Cheat day?

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  • njenn10
    njenn10 Posts: 16
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    Ya... I hate to say it, but I had a cheat meal today and went over my calories almost by 800!!!! I couldn't believe it! I'm only on day 5 on MFP and have realized my willpower is horrible. So honestly, a cheat meal once in awhile is probably okay, just be careful what your "cheat" is because mine is totally going to set me back. :-(
  • tmleymek
    tmleymek Posts: 4
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    I did a cheat day for awhile. IT helped as a reward system but.....then it kind of established a habit of every saturday over-doing it (which i am trying to break). Just something to keep in mind :)
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    Ya... I hate to say it, but I had a cheat meal today and went over my calories almost by 800!!!! I couldn't believe it! I'm only on day 5 on MFP and have realized my willpower is horrible. So honestly, a cheat meal once in awhile is probably okay, just be careful what your "cheat" is because mine is totally going to set me back. :-(

    Yeah, that is what I mean. You can blow the whole week on a big overage like that. Now if you do it 1x a month or 2 months it actually helps!! Weird, but very true.

    You will get it quick enough!!
  • proudloser
    proudloser Posts: 45
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    I save "cheat" days for holidays and that does NOT mean random get togethers or every member of my familys birthday, lol. Like, Thanksgiving and Christmas or just your B-day alone....pretty much like no more than five "cheat" days a year. The reason I look at it that way is becuase people who don't even have weight problems eat more on these days and continue to eat healthy on the rest of the days of there year...but that's just me :))
  • ebkins7
    ebkins7 Posts: 427 Member
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    ... I think, too, that you have to be careful as viewing it as a reward. I think a lot of us probably have the same problem with viewing food that way. Food should never be a reward for anything. We need to find other ways to reward ourselves. I'll bet food as a reward is what's gotten many of us in the position we're in now. That's my .02:smile:

    I have to agree... I know I'm the way I am because I used food as my reward! I love food! I love to cook it, bake it... and of course eat it! I need to get it into my head that food, while it should be enjoyed, needs to be within limits!

    I allow myself a "treat" not a cheat! I don't have the willpower (yet) to do a whole cheat day. So, I allow myself a treat every once in a while. This way I satisfy cravings and don't binge and feel horrible about myfelf!
  • swtally80
    swtally80 Posts: 278 Member
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    I would say to try not to cheat so early on. Give yourself some months to work on your lifestyle change then consider it. And I would say a cheat should be considered only 200-300 cals over not 1000 ya know! :)
  • rori20
    rori20 Posts: 61 Member
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    When a friend and I were doing Weight Watchers on the point system we could choose to use the extra 35 points (equals out to around 1250 calories) one day a week that we had saved up by not using our 5 point a day cushion. On said day she and I would eat zerio point soup or other very healthy and low-cals option all day and then just have a ball that night. It was something we looked forward to all week. It really kept us going to have a break every now and then. We were very successful in our weight loss.

    Everyone is different, though, and you certainly don't want to do it often if you think you may not be able to keep it at once per week. My husband, for instance, is having trouble with trying to suggest a cheat day every other friggin' day!
  • megstar8686
    megstar8686 Posts: 22 Member
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    I don't think it's worth having cheat days, but I don't cut out every crappy food. I think everything is ok in moderation. There used to be a time where I'd eat an entire block of chocolate in one sitting, now I'm quite content to let that last a month.. I just treat myself to a few squares every couple of days. The interesting thing is that because I'm not stopping myself from eating these "forbidden" foods, I'm not getting silly cravings for them anymore.

    If you spend one day gorging yourself on all the foods you love that you really should be eating, you could potentially undo an entire weeks worth of diet and exercise. It's just not worth it!
  • ccdo
    ccdo Posts: 217
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    i cant have a cheat day tried it before and went off the wagon completly and now im starting fresh again. ill only have it to boost my metabolism if it slows down but thats rare for me :flowerforyou:
  • tomatoes
    tomatoes Posts: 7
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    I agree with all those who suggest a cheat meal. If you have something coming up like a birthday, or a meal out with friends you havn't seen in ages, have some wine, have dessert, enjoy it and move on :)
  • Amberly10
    Amberly10 Posts: 41 Member
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    Like someone else said, I don't consider it cheating I consider it treating. And yes, I will treat myself every once in awhile. That doesn't mean every week or every other week but once in awhile. For instance, we live in Germany right now and I am missing some of the resteraunts back in the States. Ramstein has a Chili's and next month Dh is taking me there for dinner. I will have been on my "diet/healthy eating" for a month (I just started MFP this past week) and one meal out of an entire month is not going to make or break me.

    If I were on a diet that I couldn't treat myself to something I loved every once in awhile I would never stick with it. Now that doesn't mean I am going to go to Chili's and have the most fattening thing there, I will still probably choose something healthier. But, it will still be a treat and I won't feel bad for eating it because I know that other than every once in awhile I eat extremely healthy.

    *Um, I eat extremely healthy except for the Mt Dew I wiggle into my daily meals. I am a Mt Dew addict and I am slowly trying to break that habit, lol. Going from 4-5 a day to 1 is a big change:)
  • llowry
    llowry Posts: 144 Member
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    I have thought about the cheat meal too. We eat at church every Sunday but, I didn't last Sunday because I was too new to the counting calories thing. And I'm still not sure I want to do that.
  • llowry
    llowry Posts: 144 Member
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    :drinker:
    My thought is always " WHO am I cheating?"

    :floweforyou:


    Excellent thinking!
  • QueenInge
    QueenInge Posts: 25 Member
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    I wouldn't plan on a cheat day but I wouldn't beat myself up for cheating a LITTLE bit. I have just started MFP a week ago but it took me 18 years to grown to the size I am. I find that I am having to reeducate myselft on calories and nutrition and MFP is a huge help. I am not in a hurry to lose my weight. I acquired it a pound or two at a time and I plan on losing it the same way. A healthy diet is a lifetime commitment even though we have a goal weight. I am afraid to say that I have cheated every single day and my daily calorie cout has been an eye opener. It doesn't mean I haven't made progress. Any effort is better than what I was doing. I have lost 1.9 pounds in a week. I love that moment when you finalize your calories and exercise for the day. MFP tells you what you would weigh in 5 days. THAT is motivation. If you have cheated, that number alone should be enough to scare you. It certainly scares me!
  • pea26
    pea26 Posts: 23
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    If theres one thing i have learnt about dieting, it is dont cut out the things you love! I have found that when i go on a diet and avoid all my loved things, when i lapse a little i find it hard to stop and end up over indulging to the extreme!
    I joined Weight watchers before christmas and have learnt that i can have nice things, i just have to make sure i choose the right type of nice things and monitor what im eating in the day so i can enjoy the nice things often. On my diet I enjoy biscuits/crisps daily, every now and then il have a lovely WW choc brownie pudding and i still loose weight (1-2lbs) every week :D and thats without exercising!

    xxx
  • pea26
    pea26 Posts: 23
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    If theres one thing i have learnt about dieting, it is dont cut out the things you love! I have found that when i go on a diet and avoid all my loved things, when i lapse a little i find it hard to stop and end up over indulging to the extreme!
    I joined Weight watchers before christmas and have learnt that i can have nice things, i just have to make sure i choose the right type of nice things and monitor what im eating in the day so i can enjoy the nice things often. On my diet I enjoy biscuits/crisps daily, every now and then il have a lovely WW choc brownie pudding and i still loose weight (1-2lbs) every week :D and thats without exercising!

    xxx
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,734 Member
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    I used to have a cheat meal (or sometimes day) every couple of weeks, but now, instead, I just eat my maintenance calories every six days (on my rest day) and don't feel the urge to have that cheat anymore. I'm getting better results this way too. I did totally cheat at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I felt like crap for it.
  • NicoleAJordan
    NicoleAJordan Posts: 12 Member
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    You are trying to change your lifestyle. This means that there are going to be times you treat yourself to something. Remember though...you are just one meal or snack away from being back on track. You can HAVE pizza...just not all the time.
  • ncmedic201
    ncmedic201 Posts: 540 Member
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    I don't think I will have a cheat day but will do what my parents do. They are very conscientious about what they eat and exercise daily. Fridays are pizza night though. Fridays have always been pizza night and now they just incorporate it into their plans. They have been eating this way since my dad had his heart attack 18 years ago. It's not really a reward to them as much as allowing themselves everything in moderation. My mom is very strict with their meals and controls her diabetes with diet but knows that they can't always eat to the extreme. Everyone deserves that one thing that they love. Just do it in moderation and incorporate it into your meal planning. They eat so healthy that they had to add snacks just to increase their calorie intake.
  • jbuffan218
    jbuffan218 Posts: 275 Member
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    Perfect timing.
    Years ago I was on WW, thiis being my only experience with dieting/healthy eating/changing lifestyle whatever you call it, I had a cheat day. I would weigh in and that day would be my cheat day. My day was always Saturday. All week I knew in the back of my mind that if I really ,really wanted or craved something I could eat it on Saturday without guilt or feeling like a failure. This also kept me from having that excuse of "Well, I ate something not on plan, I already blew it so I may as well just say screw it and keep eating bad stuff since the "perfect" eating day is already ruined" You could end up with alot of those days some weeks.
    We've all heard that voice in our head before.
    When I went to bed last night I knew today would be my day off as I call it. No measuring, no writing down(although I will do this now) no fighting the urges, I will still try to exercise because I am so not into that part yet and need to get my mojo going, we'll see. Funny thing is for me itis ALWAYS PIZZA! Every week , every saturday it's pizza. That's it just pizza and a diet coke. I usually eat 3-4 pieces of a medium ch/pepperoni and thats it. I'm full, so if thats all I eat all day I'm probably not over that much.That is the only food I would probably jump in the water, fall off the pole on survivor for. Those who watch reality shows you know what I'm talking about.
    So today I am eating pizza and tomorrow morning I am right back on track. One meal once a week did not get me fluffy and I know I would fall off the wagon completly if I dont get me some yummy badness once in a while:drinker:
    Hope you do what works for your body.

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