Do cheat days help you lose weight?

MinatoandClover

Yes, I believe they do. Some people have the willpower to be able to not cheat, only eat certain foods and keep under a certain number of calories. However, I think it's safe to say that most of us are not that person. If you try to ban certain things and/or certain eating practices, I believe it's much easier to fall off the wagon. Putting a "ban" on certain foods tends to make a lot of people want them more. Sort of a forbidden fruit kind of thing. (No pun intended.) Not only are you going against a habit that you've had for years, but you're saying to yourself that you 100% cannot do it any more. Try this with any other habit. I guarantee you fail at least a handful of times. That doesn't mean you stop trying, but other habits (clicking your pen, humming, biting nails, etc.) aren't as difficult to quit. You don't need to click your pen to survive. You -do- need food to survive, which makes things all the more difficult.

Another part of this is the logic behind the allowance. If you're determined that you're, 100% never going to eat these foods, never going to go over, etc, when you fail, as you're bound to do, it can be devastating. You didn't live up to a standard that you set for yourself. I believe that this all-or-nothing attitude is what tends to cause a lot of people to backslide or go off their diets/lifestyle changes completely. You failed. It's too hard. Why try? It's a really detrimental way of thinking for someone who's trying to lose weight.

However, allowing yourself a day off does a few things. First, it gives you a break from what you're doing. Sometimes, I find it a bit stressful and tedious to track everything I eat. If I have the day off, though, it gives my mind a bit of a break.

Second, it controls the amount you go off a diet. If you have a weak spot for brownies or bacon, it still allows you to have these things, but sparingly and in moderation. If you allow for cheat days, you can maybe allow yourself one brownie or two slices of bacon once a week, as opposed to never allowing for cheating, getting weak and binging on a whole pack of bacon or a tin of brownies.

Third, if you do have a moment when you fail, it's not such a big deal. Make it one of your cheat days. Or, even if you go off on a day that wasn't supposed to be a cheat day (maybe you've already had 2 this week,) it's not such a big deal. Cheat days get you used to getting off temporarily and then getting back on. As opposed to all-or-nothing, where falling off the horse is the worst thing in the world. I think that kind of thinking disinclines many people to get back on at all.

Finally, it's better for you psychologically. Even if you manage to completely stay on track, the brownies and bacon will continue to haunt you. You crave them. You want them. But you continue to refrain and suffer, looking longingly and forlornly at the packages in the store. Eating the foods you like can elevate your mood. I love honey buns. They're terrible for you, but they make me happy. This can help you stay on track in a few ways. Your good mood help you view your weight loss in a positive way, thus making you more motivated to continue. It can keep your stress levels down as well, and if you're stressed out and/or depressed, it can make it more difficult to lose weight.

And I'm not saying the method of all-or-nothing is awful and that nobody should do it. If that's what works for you and you're doing well with it, go for it. However, if that method isn't working for you, I believe that having cheat days can be very valuable for people trying to lose weight. And of course, if you're overdoing it, it's not going to do anything for you either. But if you cheat in moderation, it can be good for your mentality as you try to lose weight. So, in short, yes. I believe that cheat days can help many people to lose weight.

ldrosophila

I've discovered that they feed into my addictive nature and if I allow my self to eat then it sets me back into the old mind set of eat eat eat

giveMEbeauty

Bump

danarandallreed

Cheat days, I cannot even comprehend that yet. I am just trying to deal with hunger all day long. Only on MFP for 3 weeks and I fear a cheat day would be me cheating myself. It took a lot to get within my calorie range and I need to continue with that practice. I will call it a calorie day instead of cheat day, otherwise I have been cheating my whole life.

jlahorn

I don't get the concept of cheat days. I mean, why deprive yourself of stuff you love. Just eat less of it and adjust. I mean if I want Mad Mex then I know I can't eat a lot during the day so I meet my calories and work out later.

Cheat days are for people who diet. People who view this as a lifestyle change learn to live with all of the temptations.

"just eat less of it and adjust"

Yeah, you and I are nothing alike. Eating not-enough of the things I love is torture. Eating half of an In-n-Out double double is next to impossible, and would be much more likely to lead me to an unplanned binge than just eating the whole damned thing during a planned cheat meal.

A small serving of mac and cheese? Why even bother? My body/mind will scream at me for days afterward unless I eat enough to be satisfied. I tried to keep a box of Samoas in the freezer and only have 2 per day until the box was gone. I did it, but it was an exercise in self-inflicted torture. I'll never do that again. It has to be half the box or nothing at all.

Consuming only small quantities of things that I love but that are not particularly healthy is completely unsatisfying. It makes the cravings *much* worse.

So, for one meal a week, I pick either the thing I've been craving most, or a celebratory social event, and make that my cheat meal. I track wheat I eat, but eat what I like. It's been working, and yes, I understand that this is the rest of my life. Lean proteins, leafy greens, and whole grains 20 meals per week. Pepperoni pizza and beer 1 meal per week. This is maintenance. God, that's depressing when I lay it out there... (Dear self - Suck it up.)

Mzcotton78

OMG! Everytime I factor in cheat days into my diet I lose more weight.. I thought it was just me.