cheat days

mrblaze211

Does anyone have a set cheat day that you don't log ? I have been useing Saturday as my cheat day I don't log but I do try to not go crazy.. just wondering. Sometimes I gain a pound or two on Monday weight in but by the middle of the week its gone.

CoachNYLA

Why do we want to cheat?

michedarnd

I am explicitly zig-zagging my diet. I log what I am eating because I want to make SURE I don't go crazy, but on my high-calorie days, I plan to have "treats" that normally get eliminated from my diet. That gives me two days a week where I just accept the fact that I am going to go over (although, truth to tell, I often end up exercising on those days, so, I don't always truly end up going over -- for instance, I'll do both strength-training and cardio on one of them).

rosied915

I weigh-in on Thursdays, so that night I'll have what I want for dinner.

michedarnd

I am explicitly zig-zagging my diet. I log what I am eating because I want to make SURE I don't go crazy, but on my high-calorie days, I plan to have "treats" that normally get eliminated from my diet. That gives me two days a week where I just accept the fact that I am going to go over (although, truth to tell, I often end up exercising on those days, so, I don't always truly end up going over -- for instance, I'll do both strength-training and cardio on one of them).

Of course, keep in mind... I'm not much of a sweet tooth. To me, a treat is a larger portion of my favorite fruit and some slightly fattier protein sources.

sueb12345678

Same here i do saturday & sundays buy thursday i have lost it need to cut out the old vino that is my down fall :laugh:

Mygrrls

I agree that even if you go over you should still try to log in what you eat for two reasons. Ultimately your goal is to keep under the calories over the whole week so even if you do go crazy one day you may still be under for the week. The other reason is that you can get a sense of the number of calories some of your favourite foods are. I have been extremely shocked at some things I thought were not that high in calories and really were.

Coltsman4ever

If you want to eat a Twinkie or a piece of cake one day, eat it and log it. Just don't do it every day, several times a day. In my opinion, we need to eat some things we really enjoy that may be considered a "cheat" every now and then and there's nothing wrong with it. Just be selective about how often you do it and how much of it you choose to eat.
To not log your food every day though, you're only hurting yourself.
Diets don't work, changing your lifestyle and eating habits works.

KeepGoingRhonda

If you want to eat a Twinkie or a piece of cake one day, eat it and log it. Just don't do it every day, several times a day. In my opinion, we need to eat some things we really enjoy that may be considered a "cheat" every now and then and there's nothing wrong with it. Just be selective about how often you do it and how much of it you choose to eat.
To not log your food every day though, you're only hurting yourself.
Diets don't work, changing your lifestyle and eating habits works.

great advice

CoachNYLA

I was being funny when I said, why do we want to cheat.

I know all about cheat days... when I was doing figure, my coach would give us one cheat meal to eat whatever in just an hour AND I also tried the zig zag approach (it is usually used during periodization type training) - but my blood sugar could not stay level, trying to triick my body into dropping more fat at a faster rate. It was all a set up eventually so I had to just have a food plan that was steady.

On my cheat days I would just vamp up my carbs (rice, potato) and sometimes corn tortillas making turkey tacos or something.

But mostly, I don;t get into the cheat deal anymore.

Want to really drop some fat, eat a food plan void of refined sugar, wheat and flour and make it a lifestyle change.

shannon121278

My theory is that if I cut out everything I love and don't give myself treats and only eat healthy, that I will not succeed. I feel that one day I will just break down, and pig out and have junk and my favorite foods.

So my plan for weight loss is that maybe once a week I will have a treat. Some french fries or a cheeseburger or a bowl of ice cream (the real stuff), or a candy bar or something I'm in the mood for that's not healthy for me normally and that I've cut out. However I still plan to log my food whenever I have a treat, and still try and stick under my calorie goal. Meaning if I eat a 600 calorie cheeseburger, that's 600 calories less on everything else I can have for the day. I'll still stick to my calorie goals, but still get a treat.

But as for cheat DAYS, I don't think I could do it, because I would fall too much off track. I would rather have a treat here and there but still stick to my calorie goal. Best of both worlds!

CoachNYLA

Does anyone have a set cheat day that you don't log ? I have been useing Saturday as my cheat day I don't log but I do try to not go crazy.. just wondering. Sometimes I gain a pound or two on Monday weight in but by the middle of the week its gone.

Just FYI, try checking your body composition rather than just scale weight. Most likely it's water weight your gaining and losing.

Are you training for a sport btw?

CoachNYLA

My theory is that if I cut out everything I love and don't give myself treats and only eat healthy, that I will not succeed. I feel that one day I will just break down, and pig out and have junk and my favorite foods.

So my plan for weight loss is that maybe once a week I will have a treat. Some french fries or a cheeseburger or a bowl of ice cream (the real stuff), or a candy bar or something I'm in the mood for that's not healthy for me normally and that I've cut out. However I still plan to log my food whenever I have a treat, and still try and stick under my calorie goal. Meaning if I eat a 600 calorie cheeseburger, that's 600 calories less on everything else I can have for the day. I'll still stick to my calorie goals, but still get a treat.

But as for cheat DAYS, I don't think I could do it, because I would fall too much off track. I would rather have a treat here and there but still stick to my calorie goal. Best of both worlds!

The best thing I have learned is to change my perception of food and my relationship with it. Most people think I am some fitness trainer who does not relate to these things, but from once from where I came...I used to weight almost 170 pounds and I am only 4'9" tall !!

Cheat days and treats will always keep you stuck if your are foodie at heart. It will never allow you to change totally. It's like an alcoholic who keeps having a drink once in a while but someday, they get drunk again. If you know what I mean.

missikay1970

i have one meal per month that i eat whatever i want (and i do mean ANYTHING, chili dog, cheeseburger, etc.) and drink soda. i used to drink 2-3 per day, so one per month is a huge treat to me! i do not log anything into MFP that day, and don't go to the gym. it's just a way for me to relax and have something naughty. funny thing, this last treat/cheat day, i had about 2 bites of my cheeseburger and realized it wasn't all that i had remembered! LOL i still can't believe i used to eat like that every.single.day. i think having a day where absolutely nothing is logged or paid attention to is key for me. i get a bit obsessed at times, and i think having one day off per month is necessary (for me) also, on sundays, i don't go to the gym. i consider it my rest day. but my menu remains healthy on that day.

MsALMill

I never explicitly plan a cheat day but I try not to kill myself if I do go over once or twice a week. Being that I only do a once a month weigh in it doesn't show as a problem at all. Each month I still lose about 10 pounds.

shydaisi

I don't do cheat days really. I eat back a large portion of my exercise calories, so on my high burn days, I get more than enough calories to splurge on a high calorie treat if I want. I rarely go over my calorie goal.

mrblaze211

Not training for a sport just trying to drop some lbs I do thank-you for your advise !

mrblaze211

Thank-you for ur advise I will still have my cheat day but I'm gonna start logging it maybe it will help get me past this wall I have hit

luv2ash

No cheat days here----

katkins3

I don't really have a cheat day, but I plan ahead to have a treat at the bakery after Sat. gym visit.
I usually know in advance the calories of what I'll have and add the baked item as a snack, but stay at my usual calorie goal for the day, plus the exercise calories I just got at the gym.

dianaskin

I don't think I could do a whole cheat DAY! That would completely take me off track. If I had a whole day of eating whatever and not being focused it would be TWICE as hard the next day to get back to the plan and I would probably be super hungry! For me, what works best is consistency and trying to eat balanced meals so that my hunger is at bay and blood sugar remains constant.

But we all have to figure out what works best for us and what will keep us going for the longer term and as said previously, results in a lifestyle change. If, for you, that means a cheat day, then your best bet would be to log it because you'd still want to make sure you're not going WAY over the calorie requirements. (so if you've managed to burn off 3500 calories during the week, and then on your cheat day you splurge 3500 calories away, then you just put back the pound you could have lost!).