Cheat days do not work!

Options
PlomkChocho
PlomkChocho Posts: 21
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi:) i just wanted to make a topic about cheat days. an advice from me is to NEVER have cheat days. Last month i started having cheat days.2 cheat days per week. on those days i ate like crazy! i eat and eat and eat till my stomch gets full and i get sick. and then when i try getting back on the wagon it was really hard for me. I gained 2-3lbs just having those cheat days. So AFTER christmas im going to stop having cheat days.if i have any junk food cravings, i well eat 1 serving of it per day (. but Not on saturdays and sundays. because on those days mom makes alot of homemade cooking (moroccan food) and i dont know the calories. so on those days i well have no junk food and try eating as less as possible of the homemade cooking mom makes.
«1345

Replies

  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    Options
    I think they might work for some people, but the one time I tried a weekly 'free' day, I ruined all my progress from the rest of the week and then some. I can really put away a lot of food in a very short amount of time.
  • Nos150
    Nos150 Posts: 150
    Options
    i thought that they were rest days? where you give time for your body to recover from the exercise and other such things?
  • Agito
    Agito Posts: 45 Member
    Options
    I've noticed that I don't need any cheat days if I eat my exercise calories. I'm still losing a pound or two a week and I never feel hungry or have to miss out on anything.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Options
    I think cheating can be a great tool under certain circumstances.

    1) If you can have 1 cheat day per week at most, and get back on track the following day and resume your plan without fail.
    2) If you can cheat to the tune of a small surplus (I'm talking a few hundred over maintenance, not an 8k binge).

    Then I think cheat days CAN be very productive and healthy.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    Options
    2 cheat days of eating until you're sick could be enough to derail all the progress.
    But why eat until you're sick??
    Just eat at maintenance or a little over. Why do that to yourself?
  • ansonrinesmith
    ansonrinesmith Posts: 755 Member
    Options
    Cheating, does not mean BLOWING the diet.
    When I cheat, I may have a sweet or dessert and go over my calories by about 500-1000 calories.
    I do this once a week.
  • _Bro
    _Bro Posts: 437 Member
    Options
    It's not cheating if its part of the overall plan. :)
    Works for me... Your mileage may vary!
  • carrie_eggo
    carrie_eggo Posts: 1,396 Member
    Options
    I think it would be more accurate for you to say, "cheat days do not work FOR ME." Cheat days DO work for a lot of people. It's good that you recognize that it is not working for you and can correct it. :flowerforyou:
  • bigwill5
    bigwill5 Posts: 77 Member
    Options
    I have done the cheat day thing in diets past and it seemed like a good idea at the time but really it did not support a true lifestyle change. I gained all of the weight back and then some. This time around I am changing my relationship with food and that means not seeing it as a reward for 4 or 5 days of good behavior.
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    Options
    I think cheating can be a great tool under certain circumstances.

    1) If you can have 1 cheat day per week at most, and get back on track the following day and resume your plan without fail.
    2) If you can cheat to the tune of a small surplus (I'm talking a few hundred over maintenance, not an 8k binge).

    Then I think cheat days CAN be very productive and healthy.
    this! your so smart!
    just keep it more controlled and dont call it a day, call it a meal or snack, only a few hundred
  • chickybuns
    chickybuns Posts: 1,037 Member
    Options
    I don't really have cheat days, maybe cheat meals. But I log everything and if I eat too much one day, I'll make sure to go under the next. I also try to burn a lot of calories on days I know I will be eating a lot.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    Options
    Two cheat days PER week? uhhh, no.
  • downsizinghoss
    downsizinghoss Posts: 1,035 Member
    Options
    I just have one meal a week where I can pick what I want. But just that meal, not even the whole day. I usually save it to go out on.
  • DannyMussels
    DannyMussels Posts: 1,842 Member
    Options
    I think cheat 'meal' would be more appropriate...an entire day of bein naughty could easily reverse the entire week.

    One bad meal would only really set you back a day, if that.
  • NightOwl1
    NightOwl1 Posts: 881 Member
    Options
    I think it's all about how you cheat. If you use a cheat day as an example to have every horrible food product known to mankind, then know, it won't work. But I think for a lot of people having their favorite meal or two that has some extra calories is helpful, since it makes it easier to stick with the diet if you can still eat some of what you like.
  • mego07
    mego07 Posts: 234 Member
    Options
    Still have to cheat within moderation. Those days i allow myself a little extra sugar and heavy italian meals. yum! I typically only go over 500 cals on those days as well.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    Options
    Depends on your definition of "cheat days." I personally have 1-2 days per week where I go over my stated calorie goal on purpose. I don't necessarily have high sugar or high fat foods, I just more calories of healthy stuff that I would have anyway, like calorie cycling.

    And I've been losing an average of 1.25 pounds per week since the week before Thanksgiving.

    I've had things like apple pie and cupcakes, but my body doesn't like them anymore. Sure they taste amazing and I love them, but my body just feels rundown and "icky" after consuming them. So I don't bother anymore unless it's a small piece of something on a special occasion. Now if you meant "cheat days" by having that kind of food all day, then I wouldn't do that. It would make me feel icky and not want to exercise and thus derail anything I was trying to do as I would be more motivated to eat more and exercise less.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Options
    Hi:) i just wanted to make a topic about cheat days. an advice from me is to NEVER have cheat days. Last month i started having cheat days.2 cheat days per week. on those days i ate like crazy! i eat and eat and eat till my stomch gets full and i get sick. and then when i try getting back on the wagon it was really hard for me. I gained 2-3lbs just having those cheat days. So AFTER christmas im going to stop having cheat days.if i have any junk food cravings, i well eat 1 serving of it per day (. but Not on saturdays and sundays. because on those days mom makes alot of homemade cooking (moroccan food) and i dont know the calories. so on those days i well have no junk food and try eating as less as possible of the homemade cooking mom makes.
    You described uncontrolled binging. That is nowhere near the same as a cheat day.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    Options
    2 cheat days of eating until you're sick could be enough to derail all the progress.
    But why eat until you're sick??
    Just eat at maintenance or a little over. Why do that to yourself?

    This. Sorry, but what you do is not a normal cheat day - eating until you're sick?! Really? Cheat days don't work for you because you are blowing your weekly deficit on those days. As servillia said - eating at maintenance or a little over should keep you in check, or even just adding 200 or 300 calories for that one day!
  • RahBuhBuh
    RahBuhBuh Posts: 585 Member
    Options
    I am not sure that i understand the point of cheat days. I try to save my junk food for times I can't avoid it, like birthday parties and special dinners. Eating healthy six days a week and then having one day a week where you eat poorly seems contradictory.

Categories