When you have a "cheat" day...

Daphnemomof9

I totally don't like the word cheat with eating. Who am I cheating on? myself? I love this site because it helps me to make great decisions for myself by tracking what I'm doing with my body. It just keeps me accountable and in turn I can make good choices now and in the future. Before this site, I was basically just guessing about what choices I was making and now there is no more denial.

Scorpioangel

I log everything even if it's a bad day

BrendaLee

I think a good rule of thumb is: if you eat it, log it. Some days, it's painful to log everything, but it does keep you accountable.

2Bgoddess

I just logged my 960 calorie snack...fml

robinogue

I log everything, the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly! It keeps me accountable..

TazzytheMotivator

Not a cheat day but a cheat meal , only once every two weeks.
Are you drinking water?
Are you watching your sodium intake
Sometimes people feel that calories are calories,but that is a myth. There are good calories and bad calories.increase your cardio and please make sure you are in the zone.
I hope this help

wonderwoman1974

Good question! I think that that one day a week should be called your "reward day" not cheat day. I think that if you are on target all week and putting in the work, you should look at is as rewarding yourself. I know in the past I have struggled with dieting and have found that having that day to look forward to can be motivating! It also helps to switch things up with your body so that you don't plateau.

sylvuz323

From FB Page -- Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD:
"CHEAT DAYS... you need one a week. If you don't, you are going to struggle in weight loss goals eventually.
Cheat days (and I'm talking full on with pizza and hamburgers - whatever you want) help boost lepton levels that drop down when you eat a healthier lifestyle. They also create confusion for your body so it doesn't "adjust" to a set caloric intake. Try it - you will thank me."

Have cheat days. Log them. Don't feel guilty. It's all about moderation.

I so agree, I used to notice a drop in my weight after a cheat day...but I will say this and it's something I don't do enough of keep drinking lots of water. It helps on those cheat days especially if your meals are high in salt.

spoiledbmeg

ok. my take is this is a life style change. you can eat in moderation. straving your body will not work. eating right normal portion, veggies and fruit, also water ( try to advoid soda even diet) also try 30mins cardio excercise. during my working every hour i am sitting i try to get up for 10 mins take a few laps around my floor or take the stair to a meeting or walk to meeting if there near my office also my gym is down the block from my job. so lunch time or after work i hit the gym i walk there and back to my car. also i try to walk to thing near my house, post office, bank, dry cleaners, nail salon, hair salon, even the food store and ask if a housemate can pick me up if there alot. we also dont keep junk in the house so if we want something sweet we walk to the converted store and bank. so to me there not really a cheating day but i not on a diet. I am making a life style change. also if u want a candy bar try: fiber one bars.

Opheliac_Xx

If you have a cheat day to boost metabolism / confuse your body, how many calories is it over your normal deficit amount?

I am thinking of making a fasting day a regular thing which works on the same principle of making your calories drastically different to confuse your body and won't slow your metabolism if it's just one or two days a week (Brad Pilon - Eat Stop Eat). But I've also thought of adding in a high calorie day to do the same thing. If I did I'd probably eat my maintenance amount which is 1600 - would that work? Or would it have to be a LOT of calories, like 2500? At the moment I am eating about 1200 a day and not eating back all of my exercise calories.

sylvuz323

If you have a cheat day to boost metabolism / confuse your body, how many calories is it over your normal deficit amount?

I am thinking of making a fasting day a regular thing which works on the same principle of making your calories drastically different to confuse your body and won't slow your metabolism if it's just one or two days a week (Brad Pilon - Eat Stop Eat). But I've also thought of adding in a high calorie day to do the same thing. If I did I'd probably eat my maintenance amount which is 1600 - would that work? Or would it have to be a LOT of calories, like 2500? At the moment I am eating about 1200 a day and not eating back all of my exercise calories.

I personally think you have to play with those numbers, I used to do the same when I was with weight watchers it was called the Wendy plan. One day high, the next a norm, after maybe lower than your norm, back to a high...and so forth. But as to what your high should be, test it out cause we are all different so one high might work for one person but it may not work for you.

Ladyloraella

For me I think it would detrimental. I'd just want to keep on eating that crap so I've decided that if I do have a free day then it'll have to be for something, for it to be one off enough for me to stay on track the rest of the time. Like a day out shopping with my friends where we go to lunch and I'll have that chocolate fudge cake with cream! Or the cinema and I'll have the large hot dog please!
But only if I've lost each week to reward myself.

Russellb97

I hate the word "cheat" also. It's why I coined it a "Spike Day" because what it does is spike up; leptin, metabolism, and your mood.
It's a 100% positive day to your diet, nothing bad, no guilt, just good stuff.

As far as one "cheat meal" or just simply zig-zagging calories it doesn't work the same on leptin and starvation mode as a full day of eating higher calories.

The studies have shown in 12 hour periods of overfeeding leptin is increased, so one meal just won't cut it. In fact it's very easy to have a cheat meal and still be in a caloric deficit which means leptin would still be heading down.

Russellb97

For me I think it would detrimental. I'd just want to keep on eating that crap so I've decided that if I do have a free day then it'll have to be for something, for it to be one off enough for me to stay on track the rest of the time. Like a day out shopping with my friends where we go to lunch and I'll have that chocolate fudge cake with cream! Or the cinema and I'll have the large hot dog please!
But only if I've lost each week to reward myself.

This is a common worry, but really it should be the exact opposite.
Calorie restriction=leptin down=increased food cravings.
Calorie surplus=leptin up=decreased food cravings.

It's much easier to say "no" to naughty foods when your hormones aren't trying to force you to eat.

ccbennett2000

I cycle my calories to create confusion so that I am eating an average of 1300 calories a day but never 1300 calories every day as I that has caused a lot of stalls in the past. As part of this, I have at least one day a week that I consider my "free" or "cheat" day. It helps me feel less deprived and seems to help cure stalls. I do log my calories for that day to keep myself at least a little accountable - otherwise I might fall into a see-food diet

ccbennett2000

I hate the word "cheat" also. It's why I coined it a "Spike Day" because what it does is spike up; leptin, metabolism, and your mood.

I like that better, too. I might just borrow that one from now on as that makes me feel more productive vs. guilt-ridden

calana

I call it my treat day and I log it all. I allow myself up to 2,000 calories that day but usually never reach that. For example, last night was my treat day and I ended at about 1,500.

I like to stick to one treat meal and keep the rest of my day normal so I don't get completely out of my routine.

Your calories are more about a weekly average vs every day.

Russellb97

I hate the word "cheat" also. It's why I coined it a "Spike Day" because what it does is spike up; leptin, metabolism, and your mood.

I like that better, too. I might just borrow that one from now on as that makes me feel more productive vs. guilt-ridden

I wish everyone would used that phrase

I didn't have a so called "cheat day" because I like to be perfect and cheating is not perfect at all. plus when I first heard of them I was told that they were unnecessary unless you had weak will power.

I had my first one about 8 years ago, after I found myself in a very low leptin/starvation state that coincided with a 3 week weight loss plateau. My food cravings were out of control and I was on the brink of insanity. So I planned a day to get cravings out of my head. Then 4 days after my splurging I actually lost 3lbs, so of course I did it again and again.

There's no reason to feel guilt when spiking.

bmacholiday

I hate the word "cheat" also. It's why I coined it a "Spike Day" because what it does is spike up; leptin, metabolism, and your mood.

I like that better, too. I might just borrow that one from now on as that makes me feel more productive vs. guilt-ridden

I wish everyone would used that phrase

I didn't have a so called "cheat day" because I like to be perfect and cheating is not perfect at all. plus when I first heard of them I was told that they were unnecessary unless you had weak will power.

I had my first one about 8 years ago, after I found myself in a very low leptin/starvation state that coincided with a 3 week weight loss plateau. My food cravings were out of control and I was on the brink of insanity. So I planned a day to get cravings out of my head. Then 4 days after my splurging I actually lost 3lbs, so of course I did it again and again.

There's no reason to feel guilt when spiking.

Best way I've ever heard it phrased. My son who lost 100 lbs three years ago does the same thing. Six days a week he logs every calorie he eats and six days a week he exercises. One day a week he does neither and eats some if the craziest food I've ever seen put together. But it has obviously worked for him.

Russellb97

I hate the word "cheat" also. It's why I coined it a "Spike Day" because what it does is spike up; leptin, metabolism, and your mood.

I like that better, too. I might just borrow that one from now on as that makes me feel more productive vs. guilt-ridden

I wish everyone would used that phrase

I didn't have a so called "cheat day" because I like to be perfect and cheating is not perfect at all. plus when I first heard of them I was told that they were unnecessary unless you had weak will power.

I had my first one about 8 years ago, after I found myself in a very low leptin/starvation state that coincided with a 3 week weight loss plateau. My food cravings were out of control and I was on the brink of insanity. So I planned a day to get cravings out of my head. Then 4 days after my splurging I actually lost 3lbs, so of course I did it again and again.

There's no reason to feel guilt when spiking.

Best way I've ever heard it phrased. My son who lost 100 lbs three years ago does the same thing. Six days a week he logs every calorie he eats and six days a week he exercises. One day a week he does neither and eats some if the craziest food I've ever seen put together. But it has obviously worked for him.

Thank you!
I don't exercise on my Spike Day's either, I literally WANT to have a day of calorie surplus and if I workout I'd just have to eat more. I take the day totally off from exercise and diet and I feel completely refreshed for the next week.

Usually week one is the easiest for weight loss in a diet and when you do it this way every week is like week number one!

cms6300

Mmmmm carmello bars.

em9371

I log everything good and bad, if I eat out I estimate cals with the nearest item in the database to what I ate. Some days I'm over, some I'm under, but logging everything helps me see what's gone wrong if I don't lose that week.