The Cheat Day

pamelazee

I have seen the discussions about cheat days on the message boards and I haven't found them very helpful. So what is your experience with them?

I am trying to talk myself out of cheat days. I'm afriad since I'm trying to lose so slowly, that one day going over my calories by a large amount may undo the work I've done all week.

Thoughts?

MummaSue

I haven't really got into cheat days. I aim to be somewhere around my calorie goal everyday but if it's a little over I'm not going to stress about it, I'll still lose, just a little more slowly. One idea I saw was to reward yourself with a treat if you achieve so many days "on track" which is a controlled "cheat" I suppose and does give an incentive. As with so many things in life, it's down to what works for you I suppose. If a cheat day helps you get the craving for whatever out of your system for a while - go for it - I think one day's "eating" will make about as much difference as one day's dieting would standing alone. Not too sure about a weekly cheat day though - bit too frequent?

This is just my opinion I am not qualified in any way - anyone else want to chip in?

pamelazee

One idea I saw was to reward yourself with a treat if you achieve so many days "on track" which is a controlled "cheat" I suppose and does give an incentive.

This is just my opinion I am not qualified in any way - anyone else want to chip in?

This is where sharing experience comes in handy! Thanks for your reply. I will take it into consideration. I have heard not to reward yourself with food. That it creates a mental habit that can lead to "re-gain" once you've official ended your calorie restriction or diet.

I would love to hear other people's experience.

lrdbby

I have heard mixed things about having a 'cheat day', previously to having a mfp account I was doing this diet http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/06/how-to-lose-20-lbs-of-fat-in-30-days-without-doing-any-exercise/
It worked fine for about a month and I lost about 8 lbs, but then I came to a plateau which really, really discouraged me and I got really sick of the same food EVERYDAY.

So I decided to give MFP a try and I've lost about 12 pounds! (yay ) But regarding the 'Cheat day' on that link ^up there, the guy that made the website seems to be a fairly knowledgeable about weight loss and he actually recommended a 'cheat day' bc according to him:
'dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function, etc.) doesn’t downregulate from extended caloric restriction. That’s right: eating pure crap can help you lose fat.'

As you can see in Rule #4 of the diet from that website. Going by this, I have had a cheat day once a week while I have been on MFP, which would be some small treats through out the day , like a donut, a bowl of ice cream, or some pizza that would not be typically part of my daily diet, but I try to NOT take it too far by eating too much junk food in that given day.