I can't EVER have a cheat day? HELP

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  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    body compositions can change a lot at the same weight. Hence why relying solely on the scales is not a good idea to track progress. (especially if you are already at a healthy weight for you're height)

    In my hasty decision to tell you that you were just arguing with everyone's advice, I didn't think about mentioning this at all. From January of this year through June, I only lost 2 pounds but went from a size 10 to a size 6 due to body recomposition. Maybe it would do you good to ignore the scale for a bit, focus on your exercise and see what happens.

    I apologize for being a little rude in my first post, I just felt every time someone said something you came back at it with a "yeah, but" type of response. Personally if someone gives advice I don't want to follow I just ignore it and move on. I am not naturally an argumentative type of person.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    strangely, I just got this article in my email: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8jiRdi/www.coachcalorie.com/not-losing-weight/
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    Assuming you're eating enough to meet your basic energy requirements and support your health and well-being long term: if you lose weight eating at a certain calorie count but then gain more than you lost on your cheat day, you either need to eat less on your non-cheat days, moderate your cheat days a bit, or exercise more to create a larger deficit. This also assumes that you're accurately weighing yourself and that you are in fact consistently gaining more on your cheat day than you burn across the other six days. By consistent I mean this has been happening for multiple weeks in a row, not just one or two. Successfully executing on this can be much more challenging, but the answer really is that simple.

    Cheat days aren't really cheat days. If you create a 3500 calorie deficit every 6 days but then eat 4000 calories over maintenance on your cheat day, you'll gain weight.
  • DanceForever904
    DanceForever904 Posts: 611 Member
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    did u say ur on depo? Thats why! depo is evil! i was on it and it messed with my weight big time! i gained 10 pounds in 3 months cause of that awful drug! not to mention its not even approved by the FDA anymore cause of all the people who have drug reaction during and after depo
  • needtogetwell
    needtogetwell Posts: 13
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    Cheat days are good for your mental health....as long as you discipline yourself to 1 meal a week. You mention that you have lost only 7 and a bit lbs, but what about your measurements??? have you lost inches? I find that my motivation goes way up when I realize that the inches are gone, even if the LBS haven't . Good Luck and stay with it. You will achieve your goals.
  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
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    Have you considered that you may have a food intolerance?

    If your body is busy protecting itself from a perceived danger, it's not going to metabolize your food properly and it's not going to burn it properly either. The water, fat, sugar retention could be a result of a digestive issue you're having. Since the intestines don't have nerve fibers, it could be in pain and we would never know it. On your cheat days, do you eat dairy, bread, or soy? If so, do an elimination diet and see if you can pinpoint what's causing your digestive system to not function properly.
  • ahviendha
    ahviendha Posts: 1,291 Member
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    I just wanted to add in, I don't think 1000 calories would be burned in 5 hours of shopping.

    I burn over 1000 calories hiking for 4 hours.

    I always try to lowball my exercise calories so I get a happy surprise at weigh ins!

    I do want to second what someone else said, that if you switch up your cheat meals or day foods and you see one has a worse effect than another keep that in mind. BK ice cream probably has a bunch of extra junk in it than Ben & Jerrys for example, or a local ice cream shop. I could be totally wrong about BK ice cream being super bad for you, but if all their other food is packed with sodium and preservatives, I would imagine their ice cream is on the same level.

    I totally understand the plateau/lose and gain frustration cycle! I've been having to listen to my body and re-learn everything I thought I knew when I had 30-40lbs to lose. Having 10lbs or less to lose is a lot harder =( But we're all here to listen and help! Good luck!
  • sunshine_gem
    sunshine_gem Posts: 390 Member
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    BTW I'm also on the depo and when I first started taking it I was losing weight pretty consistently. I think the depo, as with all other contraceptive drugs, are subjective to the person. Some gain weight on it, some have mood swings and some are just fine. I know with me the depo is not the problem. It was other drugs that I was taking and my own brain psyching me out. I know in the US it's not really a standard drug but here in th UK it is. It works for me. If you've been taking it a while and haven't noticed any complications then take it out of the equation.
  • chrishgt4
    chrishgt4 Posts: 1,222 Member
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    Perhaps some of it could be down to the ED and that your body is still a bit geared towards fat storage.

    Since you say it's when you "binge" this could make sense since when you are eating super low your body heightens production of enzymes designed to store any excess calories as fat.

    If that is the case then it would seem the answer is to keep pushing through making sure you are definitely eating enough, and either cutting out the binges or accepting that at least for the time being they are going to have this effect on your bodyfat.

    I'm sure you are probably aware of this as an ED recoverer but perhaps not.

    Separate to this - 1 suggestion I would seriously recommend is to start doing weights. Heavy weights. Purchase 'The New Rules of Lifting For Women'. It is amazing the progress people, particularly women make when following a heavy lifting program.
  • lisamarie2181
    lisamarie2181 Posts: 560 Member
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    Could it be that you are at or around your goal weight? You could possibly just need to start building more muscle to obtain the results you want, lowering your BF% doesn't always necessary mean you will lose weight scale wise, but will affect your measurements and appearance. I don't know exactly how to find out what your ideal weight should be, but might be something worth looking into!

    Good luck!
  • basslinewild
    basslinewild Posts: 294 Member
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    Rather than having "cheat" days which throw you off course, consider eating some of the things you enjoy throughout the week (within your macros), so you don't feel deprived and go crazy for a day or weekend. Plan for these "treats" by eating lower calorie/fat options for your other food that day, or by eating a little less than your macros on other days to "save-up" for them, so that overall for the week, you are still at or slightly below your macros.

    The key to creating a new "lifestyle" is to make good choices everyday...determine whether a treat is "worth it" --- worth not meeting your goals, worth giving up something else to fit it into your macros, or worth the extra exercise to fit it into your macros. Everything you put into your mouth is a choice...just make sure that each thing is "worth it" to you. My morning Starbucks and evening angel food cake w/ ice cream are "worth it" to me almost daily, so I think about that when I'm offered a cookie or cake or something else tempting. Would I rather have that treat now, or do I want my evening dessert, or do I want to run 2-3 miles when I get home? All my choice!

    This way of thinking has helped me be successful this time in a way like never before. I'm now maintaining 6-8 pounds below my original target. Even on days when I give myself permission to "pig out," I find that I just can't do it. I may order chili cheese fries because I worked out like crazy to earn them, but then I find I can only eat half of them. My "training" during my weight-loss phase continues to help me make better chices and refrain from returning to my old habits. Maybe it will work for you, too.
    This ^
  • ravengirl1611
    ravengirl1611 Posts: 285 Member
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    I have had previous issues with eating disorders for 8 years, but I've been 100% recovered for over a year now, and in recovery for around a year before that, so I'm unsure if it would be anything to do with that still. :/

    I'm on 1622 a day, so it's not like my body's starving or anything.

    You look TINY, you're 5'4.. How do you have 1622 calories a day? is it possible you are actually eating so close to maintenance for your size/weight that those extra calories are putting you over? Just saying because I'm 2 inches taller and probably 80 - 90 pounds heavier and I'm at 1700 daily also with activity included. From what I have seen the smaller you are the less you need unless you're a beast in the gym - but you haven't said you are. Have you adjusted your calories back from when you were heavier?

    I'm not massive or anything, but I'm not skinny either. My bodyfat is quite high. I want to lose another 14lb.

    Basically, I used to eat at 200-1000 a day for years. I would sometimes binge, but I would mainly starve. And a binge to me wasn't always a lot of calories, it was just a crazed mental shove-it-all-in kinda thing! Anyway, I got treatment, left treatment of my own accord when they were rushing me to eat 2000 calories a day (was never gunna happen!) and I felt they just wanted to write me down as 'recovered' so it looked good for them, and they weren't comfortable with it taking me YEARS to get to 'normal'.

    After a year or so going it alone, I felt a lot better. I've been fully recovered (nothing ed related at all) since May 2011.

    I started eating at 1200, then went up to 1300, then to my BMR of 1440. I lost a few pounds. I then read about TDEE and that I should be eating more once I got an active job. I'm on my feet for 7.25 hours a day, 5 days a week. 1722 was too high, so I went down to 1622. Started losing again. GREAT! Until I cheat with ONE bad thing that takes me over my goal.

    If I eat 1200 and then a naughty treat for 400, that's fine. If I eat 1600 and have a 400 treat, then I gain. I should just maintain. It's not that 1622 is too high for me. It's simply that when I go too far over it, I gain and can't get it off. It seems that on a weekend someone may eat a good 1000 calories over, and still be able to lose that week. I eat over by 500 and gain that week.

    Recalculate your numbers - if this is right then maybe you've lost enough now that your bmr has dropped and so has your tdee to maybe 1500 - so ya if you're youre eating 1600 then you will gain
  • ravengirl1611
    ravengirl1611 Posts: 285 Member
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    Rather than having "cheat" days which throw you off course, consider eating some of the things you enjoy throughout the week (within your macros), so you don't feel deprived and go crazy for a day or weekend. Plan for these "treats" by eating lower calorie/fat options for your other food that day, or by eating a little less than your macros on other days to "save-up" for them, so that overall for the week, you are still at or slightly below your macros.

    The key to creating a new "lifestyle" is to make good choices everyday...determine whether a treat is "worth it" --- worth not meeting your goals, worth giving up something else to fit it into your macros, or worth the extra exercise to fit it into your macros. Everything you put into your mouth is a choice...just make sure that each thing is "worth it" to you. My morning Starbucks and evening angel food cake w/ ice cream are "worth it" to me almost daily, so I think about that when I'm offered a cookie or cake or something else tempting. Would I rather have that treat now, or do I want my evening dessert, or do I want to run 2-3 miles when I get home? All my choice!

    This way of thinking has helped me be successful this time in a way like never before. I'm now maintaining 6-8 pounds below my original target. Even on days when I give myself permission to "pig out," I find that I just can't do it. I may order chili cheese fries because I worked out like crazy to earn them, but then I find I can only eat half of them. My "training" during my weight-loss phase continues to help me make better chices and refrain from returning to my old habits. Maybe it will work for you, too.

    Bravo & very well said

    Dieters require cheat days & cheat meals - those that make lifestyle choices dont
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    It may be what you eat when you go over a few hundred calories - like a lot of salt or other things that make you gain fast. Frankly, those few calories can't possibly cause that much weight gain/loss.

    So look at WHAT you're eating, not how many calories.
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
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    I'm sorry, but a whole DAY where you eat nothing but junk? Really? No, I don't think so! A cheat meal? Yes, go for it when you've earned it. But an entire day? Never in a million years!
  • cmccorma
    cmccorma Posts: 203 Member
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    You seem close to goal weight. When I started, I could cheat all weekend and still lose. I lost 20 pounds this way. The last 6 have come off very slowly and now that I have about 15 to go, I find that if I cheat I will gain 3 pounds over a weekend and then lose that same 3 pounds over the course of a week. When I do have a bingy sort of weekend, I know that those 3 pounds are not necessarily fat. But I believe that we gain water weight when we indulge in "unhealthy" sorts of foods (something to do with glycogen storage or something like that). So now I have decided I can't cheat as much in order to continue to lose weight. My BMI is higher than yours, so at your BMI I would think that I could not cheat much at all.
  • selig0730
    selig0730 Posts: 509 Member
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    im not on a diet im just not going over my daily calories, i exercise as much as i can and then not go over my calories, try to have a cheat meal and not a cheat day and try not to eat junk all day long a candy bar is fine but not all day long...you can add me if you want
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
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    I was the same as you, stuck trying to lose the same 2 lbs each week. What worked for me was eating 1400 to 1500 calories instead of 1200 or less. I started losing a lb a week after i adjusted.

    I also exercised 4 to 5 times week instead of every day.
  • rsboyd
    rsboyd Posts: 12
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    The only reason I ever got on this site was because of by-pass surgery. As a result I lost 35 lbs and swore I wasn't going to gain it back. HEALTHY eating is the best way to look at it. I shoot to eat 40 grams of fat a day with my BMR at 1690. I do take a bite of something once in a while but work to keep HEALTHY eating the focus, Burger King, McDonalds, Jack n the Box aren't even places I would go for food period. Even on a cheat I'd go get a double helping of frozen yogurt with with sweet stuff on top.

    It's not the cheating that's killing you, it's what your cheating with. Try pretending you're me, 40 grams of fat and 2000 MG's of sodium and let that be your guide.

    Good Luck
  • kingscrown
    kingscrown Posts: 615 Member
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    I never have a whole day that is a cheat day. I try and eat pretty consistent through the week and if something comes up like on Friday I baked cookies for my teens trip. I had 2. They were pretty fatty and caloric, but I wanted one and then had 2 and that's just life. I enjoyed them. Back to eating healthy. Last night I wanted a Reese's PB cup and remember I just ate 2 deluxe cookies on Friday do I really need to have dessert every other day? Not really. Not say I woke treat myself today. We'll see how the day goes.

    As for weighing in I do it every Monday. I just fluctuate too much from day to day. Sometime week to week. I look at the big picture of weighins. If I looked at each one intensely I'd get discourage. If I look at every weighin since January I have a great trend going. I'm not saying don't weigh in every day if you like to do it. Just look at your trend. Don't dwell on eat weigh in. It's just too discouraging.

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