ that I used to eat. I don't eat dessert there either. For me, its the only way to still let me have something I want without going too overboard because if I wasn't allowed a meal a couple times a month, I wouldn't stick to this.

Now we do have taco bell every friday night but I incorporate that into my daily calories and make sure I stay under with it. But Im not about to take my measuring cup and food scale to china buffet haha

ChitownFoodie

Don't get me wrong...In the last 5 weeks I have had 1 cheat day and pretty much beat myself up the next day for it. I have decided to have one cheat day a month, since I don't build in a rest/off day.

jd19801984

I stuff my face with whatever I want Saturday and Sunday!! It kick starts my metabolism again. I am within my weight range so I have to keep my metabolism burning so thats what I do. :-)

hummzz

to me there is no such thing as a cheat day. When losing weight or trying to become "healthy" it is not a short process but something that your body will be doing for its whole life. Being on a diet for a year is pointless, you need to have fun with life and take it to the max, if it means one day you go a little crazy and have a few slices of pizza then so what. You have your whole life to take that "weight" off, the next day go a little harder or a little longer. It is limiting how many cheat days in a month that will help everyone lose weight. If a "cheat day" is occurring less and less then great! if not, as long as you keep working out and getting the proteins your body needs, nothing will be out of reach!

Good luck and enjoy life, enjoy food, and be merry!

I agree with this but I've been trying to eat what I will eat for the rest of my life while losing weight. I've changed a lot of eating habits, but I know I won't be drinking Soy milk forever so I don't do it now. My goal is to lose weight while eating healthier but within the things I know I can live with for the rest of my life. If that makes sense. I know I love ice cream so I eat ice cream occasionally instead of every day now. Good post!

Mandam1018

My "cheat" day includes eating as I normally would, doing my normal exercise, but then I may have a few drinks that evening (and yes, I mean a few as in 2 or 3). Other than that, I really try to keep it all the same. Now I do have "rest" day once a week where I eat normally but don't do any gym-type exercises.

bltmgray

I don't do cheat days because it's too hard for me to get back on the wagon once I jump off. Sometimes I will have a little bit of something just to satisfy the cravings....it's all about moderation for me

I agree. It's all about moderation for me. If I want a some cake, I just have a small peice and try to stay within my calories.

ChitownFoodie

I don't do a whole day to cheat - I have a meal. If there's something I'm REALLY craving then once a week, I'll go have it. I don't limit myself other than to not stuff myself until I need to be rolled out to the car. I've noticed that my cheat meals have just about disappeared though. I just don't crave crap like I used to.

I don't ever either. Today maybe my cheat day, but aside from dinner, I am eating healthy and clean the rest of the day.

funfitfoodie

I'm pretty much the same! I'm pretty strict with my diet for 6 days then have different foods on cheat day but try and stay under 1500 calories (I'm on 1270 the other 6 days). I don't tend to exercise at the weekend anyway (Sunday is cheat day) because I try to run Monday, Wednesday, Friday then spinning on Tuesday and kettlebell and abs on Thursday.

Also if I have an event I know about like a friends birthday I'll move my cheat day for that week!

ahanson6

I intended my treat day to be a day when I could have whatever food I had really been craving all week, but slowly it's become a treat meal, and I still try to make it as healthy as possible while keeping it a satisfying treat. The longer I monitor my eating the more I seem to make healthier decisions even on my treat days. I always log everything, and I work out just like a normal day if not more. I always end up going over on my calories, but it's never by a devastating amount. It's nice to have one day a week where I feel like I don't have to plan every single thing.

Beachbride07

I work hard (most days) to be able to eat what I want. I'm a pretty healthy eater most of the time, so when I need to satisfy a craving, I do. But I make sure that I am still under my calorie goal (or very close to it) for the day. If I have to, I go for a quick walk at the end of the day to burn a few more calories so I don't feel guilty about it.

funfitfoodie

"Cheat Day" to me means that you're cheating yourself out of your hard work, which is why I don't employ them.

That's a great way to think about it!

They work well for me as a "skinny fat" girl because they get my metabolism working! It's not about a binge I'm still healthy-ish but I'm super-healthy the other 6 days. And if I want chocolate I'll have some!

I've had a tough week this week so I'm super excited for cheat day this Sunday!

kcphilly

I like to call them "free days" instead of cheat cause I don't feel I'm don't anything wrong. Usually a free day for me happens when I know I'll be going out to eat, where I have whatever I feel like and don't worry that my one meal is more than half my daily calorie limit. I order the pasta and have dessert. I still log it all the best I can, which can be hard if that involves going to the bar some of those mixed drinks are hard to log, especially trying to remember what I had the next morning

But these days are usually planned ahead of time...so I "bank" some calories during the week for it. That way I'm still pretty close to my weekly deficit.

yes_i_can

My cheat day doesn't involve food... I let myself have a few cocktails! (But, I'm also even more strick about food and increase my water on those days)

ChitownFoodie

A cheat what? Nah not me. I love my good food to much. Have so many great foods I have found that taste amazing and recipes that I feel like everyday is a cheat day for me. If you are tired of "healthy" food then you might need to broaden your horizons and look for something more appealing. Just a thought not a slam...its hard to say stuff nice by text. ha! I have some great recipes if you want them message me.

K see ya! =0)

I don't take it as a slam. I should probably state that I don't have cheat days. I have one cheat meal in a month. My question was merely to gauge what was other's defnition. I am a fairly disciplined person, and have always been fit. I was just curious.

daddyratty

I go bonkers on a cheat day. I can easily net 4000-5000 calories, and it's totally fine. There's physiological backing for this, too. It's actually good for your body to get a huge dose of stuff it's not used to. Your metabolism, that's probably used to getting 1200-2000 calories a day, all of a sudden panics at having to burn a bunch more calories. That upstarted metabolism stays in effect for several days afterward, when you're back to your normal calorie level.

Note that this might not be good for everyone, but I've found it to work very well. I was over last Saturday, and didn't even bother tracking Sunday. I pretty much ate all day. Nuts, dried fruit, greasy chips, cake, huge meals, etc. If I had to guess I would say at least 5000 calories. Yet at my Thursday morning weigh-in, I'd still lost 2 pounds.

lobster888

I kinda agree with clarkchittyp - my cheat /free day is a holiday or special event where I try to stick to my routine but don't sweat it if I go over or don't exercise that day. Easter was an example ...I had a nice breakfast - but eat a little too much sweets..and only got in a short walk.I eat healthy and stay within my calories most days so that those days don't hurt me. But I don't have a planned cheat day every week .. it just happen when it happens. I will be attended a Derby day party and Mothers day is the next day so I know that those days will kinda be cheat days!! But I still make healthy choices and just try not to over do it.

Legs_McGee

I like to call them "free days" instead of cheat cause I don't feel I'm don't anything wrong. .

I like this. Sundays are usually my FREE days - I generally work out six days a week with a long run on Saturdays...Sundays are days with little exercise (although I sometimes go on a hike with a friend or take the Vampire Slayer for a long walk), McDonalds for breakfast, and a whole lotta chocolate all the live long day....

jllipson

My cheat day is when I go out to eat and get something totally off the wall on calories. I also don't worry about "working it off". Sometimes I do exercise, but out of want to get fit, not out of need to burn the extras. Most of the time I end up still being within calorie limits, even when I try to cheat...

Mkleder

My idea of a "cheat" day is where I deal with a craving or a holiday meal. I always:

* Stay within my target net calories
* Do my regular work out
* Put in extra effort on my workout the days before, during, and after the cheat day to make up for the indulgence

I also adjust my intake on other days that week so that my weekly calorie intake and burn even out to normal.

Within those guidelines, I eat what I want.

JMCade

cheat day is CHOCOLATE!!!!!! don't do it very often, but that if my weakness.

Simplymeah

To me a cheat day is when i workout extra hard so i can eat that cheesecake, or eat my 1200 cal but don't work out. took me awhile but i realized i can not do both.

sdirbder

My cheat days I dont count on here but I watch my portions.

cdbjr2000

I dont have a regular cheat day but if its a holiday or a party or a football game I just enjoy..

doobabe

Cheat Day for me means..........

Whatever I can cram down my throat in a 24 hour period- is consumed. lol Seriously though, I generally dont like unhealthy foods and I am a vegetarian so I am usually still in the neighborhood of my calorie goal anyway. I usually still work out- I just dont log anything (food or exercise). I generally use these days to eat with my family with no worries (or label reading).

And, these days are typically Sunday for me- Yes every week and I like it that way.

Akaratel

I guess my cheat day is the days i crave ice cream and feed that craving. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I have a weakness for ice cream.. But then I beat myself up and start doing crazy things to burn calories before bedtime.. I guess I suck at cheating... I will never ever give up my ice cream though! Do not ask me to please!

bmontgomery87

I was doing one cheat day a week for a while there. I dont go way overboard, but I would eat what I wanted.

Now I'd rather just have a mini cheat every now and then. Usually I can work my day out to where I can have a bowl of ice cream or a couple beers, and still stay within my dailiy goals.

But occasionally I'll have a "Cheat day" and just eat crappy foods and drink a little more beer than i should. Usually regret it after.I'm learning the best strategy is making foods fit into your macros for the day, so you can have something you want, while still hitting your goals.