Cheat Day vs. Cheat Meal?

Shedding4Wedding72

So, I have been reading online about how it is good to have a "cheat" something, as ways of motivating yourself and rewarding yourself for all of your hard work throughout the week. I don't care what anyone says, I am going to have a "cheat" SOMETHING tomorrow... I just want to know if it would be good to have an entire cheat day? Or should I just cheat with one meal?

OR, , should I have a couple cheat meals (to make up one day) spread out throughout the week?

I want everyone's personal experience/opinions!!! Also, add me!

Help?

Kanzaki3

I like having a cheat day instead of a cheat meal. Things can get crazy when you're with your friends all day. A cheat meal is probably a better idea though. I remember my friends and I spent a whole day at a bar. I ate 50 wings in one sitting plus drinks throughout the day and night. A week later, the scale moved up only 2 pounds.I hated myself for doing it but I had no regrets. It's all about having fun in life.

smgmtx

I'm no doctor, but from what I've picked up, the reason they say it's good to have a cheat day every once in awhile (once a week or so) is to keep us motivated to do well and also it's good for the metabolize. And cheat day DOES NOT mean binge day. More like, enjoying a higher calorie meal at Olive Garden or having a small slice of cake at a party.

ranman1515

from my experience, cheating is cheating, but you do need those little inspirational meals to keep you going. I love hamburgers and instead of the double w/ cheese, I got the jr. burger w/o cheese w/ mustard onion and pickle... I have learned from my meals, that you still have to diet on your diet.... being on the diet, you will always be tempted by simple things, but only you can make those decisions best of luck on your diet,

and I only have a cheat meal about once a month

shaycat

Plan one cheat meal. A whole day can get a little out of hand. Trust me I speak from getting way to carried away the last two weekends. From now on one cheat meal one weekend day.

Colbyandsage

Plan one cheat meal. A whole day can get a little out of hand. Trust me I speak from getting way to carried away the last two weekends. From now on one cheat meal one weekend day.

This is what I plan to do. If I allow a whole day then it turns into 2 then it takes me all week to make up for it

JonathansMom0910

I have cheat specifics I guess. Once every 2 weeks I have a dessert-anything I want. And once every 2 weeks I eat one meal that I don't care about the calories. I also LOOOOVVVVEEE Frap type drinks, so once a month I get a low fat one. Otherwise, if I crave chocolate, I eat a mini candy bar instead of a reg size one and so on. If I crave a cake, I make cupcakes, eat one and send the rest to work with my husband.

My Dr told me that when people deny themselves these types of things, that is what usually leads to binging.

meshashesha2012

i will have cheat meals. I'm not sure if I can do a complete day because there's only a few things now that I want that i'd consider "cheating". I also dont consider myself to be on a diet since I pretty much eat anything I want and dont deprive myself of anything.

my cheat meal is usually bacon cheeseburger and side of onion rings from my favorite local burger place. i save this as my cheat meal because I have gluten allergies and if i ate this regularly - even if i could fit in my daily calorie budget - the gluten in the bun and on the onion rings would make me sick.

Sidesteal

Curious:


What is a cheat meal?

You are either within your goals for your daily totals, which makes it not a cheat, or you are over your goals, which makes it a cheat day?


What defines the meal itself being a cheat, rather than the day?

Lift_hard_eat_big

Curious:


What is a cheat meal?

You are either within your goals for your daily totals, which makes it not a cheat, or you are over your goals, which makes it a cheat day?


What defines the meal itself being a cheat, rather than the day?

My mind has been blown!

akangel81

I would personally say a cheat meal if you feel you need one but a cheat day can set you back 3 days so your only working four days a week if you do it once a week. I have dieted many times ( but this time I'm in it to win it ) and tried both ways . what i found best in the long run was if i did a cheat meal once a week when me and my husband would have date night but even then i would try to be somewhat sensible and cut something out the next day

shady81x

Curious:

What is a cheat meal?

You are either within your goals for your daily totals, which makes it not a cheat, or you are over your goals, which makes it a cheat day?

What defines the meal itself being a cheat, rather than the day?

I'd think a "cheat meal" is a non-healthy meal (eg. KFC!), even if it's within your calorie budget for the day.

And a "cheat day" is an entire day of having non healthy stuff.. aka an entire day of "cheat meals".

Does that make sense even? :laugh:

kristinL16

I've done Weight Watchers in the past and like that they give you flex points to use for the week. You can use them all in one day or spread throughout the week. Or not use them at all. I wish I knew how to do something like that with simply counting calories (which is basically what I am doing now since I lose my WW points calculator). Along the same lines, my thinking is still in line with the WW philosophy that you can eat anything you want but you need to be accountable. Sure, I don't make a habit of having McD's every day even though I could fit it in somehow (but would have to really cut back throughout the rest of the day, which wouldn't be good), but I don't consider going to McD's "cheating" in the sense that some might. If I looked at it that way I think it would really set me back. Feeling like I cheated brings too much guilt and negative feelings. If I eat something that puts me over my goal I need to own it and then move on. I think if I had a whole day of eating what I wanted each week it would be difficult to get back on track, especially if you are talking about going over by more than a few hundred calories.

I also wanted to add that on a previous WW plan there used to be a points range (mine was 18-23points per day at that time--long ago, after I had my first child 9 years ago). There was a blogger who had a plan called the "wendy plan" where basically she had a formula for how many points to eat each day to break a plateau. I don't remember the details, but basically you would have one day at 18 pts, then a day at 20, then a day at 23, then a day at 18. That way you were mixing things up and varying your calories each day. In that sense I do think it is ok to have a day or two a week where you have more cals and a few days where you are lower rather than eating the same things each day.

karyngrace

I hate calling it a cheat day........its not a test, its a learning curve!!
id rather call it a fun day because thats exactly what it is!! and besides how can you appreciate the good stuff if you don't indulge in the bad stuff once in a while!


I rather go a whole day of naughty fun food and work out like a demon the next morning, than have one "bad" meal and worry about calories all day!

chevy88grl

I don't have cheat days or cheat meals. I eat what I want, when I want it. I simply do it in moderation. I know cheat days or meals work for a lot of people, but I find them to be too "diet-ish". If I want a piece of cake or chicken alfredo, I want it RIGHT NOW - not in a week or on a special day. Learning portion control is key to an "everything in moderation" lifestyle. I will say that my binge eating has stopped since I switched to this type of lifestyle vs have the "bad" stuff on certain days or for certain meals.

Do what works for you!

cnt21811

A cheat day or cheat meal... are you still logging the food?

moxi155

I don't have cheat days or cheat meals. I eat what I want, when I want it. I simply do it in moderation. I know cheat days or meals work for a lot of people, but I find them to be too "diet-ish". If I want a piece of cake or chicken alfredo, I want it RIGHT NOW - not in a week or on a special day. Learning portion control is key to an "everything in moderation" lifestyle. I will say that my binge eating has stopped since I switched to this type of lifestyle vs have the "bad" stuff on certain days or for certain meals.

Do what works for you!

<<<<<<<Agrees wholeheartedly!! It IS a lifestyle! Enjoy eating...

rockerbabyy

for me i use sundays as a make up day - to use up any extra exercise calories that didnt get eaten during the week. sometimes i spread them throughout the day and sometimes i just splurge it on one meal. i still log everything and make sure i dont go over my weekly net goal (or if i do, but not too much)

gapm

I don't have cheat days or cheat meals. I eat what I want, when I want it. I simply do it in moderation. I know cheat days or meals work for a lot of people, but I find them to be too "diet-ish". If I want a piece of cake or chicken alfredo, I want it RIGHT NOW - not in a week or on a special day. Learning portion control is key to an "everything in moderation" lifestyle. I will say that my binge eating has stopped since I switched to this type of lifestyle vs have the "bad" stuff on certain days or for certain meals.

Do what works for you!

^ It works for me too.

GoddessJuliya

~I prefer to call it a free day not cheat day, that's what Biggest Loser's Bob Harper calls it , and I usually try to still do some type of exercise that day so I'm still burning calories or I usually Sundays as my cheat day because I take a 45 minute group exercise class on Monday nights where I burn around 400 calories so I know I'm gonna make up for the cheat day the next day. Hope that helps & sure I'll add you. I'm new to this, been on here since 2/11 & only have 2 friends that I know offline so far. ~Goddess J

SMK715

I have always given myself a cheat day on the weekend. My feelings on the situation is that if ONE day ruins all the work that I do all week, then im doing something seriously wrong. Also, im on a 1600 calorie/day diet, so when I say cheat day I mean I probably eat 2000-2500 calories/cheat day. Which is the average persons every day calorie count. I cheated every single weekend, all day long, and still managed to lose 45 lbs from february - august last year. Not to mention im disabled so my workouts are toned down a bit from limitations and pain. And my last point --- Dr Oz talked about cheat days a week or 2 ago and he said he has Faturdays (Fat Saturdays) where he eats whatever he has craved the entire week. Its healthy and perfectly normal. I think never allowing yourself a cheat something is just a diet set up for failure. However, this is just my experience and my opinion. You do whatever is best for you. Good luck

AJs_Journey

I do one thing in a week that I do not track. For me its after I recored my weight on Saturday. I have a really nice dessert after dinner and a french vanilla cappuchino. This way I don't feel deprived of the things that I love. Other then that I stick to it. Hope you find what works for you!:happy:

dawLs

i think it depends on what works best for you. also it depends on what your idea of "cheating" is. some people see it as a dessert, or maybe a meal they normally wouldn't choose, like a hamburger and fries or something. in my opinion, things like that might keep you sane!
i find it really hard to just have a cheat meal because i tend to just keep going! haha. i normally eat really, really healthy though, so if i have a full day of cheating then it really doesn't affect me too much.
i say, try and find a good balance that will keep you happy and committed.
good luck

gregavila

What defines the meal itself being a cheat, rather than the day?

Simple... if I had a cheat day I could easily eat 3000-4500+ calories and turn it into a true binge day (food, drinks, etc.). By having a cheat meal, I limit my overage for the day. Yes, I am still over but the fact is a single meal isn't likely going to cause eating two days worth of calories.

The world isn't as black and white as you seem to make it out to be (over vs. not).

princeza9

I don't really have cheat days or cheat meals, but I don't deprive myself either. For example, I really wanted spaghetti carbonara one night, so I made it myself- whole wheat pasta, fat free half & half, egg beaters, turkey bacon (that I just happened to have on hand) and low fat mozzarella cheese since I'd forgotten to pick up some Parmesan. Like others have said, it's all about moderation.

That said, if I ever get to any of Tyler Florence's restaurants- calories will NOT be counted. And a great time will most definitely be had.

kschmi24

I don't ever plan a cheat day or a cheat meal. I think if you plan appropriately and factor in food that is not necessarily healthy in moderation without going over your calorie goals, that is the best route. Like today I wanted some ice cream, so I worked out a little more to have it, but I wouldn't call it cheating since for me, the only thing that is off limits is over indulgence or not meeting my goal for the day (and technically meat, since I'm a vegetarian!). I don't say "I will never eat peanut butter cups but one day a week on my cheat day" because then I'd go all the time thinking about PB cups or when I do decide to eat PB cups on my "cheat day", it would probably turn into three or four since I was depriving myself of something I really liked all week or month. I'm not good with self control so it just doesn't work for me to have off-limit-except-on-cheat-days foods.

Of course that is my opinion. . . I just don't like to get in the habit of rewarding myself with food or getting off track, because I know myself---if I get out of the habit of every day being careful about what I eat, I slip very very easily. But if you are able to meet your goals with one day out of the week or month where you do whatever you want, then more power to you! Experiment and see what works best for your lifestyle and your body.

carolemack

I had what I considered my "cheat meal" last night after my WW weigh-in. It was the first time this year that I had something I considered a 'cheat'. A friend took me to White Spot for dinner and I had my favourite...a Beef Dip with fries.

I knew that I was going out for dinner so I was very careful during the day. At dinner I ordered the small size and only ate 1/2 the fries. I logged it all in my diary. Today I did twice as much exercise than I normally do and will try to do that for the next couple of days.

I have consistently lost every week this year so I doubt that I will have done much, if any, harm and I enjoyed it immensely! I really think giving myself permission to do that will help me stick with this new lifestyle change.

neverstray

Big believer in cheat days. Keeps me sane. I don't go crazy. I learned that lesson, but I allow myself to not count and just enjoy the day. Usually Sundays.

chrisdavey

It's only a "cheat" if you don't log it IMO.

Planned spike days are a good idea to give leptin levels a boost. This means eating at around maintenance or above for the day.

So if you were to have a single meal that you deemed to be a cheat but were still in calorie deficit then that is defeating the purpose of the "cheat". It still helps psychogically however.

So I eat whatever I want that fits into my cal/macro goals. The body sees macro/micronutrients not food names.

adamsilva

It's only a "cheat" if you don't log it IMO.

Planned spike days are a good idea to give leptin levels a boost. This means eating at around maintenance or above for the day.

So if you were to have a single meal that you deemed to be a cheat but were still in calorie deficit then that is defeating the purpose of the "cheat". It still helps psychogically however.

So I eat whatever I want that fits into my cal/macro goals. The body sees macro/micronutrients not food names.

^^^^ What chris said. i do the same.

Shedding4Wedding72

I have always given myself a cheat day on the weekend. My feelings on the situation is that if ONE day ruins all the work that I do all week, then im doing something seriously wrong. Also, im on a 1600 calorie/day diet, so when I say cheat day I mean I probably eat 2000-2500 calories/cheat day. Which is the average persons every day calorie count. I cheated every single weekend, all day long, and still managed to lose 45 lbs from february - august last year. Not to mention im disabled so my workouts are toned down a bit from limitations and pain. And my last point --- Dr Oz talked about cheat days a week or 2 ago and he said he has Faturdays (Fat Saturdays) where he eats whatever he has craved the entire week. Its healthy and perfectly normal. I think never allowing yourself a cheat something is just a diet set up for failure. However, this is just my experience and my opinion. You do whatever is best for you. Good luck

Thank you so much for your opinions and support everyone. I took all of your opinions into account (especially the one above about Dr. Oz's Faturdays! (Brilliant!) and I made up my mind and had a cheat day instead of meal today.

Good and bad came with that.

Good: I chose to have Panda Express this evening instead of a whole order of my local burger shop's cheesy fries and a burger, because I was too guilty about eating that many calories today. That is something I NEVER would have done before.

Bad: I already notice my body and my energy lulling. I never thought that my guilt would get to me like that, because I have never been guilty about eating a food before (which is probably why I am 100 pounds overweight).

So long story short, I'm glad I did a cheat day, because it taught me that from now on, I am going to have a cheat meal instead.