Are cheat/spike days a mistake? Scared to try it

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  • mammafrog
    mammafrog Posts: 176
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    I pick a day either Saturday or Sunday depending on my plans for my cheat day. I do still log it because it keeps me from going over way to much. These days help my sanity and help curb the cravings for all the bad food. I plan date night or going out with kids on these days. Last weekend I had a kids meal at red lobster but ate like 6 of their biscuits. I can't help it. Cici's is my killer too.
  • Candida1983
    Candida1983 Posts: 188
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    I have heard Jillian Michaels say that you need a cheat meal during the week so that you don't feel like you're completely depriving yourself. My suggestion would be not to go overboard with the meal and completely undo everything that you've done during the previous week. Do some research and maybe go to Applebee's or Ruby Tuesday's and get some of their less high-calorie meals. You can find some super delicious stuff, and good amounts of food at that, for under 500 calories. :tongue:
  • SolidGoaled
    SolidGoaled Posts: 504 Member
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    I'm still trying to get my head around the difference it makes to eat your weekly total allotment of calories in 6 small days and one big day as opposed to 7 moderate days. What precisely changes in the body? Does the change happen daily? Or once a week? Or? I'm not being sarcastic - I just really want to understand the mechanics of this theory so I can apply it correctly and with intention instead of just blindly following a random theory. Thanks. Any sources that go into detail would be appreciated.
  • Mdin1029
    Mdin1029 Posts: 456 Member
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    The way to have a spike day is to manage your calories over a week, so that your deficit for the week stays where you want it.

    My weekly loss goal is half a pound (1750 weekly deficit). The way I manage my calories is to eat 6 days as if at a 1 lb weekly loss goal (500 daily deficit x 6 = 3000) PLUS all exercise calories), and then 1 day a week, my rest day, I eat appx. 1250 extra calories. This works out to be a weekly deficit of 3000 - 1250 = 1750 calories. Half a pound.

    Works like a charm and refuels my body on rest day for the hard workout week ahead.

    blessings.

    This sounds really interesting, useful, and confusing. Please let me know if I understand correctly. I am set for .5 pounds a week = 1400 calories. If it was set at 1lb it would be 1200. So I should eat 1200 calories of food each day Mon-Sat plus an extra 200-300 depending on what I earn from exercise? Then on Sunday eat how much?
  • Mdin1029
    Mdin1029 Posts: 456 Member
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    The way to have a spike day is to manage your calories over a week, so that your deficit for the week stays where you want it.

    My weekly loss goal is half a pound (1750 weekly deficit). The way I manage my calories is to eat 6 days as if at a 1 lb weekly loss goal (500 daily deficit x 6 = 3000) PLUS all exercise calories), and then 1 day a week, my rest day, I eat appx. 1250 extra calories. This works out to be a weekly deficit of 3000 - 1250 = 1750 calories. Half a pound.

    Works like a charm and refuels my body on rest day for the hard workout week ahead.

    blessings.

    This sounds really interesting, useful, and confusing. Please let me know if I understand correctly. I am set for .5 pounds a week = 1400 calories. If it was set at 1lb it would be 1200. So I should eat 1200 calories of food each day Mon-Sat plus an extra 200-300 depending on what I earn from exercise? Then on Sunday eat how much?

    Would it be 550 extra, so 1950?

    Thanks!
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
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    It's a very individual thing - I can't cheat because it awakens that hunger/appetite monster and he doesn't want to go to sleep again. After I eat something with sugar, I just want more and more sugar, even when I'm not hungry. The day after a sugar splurge, I have false hunger cues and it takes sooo much concentration (and suffering) to stay on track. If this sounds familiar, you probably shouldn't cheat. I've had to chose "treats" that are OK for my diet and don't send me into a tailspin.

    And I wonder if 1200 a day is really right for you? Too few calories makes your metabolism slow down, and it makes you feel cranky and deprived. Whatever you choose to do, best wishes from California! You can do it!
  • Ambrogio1
    Ambrogio1 Posts: 518 Member
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    I was stuck at 180 for like 2.5 months. I through down a spike day and steadily lost 5 lbs 5 wks in a row.
    My man Russell has some real solid experience with this. Little dinks and dunks of sites won't sway him. Some solid experience and results might though. Share

    5 lbs per week for 5 weeks, or, 5 pounds in 5 weeks (1lb/week?)

    What I meant was 5 lb in 5 wks. Sorry. It might have been a bit shorter time frame I think it was like 3-4 wks but it is what it is. It shattered my platuea
  • Ambrogio1
    Ambrogio1 Posts: 518 Member
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    I never do a whole cheat day because you really can wreck your whole week in one day! but i also never want to feel deprived i feel thats when people fall off the wagon the most. I would do a "date night" with my husbadn and one day a week we eat a bad dinner weither its eating out and getting pizza or mexican or we cook a non healthy meal such as fried chicken etc. and we have a bad snack (usualy its an entire bag of chips LOL) but before my wedding i lost 40 lbs in 4 months so it worked for me, i was also working out 6 days a week and followed my healthy eating to a T the rest of the days of the week.
  • Smokey19
    Smokey19 Posts: 796 Member
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    I am afraid that I would go overboard and regain some weight again. No self-control here.
  • achief192
    achief192 Posts: 192
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    If I cheat, I try to limit it to one meal as opposed to one day. Seems to work for me.
  • bigdawg62
    bigdawg62 Posts: 127 Member
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    Cheat days are ok I guess unless you are a compulsive food addict type of person. I know if i cheat it sets up the uncontrollable compulsion to keep eating badly. One day quickly turns into multiple days, weeks and months and then afterwards the awful feelings of guilt and remorse. So if you have the ability to cheat for one meal or one day and then stop go for it. But if you find it hard to stop then I would say cheating is not for you. I know its not for me.
  • beckyinma
    beckyinma Posts: 1,433 Member
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    An off meal is what I will do once or twice a week, say, if we are out and have to eat on the run, it makes me not feel as bad having a cheese burger, and it keeps me from depriving myself all the time, or I use it as a prize for a good weigh-in.. My loss ticker below, proves that it can work into your weight loss strategy. Just don't overdo it, and make sure you have the self control to reel yourself in after a day of going over, it won't ruin your week.
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    I'm having a cheat day today, my first one really. A cheat day and a no exercise day. I think I need this to keep me sane. :-)
  • Ambrogio1
    Ambrogio1 Posts: 518 Member
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    Sunday hit gym hard. Its my big spike day of 4000 cals. I broke my fast after the gym with a huge protein shake
    It hen prepared to destory some food. My giants were on and I wanted the day. I took it. Oplanned for it, executed to perfection. And felt no guilt.

    4 oz pasta
    10 oz meatloaf meatballs
    1 tbpsn parmessan cheese
    4 oz of french bigg bread
    dessert=1.5 cups of pistachio ice cream
    Total cals were over 2000 cals. I fisniehd went to bed and felt very happy
    I weighed in 184 monday and today I am 181 today and hope to be around 180 friday

    Now this to me was like the worst thing in the world when I was in my twenities and would be afreaid to cause the damage or ruin the week. I spiked sat sun and mon. I depelete the other days and stay strict, at the end of the week I am at a deficit. I surround workout days with big cals. I did bigger lifts then ever before this week, gained no weight and most important enjoyed my family and food over the weekend.

    Being Social should be your first goal. Sick and tired of being at a wedding with my droid in my hand calculating and worrying. Now I cal buff it out build up with a little fast and go OFF! If you mentally can't handle it you need to accept that its ok first. took me a long time but now I got the train rolling. I love eating junk food and sporting a tight belly at hte same time. Cookies=ABS? LOL

    =WINNER
  • bigdawg62
    bigdawg62 Posts: 127 Member
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    Cheat days are ok I guess unless you are a compulsive food addict type of person. I know if i cheat it sets up the uncontrollable compulsion to keep eating badly. One day quickly turns into multiple days, weeks and months and then afterwards the awful feelings of guilt and remorse. So if you have the ability to cheat for one meal or one day and then stop go for it. But if you find it hard to stop then I would say cheating is not for you. I know its not for me.

    Also I want to just say that going over your daily calorie goal by 500 calories isnt really much of a cheat. When I cheat it sets up the compulsion and I can go from eating my daily calorie goal of 1580 to 5000 easily.
  • Ambrogio1
    Ambrogio1 Posts: 518 Member
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    Cheat days are ok I guess unless you are a compulsive food addict type of person. I know if i cheat it sets up the uncontrollable compulsion to keep eating badly. One day quickly turns into multiple days, weeks and months and then afterwards the awful feelings of guilt and remorse. So if you have the ability to cheat for one meal or one day and then stop go for it. But if you find it hard to stop then I would say cheating is not for you. I know its not for me.

    If you an unlock that and come to terms with it you might just be better off all around. I use to be that way but now I got something to look forward to. Its not a cheat now, its earned. I calculate it, measure it. I also stick it in a window. So I will consume all my cals in this window once the window closes the session is over. It very structured versus "cheating" "binging"

    When I go into the cabinet on a saturday when I a home and just grab something and eat I can still feel that anxiety. But if I plan for it I don't
  • bigdawg62
    bigdawg62 Posts: 127 Member
    Options
    Cheat days are ok I guess unless you are a compulsive food addict type of person. I know if i cheat it sets up the uncontrollable compulsion to keep eating badly. One day quickly turns into multiple days, weeks and months and then afterwards the awful feelings of guilt and remorse. So if you have the ability to cheat for one meal or one day and then stop go for it. But if you find it hard to stop then I would say cheating is not for you. I know its not for me.

    If you an unlock that and come to terms with it you might just be better off all around. I use to be that way but now I got something to look forward to. Its not a cheat now, its earned. I calculate it, measure it. I also stick it in a window. So I will consume all my cals in this window once the window closes the session is over. It very structured versus "cheating" "binging"

    When I go into the cabinet on a saturday when I a home and just grab something and eat I can still feel that anxiety. But if I plan for it I don't

    I wish it was that easy, its not. After trying to do just that for the past 10 years with no success I have come to realize that it just does not work for me that way. People who do not have this compulsion do not understand. They always think if you would just apply enough will power you could do it. Well if I could apply the will power to do so I would not be fat. I have plenty of will power, I have run 8 marathons in the past 4 years. Its not will power, its more like a disease. For me, it works best if I do not cheat. If I want to eat more calories, then I run further so I can eat more. But for me its important that the foods I eat stay healthy. I can not go out to a restaurant and eat decadant meals, ever. Those days are over for me unless I want to stay fat. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting differant results. I've been there and done that.
  • Ambrogio1
    Ambrogio1 Posts: 518 Member
    Options
    Cheat days are ok I guess unless you are a compulsive food addict type of person. I know if i cheat it sets up the uncontrollable compulsion to keep eating badly. One day quickly turns into multiple days, weeks and months and then afterwards the awful feelings of guilt and remorse. So if you have the ability to cheat for one meal or one day and then stop go for it. But if you find it hard to stop then I would say cheating is not for you. I know its not for me.

    If you an unlock that and come to terms with it you might just be better off all around. I use to be that way but now I got something to look forward to. Its not a cheat now, its earned. I calculate it, measure it. I also stick it in a window. So I will consume all my cals in this window once the window closes the session is over. It very structured versus "cheating" "binging"

    When I go into the cabinet on a saturday when I a home and just grab something and eat I can still feel that anxiety. But if I plan for it I don't

    I wish it was that easy, its not. After trying to do just that for the past 10 years with no success I have come to realize that it just does not work for me that way. People who do not have this compulsion do not understand. They always think if you would just apply enough will power you could do it. Well if I could apply the will power to do so I would not be fat. I have plenty of will power, I have run 8 marathons in the past 4 years. Its not will power, its more like a disease. For me, it works best if I do not cheat. If I want to eat more calories, then I run further so I can eat more. But for me its important that the foods I eat stay healthy. I can not go out to a restaurant and eat decadant meals, ever. Those days are over for me unless I want to stay fat. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting differant results. I've been there and done that.

    I do not disagree with this. But to say you don't know what you are doing I would disagree with. Your got your game locked up. Keep pushing and winning at what you are doing. There is not one path from A to Z, there are many. We are just on different patsh.

    See you at the finish line? I can't seem to find it thought! HEH
    GL
  • SolidGoaled
    SolidGoaled Posts: 504 Member
    Options
    Cheat days are ok I guess unless you are a compulsive food addict type of person. I know if i cheat it sets up the uncontrollable compulsion to keep eating badly. One day quickly turns into multiple days, weeks and months and then afterwards the awful feelings of guilt and remorse. So if you have the ability to cheat for one meal or one day and then stop go for it. But if you find it hard to stop then I would say cheating is not for you. I know its not for me.

    If you an unlock that and come to terms with it you might just be better off all around. I use to be that way but now I got something to look forward to. Its not a cheat now, its earned. I calculate it, measure it. I also stick it in a window. So I will consume all my cals in this window once the window closes the session is over. It very structured versus "cheating" "binging"

    When I go into the cabinet on a saturday when I a home and just grab something and eat I can still feel that anxiety. But if I plan for it I don't

    I wish it was that easy, its not. After trying to do just that for the past 10 years with no success I have come to realize that it just does not work for me that way. People who do not have this compulsion do not understand. They always think if you would just apply enough will power you could do it. Well if I could apply the will power to do so I would not be fat. I have plenty of will power, I have run 8 marathons in the past 4 years. Its not will power, its more like a disease. For me, it works best if I do not cheat. If I want to eat more calories, then I run further so I can eat more. But for me its important that the foods I eat stay healthy. I can not go out to a restaurant and eat decadant meals, ever. Those days are over for me unless I want to stay fat. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting differant results. I've been there and done that.

    I do not disagree with this. But to say you don't know what you are doing I would disagree with. Your got your game locked up. Keep pushing and winning at what you are doing. There is not one path from A to Z, there are many. We are just on different patsh.

    See you at the finish line? I can't seem to find it thought! HEH
    GL

    Awesome, awesome posts here - puts a lot of this into perspective. I wish I could try spiking just for this so-called "metabolism push" but the food addict in me is very anxious about even trying. I might try a jump in calories once a week and just fill those calories with "good" food instead of the things my food addict wants. (Pizza and cupcakes... LOL)

    I do enjoy the occasional indulgence that I "make up" for by borrowing calories from other days and working out extra hard, BUT I really have to watch that runaway train that can start up if I get a taste of something "bad".

    I guess it takes some experimentation and some strolls down ALL the different paths that can get you from A to B - then pick the path that has the least amount of tree stumps in the way for you personally.
  • Russellb97
    Russellb97 Posts: 1,057 Member
    Options
    Cheat days are ok I guess unless you are a compulsive food addict type of person. I know if i cheat it sets up the uncontrollable compulsion to keep eating badly. One day quickly turns into multiple days, weeks and months and then afterwards the awful feelings of guilt and remorse. So if you have the ability to cheat for one meal or one day and then stop go for it. But if you find it hard to stop then I would say cheating is not for you. I know its not for me.

    If you an unlock that and come to terms with it you might just be better off all around. I use to be that way but now I got something to look forward to. Its not a cheat now, its earned. I calculate it, measure it. I also stick it in a window. So I will consume all my cals in this window once the window closes the session is over. It very structured versus "cheating" "binging"

    When I go into the cabinet on a saturday when I a home and just grab something and eat I can still feel that anxiety. But if I plan for it I don't

    I wish it was that easy, its not. After trying to do just that for the past 10 years with no success I have come to realize that it just does not work for me that way. People who do not have this compulsion do not understand. They always think if you would just apply enough will power you could do it. Well if I could apply the will power to do so I would not be fat. I have plenty of will power, I have run 8 marathons in the past 4 years. Its not will power, its more like a disease. For me, it works best if I do not cheat. If I want to eat more calories, then I run further so I can eat more. But for me its important that the foods I eat stay healthy. I can not go out to a restaurant and eat decadant meals, ever. Those days are over for me unless I want to stay fat. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting differant results. I've been there and done that.

    I do not disagree with this. But to say you don't know what you are doing I would disagree with. Your got your game locked up. Keep pushing and winning at what you are doing. There is not one path from A to Z, there are many. We are just on different patsh.

    See you at the finish line? I can't seem to find it thought! HEH
    GL

    Awesome, awesome posts here - puts a lot of this into perspective. I wish I could try spiking just for this so-called "metabolism push" but the food addict in me is very anxious about even trying. I might try a jump in calories once a week and just fill those calories with "good" food instead of the things my food addict wants. (Pizza and cupcakes... LOL)

    I do enjoy the occasional indulgence that I "make up" for by borrowing calories from other days and working out extra hard, BUT I really have to watch that runaway train that can start up if I get a taste of something "bad".

    I guess it takes some experimentation and some strolls down ALL the different paths that can get you from A to B - then pick the path that has the least amount of tree stumps in the way for you personally.

    I understand the fear, but my days are calculated. It's not chaos. Most people would be fine spiking at 3,000 calories or so. That could be 3 larger meals, like pancakes for breakfast, burgers and fries for lunch, and pizza for dinner. Then mix in a few fun snacks.
    If guess if you feel like you need to give up those foods forever and your ok with that then it's your choice. There's numerous ways to lose weight. This way just works extra well for keeping it off long-term.

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