Why a Cheat Day is a misnomer

dme1977

I actually SAVE up uneaten calories for 2 weeks to justify a cheat day...
I log ALL my food beforehand so I KNOW what Im eating for the day and i dont eat a calorie over what i have budgeted.

OK, I see how this works... I could drink a beer a night, and it could work with my diet. Or I could wait 2 weeks and drink 14 in one night. Yes, this makes perfect sense now.

well, i dunno about you but for drinking beer id rather have a good time and be able to kick back and have a 12 pack then one little puny beer. ..... :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

and I have a "bank" of un used exercise calories that I can use to cover whatever I choose to eat or drink so its not harmful to my progress calorie wise...

AeolianHarp

I use the term "cheat day" and quite frankly, I really don't care what I call it. Terminology and semantics won't affect the scale either way. I can call it a "lazy day, binge day, carbapalooza"...it doesn't matter.

These "days" (no more than once per week) have been proven to (1) shock the metabolism to prevent plateaus and (2) allow people to diet or "maintain" longer because they know that it's achievable - they don't have to give up Mexican food or desserts for the rest of their lives.

Why would you give up Mexican food and desserts just to allocate it to a single day? It makes no sense. People should simply incorporate these foods into their daily lives. There's no need to omit them.

Also, these "days" that "shock the metabolism" are fairly moot in the grand scheme of things. I haven't seen any evidence where a group that cheated once a week lost more fat than a group that didn't. I have seen some merit for refeeds but I can't say the same for an all out cheat day.

Either way, people should practice flexible dieting, not restriction just to pig out on a single day. It's dumb.

51powerski

I like to cheat OP, it's awesome lolz.

Are you mad?

Zombriana

I don't think I've ever called them cheat days.
When I know I'm going to eat "too much" that day, I say they are my "fat days."

My birthday = Kobes & Cheese Steak = Fat Day

princessruthiebelle

some people are really intolerant of other people views on this....

jaydubbayu

I don't call it a cheat day, because I don't over indulge for a whole day... at least not since starting MFP... I'll have a "Cheat" meal that's high in calories, but try to make it around my calorie goal. If I go over, I only go over by about 200-500. On days that I do my full workout, I think it's impossible to go over! I usually burn about 600 for a 1.5 hour workout.

ocylott

This Saturday is a family occasion that revolves around food. I already know this, and am going in with the awareness that there's no way I'll make my calorie count that day. In fact, I don't know if it would even be possible to log everything, since there'll be a ton of things I won't even know what they are (other than "tasty"). Instead of sitting out and watching everyone else eat or missing it entirely, I've decided this Saturday I won't be counting any calories. I intend to eat a healthy breakfast, and will likely be too full from the afternoon to even bother with dinner, but I'm fully aware my calorie intake will be much higher than my "losing" number. This will be the first time I'll have not counted calories or gone over since I started MFP, one month ago. Frankly, I don't think one meal in a month is going to stop my progress.

When the husband asked me if we should skip it this year, I told him no, I was going to take a cheat day. And you know what? He completely understood what I meant when I said that. I didn't have to explain it, like I would have if I'd called it a spike day or a lapse day. Getting hung up on the semantics of the term misses the point of language, which would be communication. Judging from my conversation with my husband, the term "cheat day" communicates the point just fine as is.

katysmelly

This Saturday is a family occasion that revolves around food. I already know this, and am going in with the awareness that there's no way I'll make my calorie count that day. In fact, I don't know if it would even be possible to log everything, since there'll be a ton of things I won't even know what they are (other than "tasty"). Instead of sitting out and watching everyone else eat or missing it entirely, I've decided this Saturday I won't be counting any calories. I intend to eat a healthy breakfast, and will likely be too full from the afternoon to even bother with dinner, but I'm fully aware my calorie intake will be much higher than my "losing" number. This will be the first time I'll have not counted calories or gone over since I started MFP, one month ago. Frankly, I don't think one meal in a month is going to stop my progress.

When the husband asked me if we should skip it this year, I told him no, I was going to take a cheat day. And you know what? He completely understood what I meant when I said that. I didn't have to explain it, like I would have if I'd called it a spike day or a lapse day. Getting hung up on the semantics of the term misses the point of language, which would be communication. Judging from my conversation with my husband, the term "cheat day" communicates the point just fine as is.

I think that you sound like a very sane and rational person who is making a good choice IRT their lifestyle.

Enjoy your day!

katysmelly

I use the term "cheat day" and quite frankly, I really don't care what I call it. Terminology and semantics won't affect the scale either way. I can call it a "lazy day, binge day, carbapalooza"...it doesn't matter.

These "days" (no more than once per week) have been proven to (1) shock the metabolism to prevent plateaus and (2) allow people to diet or "maintain" longer because they know that it's achievable - they don't have to give up Mexican food or desserts for the rest of their lives.

Why would you give up Mexican food and desserts just to allocate it to a single day? It makes no sense. People should simply incorporate these foods into their daily lives. There's no need to omit them.

Also, these "days" that "shock the metabolism" are fairly moot in the grand scheme of things. I haven't seen any evidence where a group that cheated once a week lost more fat than a group that didn't. I have seen some merit for refeeds but I can't say the same for an all out cheat day.

Either way, people should practice flexible dieting, not restriction just to pig out on a single day. It's dumb.

Some people are on a limited enough number of calories that having their favourite entree at the local Mexican restaurant, or a piece of their mom's carrot cake, would take up half their daily allowance of calories.

Sure, you can have these things on any given day, but maybe they don't want to have only a tiny little portion. Maybe they want to have a mean - a single meal - that is more than 1000 calories. To do that, they would have to go over their daily allowance of calories.

jpuderbaugh

To me, this is a debate because he has responded to some people's posts. That to me is what a debate is, banter back and forth. Whether anybody has an intelligible rebuttal is besides the point (to me) because otherwise political debates would just be called political rants (I hate politics and politicians, so this is just my opinion).

I won't quote a dictionary citation but most definitions include some part of a debate being a formal, structured argument with points and counterpoints scoring towards a ruling. OP's so far managed to belittle and insult several posters without discussing the valid points that were brought up. He made fun of an avatar of one, made fun of somebody's chores in a legitimate rebuttal to OP's follow-up Q of what else in life do cheaters cheat at. Semantics, yes, but this guy has lost the benefit of the doubt with his callous remarks to other posters who offered sincere responses to his questions and were just attacked. That flies in the face of what this forum is about and for...when people demonstrate that level of ****ery they lose my sympathy and draw my ire. So far he hasn't responded to any of my retorts which were also posted in honest sincerity before callmeBAM showed his true debate colors...I fear he may at any point attack my avatar pic or taunt my weight loss or eating diary...(shudder)

Why does it matter that I called this a debate, whether it fits into the technical definition or not? Somebody else called this a debate too, why does it matter? It's just a word. Just like "cheat day" is just a phrase. Why does it have to be perfectly correct when used? I could point out hundreds of misused terms people use (not necessarily on here, I mean in every day life... ignorant is a commonly misused term) but I don't because I know what people mean by it. (and I meant nothing by referring to the term ignorant, it was just the first one that came to mind, and the one my family often uses incorrectly to mean rude, when really it means stupid.)

19danno77

Why does it matter that I called this a debate, whether it fits into the technical definition or not? Somebody else called this a debate too, why does it matter? It's just a word. Just like "cheat day" is just a phrase. Why does it have to be perfectly correct when used? I could point out hundreds of misused terms people use (not necessarily on here, I mean in every day life... ignorant is a commonly misused term) but I don't because I know what people mean by it. (and I meant nothing by referring to the term ignorant, it was just the first one that came to mind, and the one my family often uses incorrectly to mean rude, when really it means stupid.)

It matters to me because the OP is an a$$hat judger that doesn't deserve to have his rant/pet peeve classified as constructive. He seduced a group of posters with a tempting subject, ignored the useful and personally attacked in a verbal way certain posters for reasons as arbitrary as avatars or language. This draws my ire more than anything...I'd give him credit for debate if he hadn't been such a jerk and responded to the posters that replied with pertinent information. MFP doesn't need flame wars but that's what this turned into. There's a difference between the assumed meaning of phrases (like cheat day) and expressions and the definitions of words...the latter leaves less to interpretation. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I just don't think Blam's BS fits the definition of debate. What you and I are doing right now would be a debate...no name calling, back and forth. Although I doubt there will be a clear winner!

3laine75

gonna cheat now n have a snickers ;D