Cheat Days- I don't get it
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Not true, or at least not totally true. Google "calorie cycling".the more cheat days/meals you have.. the slower you reach your goal.
cheat meals = extra calories = slower weight loss... i think carbohydrate cycling has more benefits try to mess with those numbers rather than calories.0 -
I believe in upping your calories once or twice a week to keep your metabolism guessing. It's called carb cycing. Not that I know if it works...haven't tried it long enough.0
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i allow a cheat treat meaning i might eat a ice cream cone or a couple table sppons of frosting imply cause i have learned that if i try to cut out the foods i crave i fall off the wagon. but lik eeveryone has said i allow for it or if i go over my calorie count i exsercise it off0
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Not true, or at least not totally true. Google "calorie cycling".the more cheat days/meals you have.. the slower you reach your goal.
cheat meals = extra calories = slower weight loss... i think carbohydrate cycling has more benefits try to mess with those numbers rather than calories.
Problem with that statement is that you're interpreting a "cheat" to mean going over calories. Around here, some people mean that, but *a lot* of people take "cheat" to meant eating junk food or whatever. So you don't know what your reader means when they say "cheat" unless they've said so explicitly. I just don't use the word at all.0 -
I don't consider it cheating, but I take weekends, and sometimes a week, and sometimes a month, where I stop logging my food and just eat what I want. Not gorging on everything in sight, but my mind needs a mental break from thinking about calories so much. I don't want to, for instance, go to a party and be that one stick in the mud who can't or won't eat anything, or have to count out an exact serving of potato chips, or ask my host what's in their recipes. I just want to live a normal life.0
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Someone asked Michelle Obama about pigging out on Thanksgiving and I remember that she responded that she would indulge a few days each year. I interpreted that as "cheat days" - all things in moderation -- including sticking to a strict self-imposed diet.
That said, I don't really have "cheat days" but I don't see anything wrong with them.0 -
I have a cheat day but it's 600 calories above my regular day and it's a day with 0 exercise requirement (though I usually still walk dog or bike or whatever, there is no pressure if I miss). I do not limit my carbs that day but I do still watch my sodium due to high B/P.
Why do I have it? Because I deserve it. 600 calories is a piece of my fav pie or eating out at a nice restaurant (not salad or without carbs) with my husband, or going to my SIL's house and eating whatever she made even if it's loaded with cals. It takes some of the pressure off Fri, Sat, or Sunday (whichever is the day I need that week).
Do I still loose weight? Yes. Is it as quick? Don't know, don't care. I've lost 13 lbs since Mid-Febish (about 10 weeks) so I'm hitting my goals+ and I'm feeling fine.
My opinion is if you need one, take one. It's better than regressing. Should mention, now that my stomach has shrunk and I'm working on my abs again I get full a lot faster anyway so staying within my 600 splurge (1600 total for the day) is pretty easy.
(And no saying my 1000 cals is "starvation mode". No, it isn't. It's doc approved and I get all I need for my very small stature with 1000.)0 -
I personally wouldn't do it... every body is different, but im so determined to lose weight, i dont want to risk having a cheat day, though once i week ill have something 'naughty' in portion
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no.. calories are essentially equal assuming you hit all of your macro goals for a day... any type of technical "cheat" is a caloric surplus. if you are still under or at your caloric goal for the day you wont gain any weight at all no matter what you eat...
Not true, or at least not totally true. Google "calorie cycling".the more cheat days/meals you have.. the slower you reach your goal.
cheat meals = extra calories = slower weight loss... i think carbohydrate cycling has more benefits try to mess with those numbers rather than calories.
Problem with that statement is that you're interpreting a "cheat" to mean going over calories. Around here, some people mean that, but *a lot* of people take "cheat" to meant eating junk food or whatever. So you don't know what your reader means when they say "cheat" unless they've said so explicitly. I just don't use the word at all.0 -
I have a question. Really just curious...
Reading these forums a lot recently, I have seen a lot of people incorporate a whole "cheat day" each week into their plan. From what I'm hearing you can eat whatever and how much as you want.
What I'm wondering is, can you still lose weight doing this??
See, I understand the concept of doing this so you don't feel deprived and go over on the other days of the week. But I would think just one "cheat meal", or indulgence now and then is good. I'm not planning to have a cheat day myself because I'm already losing weight very very slowly and only indulging a little bit on some days is fine for me right now.
Just trying to make sense of it. In my opinion I feel like having a whole cheat day would ruin the whole progress I had already made the days prior, I don't know? If it works, that's great! Maybe I will try it LOL :laugh:
if this were the case, fat people would get thing by having one "health day" per week.0 -
Quite a few years ago, I heard of this from my mom. It wasn't until about 3 years ago that my mom turned me on to this book by Bill Philips. The book is called Body For Life. In the book, Bill is a strong advocate of a cheat day (it was written in the 80's). He talks a lot about why this is good for your body, but only if you are exercising 6 days a week and utilizing HIIT for cardio. So, if you are doing those things, then having a cheat day is fine. I've lost weight doing it. No problem. There are lots of reasons why it works. One of those reasons is that it makes it easier to be good all week, if you know your cheat day is coming up and you can have pizza and ice cream. My only self-imposed rule was, i only got cheat day if I was good all week. If I blew it, no cheat day and that would make me a sad panda.
I likes and agree. My nutritionist said ok, but at the end of the day, its all about personal preferences. I totally fell off today, but was traveling and didnt have my cooler of food w/me. I usually just do maybe a cheat meal/week and it does help me stay focused all week. sometimes my cheat 'meal' is my fav ice cream after dinner. Just gotta change your mind set and make it a lifestyle and hve on your journey!0 -
no.. calories are essentially equal assuming you hit all of your macro goals for a day... any type of technical "cheat" is a caloric surplus. if you are still under or at your caloric goal for the day you wont gain any weight at all no matter what you eat...
Not true, or at least not totally true. Google "calorie cycling".the more cheat days/meals you have.. the slower you reach your goal.
cheat meals = extra calories = slower weight loss... i think carbohydrate cycling has more benefits try to mess with those numbers rather than calories.
Problem with that statement is that you're interpreting a "cheat" to mean going over calories. Around here, some people mean that, but *a lot* of people take "cheat" to meant eating junk food or whatever. So you don't know what your reader means when they say "cheat" unless they've said so explicitly. I just don't use the word at all.
I didn't say anything about whether I think calories are equal or not. You're saying a "technical" "cheat" is a surplus, but if you read the boards on MFP a lot of people use the term cheat to mean eating a meal they normally wouldn't while still staying within daily goal or going over one day by 500 for a "cheat" meal or something, which obviously doesn't send them into a weekly surplus. I understand *you're* saying a cheat means surplus and therefore a slower loss, but that's not how a lot of people around here think about it, so saying a cheat means slower loss doesn't hold true for the way a lot of people think about a "cheat."0 -
no.. calories are essentially equal assuming you hit all of your macro goals for a day... any type of technical "cheat" is a caloric surplus. if you are still under or at your caloric goal for the day you wont gain any weight at all no matter what you eat...
Not true, or at least not totally true. Google "calorie cycling".the more cheat days/meals you have.. the slower you reach your goal.
cheat meals = extra calories = slower weight loss... i think carbohydrate cycling has more benefits try to mess with those numbers rather than calories.
Problem with that statement is that you're interpreting a "cheat" to mean going over calories. Around here, some people mean that, but *a lot* of people take "cheat" to meant eating junk food or whatever. So you don't know what your reader means when they say "cheat" unless they've said so explicitly. I just don't use the word at all.
I didn't say anything about whether I think calories are equal or not. You're saying a "technical" "cheat" is a surplus, but if you read the boards on MFP a lot of people use the term cheat to mean eating a meal they normally wouldn't while still staying within daily goal or going over one day by 500 for a "cheat" meal or something, which obviously doesn't send them into a weekly surplus. I understand *you're* saying a cheat means surplus and therefore a slower loss, but that's not how a lot of people around here think about it, so saying a cheat means slower loss doesn't hold true for the way a lot of people think about a "cheat."
then if what you are saying is true then you can "cheat" every single day and still have progressive weight loss...0 -
Yes you can I do it most weeks. Usually Friday or Saturday I just don't log my food intake, usually try to satisfy any cravings I may have but not BINGE . A cheat day should be somewhere around your maintenance calories 2-2.5k tops. I'm sure having days like this aren't helping me much, but I have been steadily losing weight for a couple months now after breaking my first plateau. The only frustrating part is facing the scale Monday morning and seeing you're a couple pounds higher than say Friday morning, but by Wednesday morning I'm back to my current lowest and by Friday I'm logging another 0.5-1 lb loss right before my cheat day again. Continue cycle, really been enjoying myself, my results and what I eat.0
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then if what you are saying is true then you can "cheat" every single day and still have progressive weight loss...
This is silly. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you or saying one thing is true and one thing isn't. I am explaining about how people on MFP define "cheat" differently since you made a blanket statement about it slowing down weight loss. What you say is true only if people see a cheat as eating into the deficit they started with. A lot of people here see a "cheat" as eating junk food, like pizza on Fridays even if it fits into their calories/macros for the day. I personally think that definition makes no sense, since if it fits within, then where's the cheat? But a lot of people here call that a "cheat." I'm just explaining to you why your blanket statement does not hold true for everyone who *says* they "cheat." That's why these threads are posted several times a week and people start arguing because they fall into different camps about what a "cheat" is. So yes, for some people they could "cheat" everyday and still lose weight if they define "cheating" as eating junk food, but within their goals. For others "cheating" means eating into their deficit. And for a lot of people they have "free" days or they eat in "moderation" or whatever and there are no cheats. Just clarifying than on MFP "cheating" doesn't mean slower weight loss for everyone, it depends on how that person defines cheating, if they do at all.0 -
lol... so wuts ur personal definition again? how do you have 'your' cheat day/meal?then if what you are saying is true then you can "cheat" every single day and still have progressive weight loss...
This is silly. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you or saying one thing is true and one thing isn't. I am explaining about how people on MFP define "cheat" differently since you made a blanket statement about it slowing down weight loss. What you say is true only if people see a cheat as eating into the deficit they started with. A lot of people here see a "cheat" as eating junk food, like pizza on Fridays even if it fits into their calories/macros for the day. I personally think that definition makes no sense, since if it fits within, then where's the cheat? But a lot of people here call that a "cheat." I'm just explaining to you why your blanket statement does not hold true for everyone who *says* they "cheat." That's why these threads are posted several times a week and people start arguing because they fall into different camps about what a "cheat" is. So yes, for some people they could "cheat" everyday and still lose weight if they define "cheating" as eating junk food, but within their goals. For others "cheating" means eating into their deficit. And for a lot of people they have "free" days or they eat in "moderation" or whatever and there are no cheats. Just clarifying than on MFP "cheating" doesn't mean slower weight loss for everyone, it depends on how that person defines cheating, if they do at all.0 -
lol... so wuts ur personal definition again? how do you have 'your' cheat day/meal?then if what you are saying is true then you can "cheat" every single day and still have progressive weight loss...
This is silly. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you or saying one thing is true and one thing isn't. I am explaining about how people on MFP define "cheat" differently since you made a blanket statement about it slowing down weight loss. What you say is true only if people see a cheat as eating into the deficit they started with. A lot of people here see a "cheat" as eating junk food, like pizza on Fridays even if it fits into their calories/macros for the day. I personally think that definition makes no sense, since if it fits within, then where's the cheat? But a lot of people here call that a "cheat." I'm just explaining to you why your blanket statement does not hold true for everyone who *says* they "cheat." That's why these threads are posted several times a week and people start arguing because they fall into different camps about what a "cheat" is. So yes, for some people they could "cheat" everyday and still lose weight if they define "cheating" as eating junk food, but within their goals. For others "cheating" means eating into their deficit. And for a lot of people they have "free" days or they eat in "moderation" or whatever and there are no cheats. Just clarifying than on MFP "cheating" doesn't mean slower weight loss for everyone, it depends on how that person defines cheating, if they do at all.
Who cares? Cheat days worked like a mother f'er for me. Argue all f'ing day long, but I know that it worked. And for the record, my cheat day was a big *kitten* pig out all out as much as I could stuff in day. And, I lost weight. To argue about it is dumb because I have results. If your preference is to not do it, then don't. But, there is a lot of written documentation in publications that promotes it. So, whatever. Do it. Don't do it. Who cares? Don't get so technical about nit picky details. F'ing annoying to the max.0 -
lol... so wuts ur personal definition again? how do you have 'your' cheat day/meal?then if what you are saying is true then you can "cheat" every single day and still have progressive weight loss...
This is silly. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you or saying one thing is true and one thing isn't. I am explaining about how people on MFP define "cheat" differently since you made a blanket statement about it slowing down weight loss. What you say is true only if people see a cheat as eating into the deficit they started with. A lot of people here see a "cheat" as eating junk food, like pizza on Fridays even if it fits into their calories/macros for the day. I personally think that definition makes no sense, since if it fits within, then where's the cheat? But a lot of people here call that a "cheat." I'm just explaining to you why your blanket statement does not hold true for everyone who *says* they "cheat." That's why these threads are posted several times a week and people start arguing because they fall into different camps about what a "cheat" is. So yes, for some people they could "cheat" everyday and still lose weight if they define "cheating" as eating junk food, but within their goals. For others "cheating" means eating into their deficit. And for a lot of people they have "free" days or they eat in "moderation" or whatever and there are no cheats. Just clarifying than on MFP "cheating" doesn't mean slower weight loss for everyone, it depends on how that person defines cheating, if they do at all.
I don't. I don't consider anything about the way I eat "cheating." The point was that your blanket statement doesn't apply if not everyone is using the same definition. To say "cheat days slow weight loss" is misleading.0 -
this is a forrum and its my opinion... there is no such thing as cheating unless it hinders some sort of progress... the whole point of having anything labeled cheat..
lol... so wuts ur personal definition again? how do you have 'your' cheat day/meal?then if what you are saying is true then you can "cheat" every single day and still have progressive weight loss...
This is silly. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you or saying one thing is true and one thing isn't. I am explaining about how people on MFP define "cheat" differently since you made a blanket statement about it slowing down weight loss. What you say is true only if people see a cheat as eating into the deficit they started with. A lot of people here see a "cheat" as eating junk food, like pizza on Fridays even if it fits into their calories/macros for the day. I personally think that definition makes no sense, since if it fits within, then where's the cheat? But a lot of people here call that a "cheat." I'm just explaining to you why your blanket statement does not hold true for everyone who *says* they "cheat." That's why these threads are posted several times a week and people start arguing because they fall into different camps about what a "cheat" is. So yes, for some people they could "cheat" everyday and still lose weight if they define "cheating" as eating junk food, but within their goals. For others "cheating" means eating into their deficit. And for a lot of people they have "free" days or they eat in "moderation" or whatever and there are no cheats. Just clarifying than on MFP "cheating" doesn't mean slower weight loss for everyone, it depends on how that person defines cheating, if they do at all.
I don't. I don't consider anything about the way I eat "cheating." The point was that your blanket statement doesn't apply if not everyone is using the same definition. To say "cheat days slow weight loss" is misleading.0
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