What does "cheat day" mean to you?

trybabytry

Do you still log your food? Do you have a set number of calories you allow yourself to eat until? Do you just go all out and calories be damned?

lilahtov

I have a blog that helps me keep track of my weight loss and motivation, so this is what I posted about cheat day:

the big debate: Cheat Day.
Here’s what they say:

Pro-cheat day: yayay cheat day i love those i have a whole day each week where i can have whatever i want thank god for cheat days…don’t worry it boosts your metabolism and curbs cravings so you won’t binge all the time so it’s good for you!

Anti-cheat day: cheat day is cheating yourself! omg what are you doing cheating…it takes a whole week to get back on track. think twice when you’re stuffing your face you sure won’t feel good about it later. cheat day isn’t a license to binge!

What I say: “Everything in moderation” applies to cheat day. Dieting is hard! Smaller numbers on the scale are encouraging, but so is looking forward to your favorite high-calorie treat! I say, an entire day of cheating is a recipe for disaster. Your body will think, oh, it’s back to normal and I get all this delicious sinfully unhealthy food to fatten me up again! I also say, if mac and cheese is your favorite food, don’t give it up forever!

My solution:

I think cheat day should be divided into cheat MEALS.
Give yourself one cheat day a MONTH, and break it up into three meals (as if you were having breakfast, lunch and dinner on three different days.)
If you really love a breakfast/lunch/dinner/dessert time, feel free to mix and match what kind of cheat meal you have.
This way, you’re not stuffing your face. You’re not bingeing once a week and throwing your entire body and diet off track. You’re indulging in three sinfully satisfying meals a month. So have that piece (just one!) of delicious cake with ice cream (a scoop, not a pint!). Have your mac and cheese…eat it slowly, savor its fatty goodness.

For those who just can’t bring themselves to cheat without feeling unbearably guilty afterwards: cheat on your diet with your diet! Your three cheat meals might be a large helping of high-calorie but also highly-healthy quinoa or multigrain pasta, a heaping handful of dark chocolate covered almonds…

Trust me, I know better than anyone that eating healthy is easy, but eating high-health and low-calorie is SO not.

Happy dieting!

ConstableOdo

A cheat day for me is any day where I happen to go over. Like on Thursday my friend and I met for Star Trek. I went a bit heavy on the tea and biscuits. I think I went over like 400 calories.

That was my cheat day. I just accept that it happened and move on. I cheated. It's ok. I am back on track.