when was your first cheat day?

kidcole11

How did you decide on your first cheat day? Did you plan it? Did you feel crazy and needed a break? Tell your story!

BR3ANDA

I waited a full month, my first treat day was on July 4th, I didnt go super crazy, kept my portions to recommended sizes, had a lot of variety, including chips & icecream, and logged everything I ate. Now, we have one treat day a week, staying under 2000 cals,

kidcole11

that sounds very much like what I was planning.

myfitnessval

my first month i decided sundays would be my cheat days, if i really wanted it i would have to wait til sunday, it helped me by not giving into every craving i had. now that ive learned a little self control i dont have a set cheat day, if i crave something and i've worked hard enough, i will have it and make sure it fits into my calories or macros. if it doesnt, i try not to freak out, everyone has day where they kinda blow it. i find they keep me fairly sane though.

Tedebearduff

I don't have cheat days ..... If anything it's the reverse my eating gets cleaner and cleaner.

firedancer8780

I've had cheat days here and there, but I always make sure I exercise enough to stay under my calories for the day. I've had only 1 day in 3 1/2 months (since I started MFP) where I went over my calories. It was my birthday. I still logged everything for the day, but didn't exercise to make up for it. I made healthy choices still, but splurged some too. I figured I deserved to enjoy my birthday and not worry about it!

tami101

I have made Sundays my cheat day since I started because we have a big family dinner (often at buffets) on Sundays. I try to make good choices, but sometimes I lose my willpower and make less than healthy choices. I usually try to do an extra workout to help balance it out though.

coops9999

Mine was today :-)

Started working out again 2 weeks ago and started MFP last week.... lost 5 pounds last week but realized after my cycle class yesterday that I am working out too much (15 out of the last 16 days) and not taking in enough calories (really struggling to eat enough in a day with the exercise) so I decided to skip the gym today and go to Church's Chicken for lunch!

Enjoyed it, but I am looking forward to getting 'back to work' tomorrow...... I was surprised as it wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be.

angelb1983

my first month i decided sundays would be my cheat days, if i really wanted it i would have to wait til sunday, it helped me by not giving into every craving i had. now that ive learned a little self control i dont have a set cheat day, if i crave something and i've worked hard enough, i will have it and make sure it fits into my calories or macros. if it doesnt, i try not to freak out, everyone has day where they kinda blow it. i find they keep me fairly sane though.

^^^^^ Love this!! Gonna try that I think it would help me too. Thanks for sharing

arewethereyet

I don't cheat. If I did I would be cheating myself. I had an 'eat at maint. cals' day every few weeks, but the farther I got into my program, the less I wanted to do that.

Plus, if I ate something really bad for me, it made me sick:sick:

Anyway, I guess the word cheat makes it sound like it is bad, and I don't want to feel bad any more:flowerforyou:

kidcole11

It is nice to see how different people think about the cheat days...some of ya are oppossed, some live for it, some just call it something else.

WickedBean

What are these cheat days you speak of??? I eat the same every day... infact I just had ice cream with chocolate sauce and melted peanut butter on it, 2 popsicles, some spaghetti, and some 7 layer salad... and that was just for dinner.

if you eat everything in moderation there is no need for cheat days.

chanson104

I've been at this for a while so I don't remember my first "cheat" day. I have; however, decided to do away with cheat days. I am doing this by counting calories by the week rather than the day. Yesterday I was a few hundred under; today I was a few hundred over. I'm okay with going over as long as I'm not over my total amount for the week. I've heard that varying your calories is a good way to avoid/break a plateau. I thought that I would try it for a month and see what happens.

UpEarly

My very first day on MFP (April 10, 2011), I had a handful jellybeans, a dish of raspberry dark-chocolate premium ice cream, half a can of full-sugar grape soda, and chicken divan made with heavy cream and full-fat gruyere cheese. To be fair, I also had plain oatmeal, cherries, a big green salad, broccoli, and grilled chicken breast) My whole day came in just over 1600 calories. It was also probably one of the lowest calorie days I ever had on MFP.

From the very beginning of this process, I decided I wasn't going to "diet". I was going to stop labeling food and good or bad. I ate whatever I wanted, but kept an eye on portion sizes and overall calories. I had no problem meeting my goal of losing 50 pounds (and then losing 13 extra pounds on top of that).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't believe that eating food I enjoy is "cheating". You can lose weight and eat food you like - it doesn't have to be one or the other.