Do you folks exercise on your "cheat" days?

Mangoaddict

I'm wondering if you guys/gals exercise on your cheat days and do you count calories or just ignore all that? Eat whatever you want, drink etc.

Just trying to get an idea..

kiffypooh

It use to be a complete relax day for me. Now my husbands day off has changed and so our "date night" has changed too. So Wed are weigh in and cheat food day and Fridays are a off workout day since I don't have time to work out that day. That's how I do it.

Rainster

It's definitely a good idea to exercise on a cheat day, especially 1/2 hour or so after eating a 'bad' meal, so that your body can use some of the extra carbs right away.

I find that writing down what I eat for a cheat meal helps me see where I can improve my habits. It's a real eye-opener when you start to think that you used to eat like that on a regular basis.

Mangoaddict

Yeah, I see what you are saying. I logged my results for food intake today and I was over 600 calories, which is fine for just today but I am amazed that I used to eat like this regularly before and not worry one bit. Now, I am sooooo concerned!

Sunsh1ne

I still log my foods and add any exercise (like if I spent 3 hours on my feet preparing a meal, since my activity level is "sedentary") so that I know what to expect come weigh-in. If I've overeaten by 200 calories or less I take that out of the next day's budget, and if I'm over by more, I still take those 200 out.

mrsbeck

I generally log what I eat when I have a cheat meal. I try to exercise that day, but occasionally I'll find that the cheat meal has made me feel so miserable that I can't workout. I have a lot fewer cheat meals these days! :laugh:

While I still crave pizza, and eat it sometimes, I eat a lot less of it, and I do the napkin trick to make it less greasy. Most of the time, instead of eating something "bad" for my cheat meal, I'll just indulge in a larger than normal portion of something healthy--like I'll put extra avocado (loooooooooooooooooooooooove avocado!!) on my homemade fajitas and have cheese and light sour cream as well. When fajitas aren't a cheat meal, I use only a little bit of avocado and I have light sour cream only.

Wow, I'm really boring, aren't I? :laugh:

junipuni

My whole concept of "cheat days" has changed. I don't crave what I would have eaten on cheat days so really, it's just so different. To top it off, when I have cheated (maybe two days in the last month) I felt terrible. Not emotionally - physically. I was in a world of hurt. My stomach felt horrible and I had lots of bathroom problems. It was SO not worth it to me. Completely negated the supposedly freeing feeling of just being able to cheat. It's actually great.

Now I have decided not to cheat unless something comes up - date night, going out, etc. Those don't happen a lot around her anyway so no biggie. For me, cheat meals are just something I wouldn't normally eat but typically still don't push me over my daily calories. For example, I had two egg rolls yesterday (from the frozen food aisle) which is totally atypical of what my diet has been this last month. But, it still kept me where I needed to be calorie wise and I did work out yesterday.

I think I would exercise on a cheat day but only if I was already planning to. Not sure if this even remotely helps but I am sure it is very different for everybody.

chanstriste13

my biggest cheat day is my biggest workout day! and i still log it, even if it's an insane amount of calories. it helps me to see that even if i ate a 1500 calorie meal at outback, i still lost weight that week because of how i ate the rest of the time. best of luck!

kgrutch

i do sometimes have days that i eat not the most nutritious foods (actually this whole weekend for example) but i always do the exercise. i enjoy it so its something i like to do. i went the gym sat/sun morning for spin class and weights and ran 10 miles on sat afternoon (a personal best for me, i was so excited). i dont feel guilty at all when i splurge a little after i know i have burned all of those calories. i used to keep track when i was trying to lose but i am now "maintaining" so i have a litlle more leeway.

bjs06

I've read a lot of interesting ways how people cheat, or sometimes don't cheat. It's super interesting.

I weigh in on Mondays, so I cheat Mondays unless I do super crappy on the scales. No matter what day, even if it's a cheat day, i record EVERYTHING i eat, even if i go over, because it counts and it makes me accountable, and I'm obviously going to have days in my whole life where I over eat.

I pretty much work out everyday, so yes, on my cheat day I still exercise like I would every other day. I usually take one day a week where I rest and don't exercise but it's usually later in the week. I also try not to eat my exercise calories but if I do, I don't punish myself or anything. I also don't feel bad for having a cheat. I don't go crazy but I treat myself to something I normally wouldn't. It's okay to induldge sometimes as far as I'm concerned!

sarina87

I exercise on my cheat days. In my mind i feel that if i stop 1 day that i will wanna stop another day. So to avoid that temptation, i workout everyday. I have been doing this since november and i am down 40 pounds. Sweet right?

sarina