What do you think of a "cheat" day?

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  • King_Bee
    King_Bee Posts: 275 Member
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    I believe in a little indulgence. A day off from exercise is perfectly reasonable, but I wouldn't have a free-for-all eating day. Instead of it being an entire cheat day, one cheat meal a week seems to work for me.

    I'm with you on this. Sometimes a cheat snack is all I need. Reese's are my weakness.
  • mrsvatitagain
    mrsvatitagain Posts: 275 Member
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    I don't schedule cheat days, i think its silly! I eat what I want everyday including what many would consider cheat foods. The only way for me to be successful is to LIVE normally. This means logging and watching my intake. It does not mean depriving myself and scheduling a binge say which creates a whole different set of issues, but thats just me. Do what works for you. Even weightwatchers gives you the ability to go over on those special occassions day, but the requirement is still that it all gets logged so you know how it impacts your weight for that week.
  • RNMDFF
    RNMDFF Posts: 153 Member
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    I'm not sure about this. I can do a lot of damage in a few minutes so I know what I could do in a day(it would pretty much be my old bad habits).
    I'd love some french fries
  • staceyseeger
    staceyseeger Posts: 783 Member
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    I dont "cheat" there are days that I may not fit into the parameters I have set for myself for whatever reason....I over ate, I underexercised....but I try to always be cognizant of what I am doing...it is to easy to fall back into my old patterns if I lose vigilance...but that said....I do have those "oh boy" days and I no longer beat myself up over it....I just cut back a bit the next few days and exercise a bit more and it all evens out...You CANT cheat on a lifestyle change...you can only cheat on a DIET

    :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:
  • Robinkinchen
    Robinkinchen Posts: 39 Member
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    When I have days that I know I am going to go over my calorie limit(like a special occasion.) I still log my calories. I find that helps me to keep it in perspective and have a more reasonable "splurge."
  • mrsvatitagain
    mrsvatitagain Posts: 275 Member
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    I never give myself a cheat day, what works for me is having what I want when I want it, in moderation of course and making sure I work out so that I stay under my calorie goal. I have changed my lifestyle so if I want a piece of pizza or a beer I get it but I always make sure it fits into my calorie count. That way I never feel like I am missing out or are deprived of anything.


    EXACTLY!! I am not a fan of a scehduled cheat day! Just seems counter productive. Like a person is saying I will starve myself all week and then on this one day, make myself sick.
  • Maria_Goose
    Maria_Goose Posts: 247
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    If I know there's a special event or holiday of some sort, I will actually schedule my cheat day on that one day and be good the rest of the month. But even on that day, I log and I don't eat the bad food unless I REALLY want it. Only my favorites.
  • Pidders89
    Pidders89 Posts: 1,169 Member
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    What are your thoughts on taking an entire day off from logging and exercise, and eating what you want for one day each week? In your opinion, is it hindering the overall goal? This is only if you are committed and meet your diet and exercise goals every other day of the week.

    I do this as i find it helps me with the plateau problems xxxxx
  • kimad
    kimad Posts: 3,010 Member
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  • Ebbykins
    Ebbykins Posts: 420 Member
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    If you are eating in a caloric deficit for a long time and you are close to your goal weight, 10-15 lbs out, cheat days otherwise known as "REFEEDS" by people who seek to get lean are beneficial to your goals because they help with hormones, as well to give your metabolism a boost from eating under maintenance for quite some time. There are a lot of good reads about cheats/refeeds, if you learn how to incorporate them into your program (after a certain training day, or on a certain training day) google is your friend. :D
  • CMorning99
    CMorning99 Posts: 916 Member
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    Weekends are usually my "easy" days. I don't say cheat b/c I don't go all out pizza and ice cream type of thing. But I will go out to dinner maybe 1 or 2 times and enjoy a moderate meal.

    I try to be careful because even if I feel like I did things in moderation, I end up spending 3 or 4 days the next week just losing what I gained over the weekend (water and bloat).
  • Amber82479
    Amber82479 Posts: 629 Member
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    I think it's critical to the success of any diet plan. I just try to eat reasonably and not go completely overboard. Otherwise, I end up binge eating all the stuff that I'm trying to avoid. :)
  • JulieSD
    JulieSD Posts: 567
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    I pre log my food.

    This morning I logged 19 Doritos for an evening snack.

    I do not consider this cheating or a cheat day.

    This is my normal life.
  • ninkdole
    ninkdole Posts: 243 Member
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    I don't have a scheduled "Cheat" day, but we go to Disneyland and Universal Studios quite often and on those days, while I'm not as strict as I am the rest of the week, I still try and keep tabs on what I'm consuming and still log the calories and hope I walk a lot of them off. Those are the only times I would consider that I come close to a "Cheat" day.
  • blueyeb
    blueyeb Posts: 85
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    If you are eating in a caloric deficit for a long time and you are close to your goal weight, 10-15 lbs out, cheat days otherwise known as "REFEEDS" by people who seek to get lean are beneficial to your goals because they help with hormones, as well to give your metabolism a boost from eating under maintenance for quite some time. There are a lot of good reads about cheats/refeeds, if you learn how to incorporate them into your program (after a certain training day, or on a certain training day) google is your friend. :D

    Thank you! That is exactly what I was looking for :)
  • 223730
    223730 Posts: 55
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    For me, cheat days are a bad idea. If I was to let myself eat bad for one day, then I would start justifying other things on other days, and then all of my effort would be wasted, because it would be that easy for me to slide back into old habits. If I want to cheat, aka indulge, then I might have a few fries from my son's happy meal, instead of eating a big mac meal for myself. Or maybe I'll share an appetizer that is not so great, like a bloomin onion, but everything else in my meal is going to be the right stuff. And it is definitely not a weekly thing, becaues that would not work for me. I think it can work different for different people, but I know in my gut (bad pun, sorry) that a cheat day or full cheat meal is a no-no for me.
  • Russellb97
    Russellb97 Posts: 1,057 Member
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    I highly recommend a "bad day" It's how I've lost over 100lbs.

    1. It's guilt free
    2. You can really enjoy the food you're eating
    3. It's spikes up your metabolism
    4. Gives you a day to look forward to
    5. Balances out your hormones that go out whack from dieting
    6. Makes your following day workout better.
    7. It's fun and will NOT mess up your long-term weight loss.
  • dreilingda
    dreilingda Posts: 122 Member
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    I think there are several factors to consider. Will the person doing the cheating be able to resume their diet like nothing ever happened? How excessive of a cheat are we talking? 1k surplus? Maintenance? 4k surplus?

    I think that for certain individuals it's a great idea. I currently have 1 day that I don't necessarily call "cheat" because I don't really know if I'm even going over. I incorporate an IDGAF day where I eat what I want and don't log it, just for the mental break. I'm willing to bet that in my case there are positive physiological effects as well, but I don't think it's a blanket "good idea" for everyone.

    I do the same thing. It's on Sunday. Football Sunday. I'm going to drink beer, eat wings, etc. while watching football and I don't want to hear what MFP thinks. It's like my body and mind just need to reset for a day and relax. I usually have a strong workout on Monday's and I'm sure it's related to the extra energy. I turn right back to logging and eating health on Monday's. It's worked fine for me.
  • Ebbykins
    Ebbykins Posts: 420 Member
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    I highly recommend a "bad day" It's how I've lost over 100lbs.

    1. It's guilt free
    2. You can really enjoy the food you're eating
    3. It's spikes up your metabolism
    4. Gives you a day to look forward to
    5. Balances out your hormones that go out whack from dieting
    6. Makes your following day workout better.
    7. It's fun and will NOT mess up your long-term weight loss.

    Yep yep! I make cheese cake on cheat day... hahaha. :D Refeeds have taken me from 19% bf to 15% since February, people who are my MFP friends must look at my journal on those days and think I'm such a freak, lol.
  • Jenninedinburgh
    Jenninedinburgh Posts: 70 Member
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    Weight Watchers created a whole new core offering out of this idea - the extra "points" or calories per week to use as you wish.

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