Cheat day/eating calories back
Ashleys0981
Posts: 22 Member
To those of you that eat your calories back which you earned by exercising, do you have a cheat day as well? Just wondering if "saving" the calories earned for a cheat day will work. Any feedback on whether eating back calories worked for you is welcome, thanks!
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Why would you "save" your calories to eat at a later date? That doesn't make ANY sense.
Some days I eat my exercise cals back and some days I don't...If I'm hungry then I eat, if not then it's obvious what I do.
As for cheat days...I don't tend to set a day to cheat...If I eat something bad one day oh well I will live.0 -
As for cheat days...I don't tend to set a day to cheat...If I eat something bad one day oh well I will live.
I feel the same way! I used to do cheat days but just found out that I could eat every calorie I burnt that week back in one day. I would literally bust my *kitten* all week and gain it all back in a weekend and repeat. Definitely a vicious cycle.0 -
I don't think calories are something you can save up, like in a bank account.
Wouldn't that be great though, you could get interest on the calories and eat more in the future.
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I don't think calories are something you can save up, like in a bank account.
Wouldn't that be great though, you could get interest on the calories and eat more in the future.
Haha yes!0 -
Yes, you can save calories and eat them later. I wouldn't take this practice to extreme endpoints but day to day you're fine as long as your average intake over several days is appropriate to your goals.0
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I wouldn't see much point in exercising just to eat the calories again.
Quite the opposite- if I eat more than I should I have to exercise extra to make up for it!0 -
I use MFP the way it was designed to work, so I don't include my exercise in my activity level. Instead, I log it when I do it, and eat those calories back. It has worked well for me, and I've lost at a rate very close to what MFP has predicted. Another option is to include exercise in your activity level when you work out your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), get a higher calorie goal and not eat back exercise calories. I will probably move over to that method once I'm maintaining, but for now, I feel like it's a bit more accurate to log my workouts separately.
I don't have "cheat" days, I pretty much eat whatever I like day to day anyway. There are occasionally days when I exceed my calorie goal, but I don't call it cheating, it's just life.
As for the "saving" calories for later in the week - I don't see a problem with it over a short period of time like that. Your body doesn't reset each midnight, and it's unrealistic to expect to eat the exact same number of calories every day. Lots of people have success with calorie cycling, where they eat a little less one day, and a little more the next. As long as you're not too extreme (eg fasting for 6 days and eating a week's worth of cals in the 7th day) then I don't see why not.0 -
I tend to focus on my weekly numbers. Some days I'm over, some days I'm under but if at the end of the week I'm within 100 calories (over or under) of the weekly goal, I feel it was sucessful.0
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my "cheat days" consist of me still eating under my calorie goal, but just eating more unhealthy food.0
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I wouldn't see much point in exercising just to eat the calories again.
Quite the opposite- if I eat more than I should I have to exercise extra to make up for it!
:huh:
So, you won't exercise to get more calories to eat, but you'll exercise more if you eat too many calories? Interesting logic.0 -
The point is, because the way MFP is designed to work, it gives you a calorie goal that has a calorie deficit already built into it. Even if you never did any exercise, you should still lose weight because the calories burned through everyday living would be more than you were consuming. Additional exercise makes that calorie deficit bigger which may not be healthy (depending on various factors) and may be unsustainable. Most calorie-counting plans do not work in this way and would give you a higher calorie goal to start with, because your planned exercise would be counted already.I wouldn't see much point in exercising just to eat the calories again.
Quite the opposite- if I eat more than I should I have to exercise extra to make up for it!0 -
To those of you that eat your calories back which you earned by exercising, do you have a cheat day as well? Just wondering if "saving" the calories earned for a cheat day will work. Any feedback on whether eating back calories worked for you is welcome, thanks!
Let's first clarify: "eating back" is kind of like "toning" and "spot reduction". Lots of people worry about it, but the concepts behind it are fictional.
You are either eating enough to fuel your body and all its activities throughout the day or you are not. Whether that activity is laying on the couch reading or training for Iron Man triathlons, your body needs some amount of food to be healthy and continue to function well, even if you are losing weight.
If your diet is based on someone laying on the couch all day and you are lifting weights and doing cardio every day, then you can expect many more problems (usually in the form of plateaus, fatigue, lethargy, and more susceptibility to colds) along the way than someone who is eating enough.
As for saving up, it depends. If you are talking about and extra 300 calories, probably no big deal. If you are talking about 1500 calories, then you just undid several days worth of work.0 -
I wouldn't see much point in exercising just to eat the calories again.
Quite the opposite- if I eat more than I should I have to exercise extra to make up for it!
:huh:
So, you won't exercise to get more calories to eat, but you'll exercise more if you eat too many calories? Interesting logic.
I thought the same thing when I read that.0 -
I don't eat my exercise calories as I get them... I started out having a "cheat meal" on Saturday nights with the wife. We eat whatever we want within reason.
I had half a large pizza and fries last weekend with a few mozzarella sticks and two Oreo truffles. I log everything then work for the rest of the week to exercise off those calories and much much more...
Log EVERYTHING and be mindful of it when working out.
I got a heart rate monitor watch too so I could track my calorie expenditure when working out.0 -
While on a quest to lose weight steadily, I never gave myself a cheat day. Why add a day more onto reaching my goal? Never saw the point. Once I reached my goal, I increased my calories, but cheat day? No, I have realigned my eating habits to be healthy eating. Can ice cream fit into that healthy eating? Yes! Of course it can, your body does need fat so yes it can.. within reason and with a realistic portion. Not like I used to eat!0
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The phone app lets you look at the weekly average. Thats what I tend to follow. If I want it and Im in the green, I go for it.0
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To those of you that eat your calories back which you earned by exercising, do you have a cheat day as well? Just wondering if "saving" the calories earned for a cheat day will work. Any feedback on whether eating back calories worked for you is welcome, thanks!
I don't have cheat days, for the most part- I will splurge on special occasions like a birthday party, but those times are few and far between. I eat calories back if I'm hungry or there's a huge number left over.
I've lost those 35 pounds since July, so I've got to be doing something right! 0 -
Why would you "save" your calories to eat at a later date? That doesn't make ANY sense.
Some days I eat my exercise cals back and some days I don't...If I'm hungry then I eat, if not then it's obvious what I do.
As for cheat days...I don't tend to set a day to cheat...If I eat something bad one day oh well I will live.
LOL just because you can't wrap your brain around it doesn't mean it a crazy idea. Geez a lot of people tally weekly calorie goals and not just daily--zig zagging calories.......0 -
I don't technically have cheat days, but on the weekends I allow myself to go over my daily allotment by a little bit, if that's how it works out. I don't try to go over, but if I'm over by 300 calories because I had a brownie, I don't beat myself up over it. A few hundred over, I'm ok, but not 2,000 over!0
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I love the cheat MEAL concept.
It will slow my weight loss down over time making me take a little longer to get to my goal but I accept the fact that getting to where I want to go is going to take time.
If I tell myself I can never ever ever have a Big Mac again I will be less likely to stick to the diet plan. So one single meal every week I indulge at a reasonable level. I work out like crazy during the week.
It will of course slow you down a little bit but it will keep me going on the diet plan for longer and make me more successful over time. I still stay under my weekly calorie goal.0 -
One has nothing to do with the other. Or very little. I concern myself more with meeting a weekly goal rather than a daily one as I don't eat the same thing every single day so it is easier this way. This does occasionally leave me with an excess of calories on Saturday and Sunday, but I don't just binge on whatever I want.0
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bump0
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I just try to stay under for the week.0
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Oooooo yes. I haven't stuck to my diet at all on any weekend. I burn about 700-800 calories per day in the week and eat about 1600. The at the weekends I still do the cardio but I don't track anything I eat or drink. I eat and drink a lot because I'm very sociable and that's what my friends and I want to do when we get together.
I decided right at the start that I didn't want to diet. I've done diets and they don't stick. I wanted to change my eating and fitness in a sustainable way and I do feel at the moment I could stick with this forever. After I've lost my weight I'll probably up my calories to 1800 and drop my gym to 300 calories and focus more on weights, see how I go. I'll still blow out at the weekend though.0 -
Do NOT have cheat days, just cheat meals.
Eating calories back is counterproductive to burning them off in the first place.0 -
I work out everyday but I don't eat all the exercise calories back. I just am freely choosing what to eat now. So if I wanted that extra granola bar, apple or beer-I indulge!0
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Why would you "save" your calories to eat at a later date? That doesn't make ANY sense.
Some days I eat my exercise cals back and some days I don't...If I'm hungry then I eat, if not then it's obvious what I do.
As for cheat days...I don't tend to set a day to cheat...If I eat something bad one day oh well I will live.
Some people save their calories for a later date, such as the weekend so that they are able to go out with friends and have fun. I've only done it once, for a halloween party this year so that I could eat and have fun with everyone without worrying over the calories I ate. It worked out perfectly and I still didn't go over for the week. This doesn't work for everyone, most of the time unless it's a special event it won't work for me. The results after halloween eating..I did not gain anything back.0 -
It's just math. Calories in vs calories out.
In my experience, it isn't the occasional "cheat", whether it's an entire day or just a meal. It's the extra 100 calories per day, day in and day out, over a year that adds up to "Where did that 10 pounds come from?"! Sadly, that 100 calories is just an extra piece of toast or a cookie -- per day -- which isn't hard to do.0 -
Sometimes I will save them if I know I have a big meal coming up soon. But most of the time I'm lazy and get a massively fantabulous cheat day even those saved up calories couldn't have covered.0
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I think designating a cheat day is a little reckless but having a treat meal from exercise calories I've banked earlier in the week is a good reward/incentive to keep active. Today I've burned an extra 830 calories but will be carrying forward almost half of those for the weekend so that we can eat out. It's not a cheat if it's paid for!0
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