"Cheat" Day

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  • slay0r
    slay0r Posts: 669 Member
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    Actually found on the weeks that I had a cheat day that I lost more weight than the other weeks (126lb in total so there's gotta be something in it) Maybe it's mental maybe it's not, for me it was never letting my body second guess me so I lost the maximum weight!
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
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    My Cheat Day doesn't consist of me just going all out completely disregarding my calorie intake goal for the day (which is 1320 btw). Really it's like a cheat meal. I eat light throughout the day, and have a nice glorious high calorie dinner.

    For example. I work out regularly, sometimes twice a day like today: boot camp at 5:30am, low impact aerobics for 50min right before dinner, a total of approx 700 calories burned for the day. Ate a light breakfast, lunch, snacked on apples. For dinner I had buffalo wings and fries (900 calories), which for the day was a total of 1280 calories eaten. I did not eat my exercise calories.

    My question is now that I've gotten the preliminaries out the way, how detrimental are my cheat meals to my weight loss goals.

    Cheating is when you eat above your TDEE. If you are still achieving a large deficit, you are not cheating. You may even need to eat more! Yes, what you ate might not be so great nutritionally, but it doesn't constitute cheating (sorry)
  • Gosser
    Gosser Posts: 178 Member
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    My 'cheat day' would be Sunday. I don't worry about what is put in fornt of me, I just eat it and then record the meals at the end of the day. I rarely get the chance to exercise on Sunday so invariably go over my reduced calorie total, but hey, it is only once a week :-)
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    I have a weekly "Free Day" where I eat all the things I crave - LOVE IT!
    And once per month that includes an 8 hour food binge where I let it fly like a man going to the electric chair.

    LOVE IT!
    I recall the sniveling and disapproval of the professional dieters who are still fat while I have reached my goals...lol
    They quit; I did not.

    People are strange. They are suddenly food Nazi's come January 1st, but by early March, the professional dieter has already failed.

    Cheat days work!
  • munkeyfunk
    munkeyfunk Posts: 141 Member
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    Your metabolism slows down i you've been dieting vigorously for too long, therefore "cheating" once in awhile is good as it kick starts your metabolism and gets you going again.

    Good Luck!!
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    My Cheat Day doesn't consist of me just going all out completely disregarding my calorie intake goal for the day (which is 1320 btw). Really it's like a cheat meal. I eat light throughout the day, and have a nice glorious high calorie dinner.

    For example. I work out regularly, sometimes twice a day like today: boot camp at 5:30am, low impact aerobics for 50min right before dinner, a total of approx 700 calories burned for the day. Ate a light breakfast, lunch, snacked on apples. For dinner I had buffalo wings and fries (900 calories), which for the day was a total of 1280 calories eaten. I did not eat my exercise calories.

    My question is now that I've gotten the preliminaries out the way, how detrimental are my cheat meals to my weight loss goals.

    Here is my 2 cents from experience.

    Weight loss is mostly psychological. (yes, I know it takes less food and more exercise, but if your mind is not there it will not happen) So with this in 'mind' I found that calling it a cheat made me feel dirty and guilty.

    I found that having one day of higher calories actually helped me lose weight. I would eat my exact calories for 6 days or so (including my exercise calories) and then one day I would allow myself something I had been craving. Usually a dinner of steak, potato with toppings and maybe a smallish pc of bread. I would go over by 500 cals or so.

    It was NOT a reward, or a cheat, or anything to feel guilty for. It was a meal of foods I liked that are not as good for me as the foods I usually eat. Honestly, the occasional burrito snuck in there:blushing: which I paid for dearly for 2 weeks with sodium.

    As the months wore on I found all these foods could be made at home, within my calories and satisfied me just the same.

    Anyway, this turned into 3 cents, sorry. :laugh:
  • Butterfly3730
    Butterfly3730 Posts: 220
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    Cheat days don't work for me. If I want a treat, I have it and track the calories. No fuss, no muss and definitely no guilt. :drinker:

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