Cheat Days

MMMom2008
MMMom2008 Posts: 35
edited September 18 in Food and Nutrition
How does everyone feel about cheat days?? Good or bad?

Replies

  • MMMom2008
    MMMom2008 Posts: 35
    How does everyone feel about cheat days?? Good or bad?
  • icandoit
    icandoit Posts: 4,163 Member
    I think it is great. In moderation.
    I am all for it:drinker: I am doing it tonight with my hubby. We are having a toddy. I haven't had a drink in more than 7 weeks.
    Next week we are going camping for Spring break, and I am going to have smores one night.
    We all need to treat ourselves.
  • pfisher
    pfisher Posts: 28
    I am all for a cheat treat. Last night I took my son to the ice cream palor and had a small sunday. Normaly i would get an extra large. But just dont do it all the time L.O.L
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
    I give myself a treat once a week. I was shocked, last night they talked about a "cheat meal"on the biggest loser.

    It helps me avoid bad food during the week, and I think it resets me. I have treats that I fit into my calories about once a week. Once or twice a month, I purposely go over on my calories (a lot, think 500-1000 calories). I find that it helped to keep me losing. But not too often! Otherwise, you undo all your work.:flowerforyou:
  • brendab
    brendab Posts: 78
    :laugh: I think it's A-OK as long as it's not too often. I also don't go crazy, I do it in moderation. Whatever the treat is, it has too be small. That's my own rule for me.....it's working; I don't feel as if I'm deprived of things that way :smile:
    Bren:drinker:
  • deanea
    deanea Posts: 1,437
    :bigsmile: but I still try to log in the calories the best I can just to see if it actually effects my maintenance in any way.
  • Gorgeous
    Gorgeous Posts: 248
    cheat days

    i had one yesterday
    but todays a new day

    once a week is what the celebritys do
    im gunna do 1a week
    like on a saturday
  • Helawat
    Helawat Posts: 605 Member
    I never give myself cheat days because I'd rather be happy and content than guilty. It's too easy to indulge and go overboard when my mentality is, "it's just for today, there's always tomorrow!"

    I'm not overweight and within the healthy range for my BMI so I have some room for an occasional sundae and treat; however, if I start thinking that I need fattening foods to indulge myself in guilty pleasures then I'll head down a road I don't want to travel on.

    If I keep on my diet plan and lifestyle without those cheat days, I'll continue to eat to live not live to eat. That's my ultimate goal.
  • elliott062907
    elliott062907 Posts: 1,508 Member
    How does everyone feel about cheat days?? Good or bad?


    all I can say, for me only,
    I used to have 1 cheat day after each 10 lbs I lost.

    It work through Christmas....

    now I have gained 10 back since December and I think I will lay off for a while.

    I have a few friend dieting and they say one Sunday a month for them,....

    Too sketchy for me... but that only one opinion.
  • watch48win
    watch48win Posts: 1,668 Member
    cheat days are fine, but just don't go crazy ( like eating everything is site). To me a cheat day is Chinese takeout or going out to dinner without feeling guilty about it.
  • keepontrying74
    keepontrying74 Posts: 20
    I have a friend that lost over 150 lbs by keeping to a strict diet and exercise regimen during the week and then having a cheat day on Sundays. He has kept the weight off for a few years now too. I have known him a long time, and like many of us, he spent many years losing and regaining. Addiction runs in his family and he honestly feels his is food. But this routine really seems to work for him, and he really does eat whatever he wants on Sundays. It's amazing.

    I'm not sure it would wor for me - once I indulge, I tend to not be able to put the brakes on - I keep going! Like my co-worker's candy dish at work - I can't have just one little candy. Once I pop one into my mouth, another soon follows, then another...so once I decided this week that I was going to do this and keep track of everything I ate, I have avoided the candy dish altogether. I even turned down her free baked goods - shocked everyone, ha ha.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    How does everyone feel about cheat days?? Good or bad?

    I'd like it better if it had a different name. Like "Once a month TREAT day"

    "Cheating" makes me feel guilty.
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    Heh, Bob, the trainer from the biggest loser came out for them on the last show. I was actually a little shocked they would actually put it on the line like that on national tv, but from all the trainers and doctors I have talked to, he was pretty much in line with their thinking.
  • kat1000000
    kat1000000 Posts: 66 Member
    Well, i guess my idea of cheat day is a little different. Last night was my cheat night. We went to applebee's, i had a steak/salad/veg's. I call it cheat day because i went over my 1200 calories. I actually went over by about 300 or so for the day. So my cheat days i still eat well but i just go over the normal amount on the calorie portion of my diet. I have not cheated by drinking soda, eating ice cream/chips or anything like that.
  • jojom
    jojom Posts: 20
    If you want a cheat day eat week, then why not save up some calories throughout the week to spend on your treats? I know I am going to be overeating a bit the weekend (girly night out followed by a curry) so I have been mega strict this week and gone under each day by about 300 calories - over 6 days thats 1800 calories saved I can spend on my curry!!!
  • proudmama0118
    proudmama0118 Posts: 433 Member
    Not exactly sure how it all equates in calories... still trying to figure it all out, but when you follow Weight watchers you have a certian point value each day (mine is 26) you also get 35 flexpoints each week. You get to choose how and when you use them, or you can just not use them at all!! You can split them up and use a few each day or save them and go completely crazy on day!!! It is sorta like a cheat day, but not really because it is part of the plan. I really liked that concept and that is why I don't worry if I am slightly over my calories on any given day. (100 cal pack ussually equals 2 pts so I try and use that as a point of reference) Of course once the scale starts reflecting otherwise then you would have to stop "cheating"
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    Not exactly sure how it all equates in calories... still trying to figure it all out, but when you follow Weight watchers you have a certian point value each day (mine is 26) you also get 35 flexpoints each week. You get to choose how and when you use them, or you can just not use them at all!! You can split them up and use a few each day or save them and go completely crazy on day!!! It is sorta like a cheat day, but not really because it is part of the plan. I really liked that concept and that is why I don't worry if I am slightly over my calories on any given day. (100 cal pack ussually equals 2 pts so I try and use that as a point of reference) Of course once the scale starts reflecting otherwise then you would have to stop "cheating"

    you can do that with calories, to a degree. I mean, don't totally skip a day just so you can eat more another day, but if you wanna shave off your calories by like 100 or so for 2 or 3 days that should work. and should you go over by 300 for a day, it's not going to hurt really. Also, a cheat can be a good thing if your in a "slump" shocking the body a little can jog it up and force it to recalibrate itself.
  • nicole0177
    nicole0177 Posts: 377
    i think there good if you dont go overboard like just eat treat yourself to something that you usually wouldnt eat.

    Like for me it would be a piece of cheesecake.mmmmmmmmmm....:bigsmile:
  • alf1163
    alf1163 Posts: 3,143 Member
    I think the ideal would be a cheat meal once a week but not a cheat day...I could easily eat 3000 calories on a cheat day. Believe me, I have done it!!! But it is soooooo hard, at least for me, to have just a cheat day once a week. There is always something coming up with my husband, friends or co-workers Aagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes I just want to scream!!!!!!!!!!!! :sad: What I like since being in MFP is that I have been doing much better about accounting for the foods I eat and that has really helped shed some pounds off easier than just trying to do it on my own. Good luck to all of you!!!!
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    I had 4 gin and soda's last night. That was my cheat. not high in cals, but alcohol (and my dinner which was a slice of pizza, that was all they had) is rough on the system. But I can afford it since I only had like 1400 cals before that (way below my normal calories, it was a hectic day at work).

    I actually ended up about 600 cals below my maintain, but with the alcohol, it probably evened out.
  • TamTastic
    TamTastic Posts: 19,224 Member
    I don't really give myself a cheat day so much as a "more relaxed day". Usually on my weigh-in day I will also go to the gym and get in a good workout. I know that I have a full week before weighing again and have earned some extra calories. I don't usually use all of them but if I want a little extra something or if I want something with a little more sodium that will get out of my body before weighing next, then I will enjoy it. Like Chinese or something, even though I still order something like steamed chicken and broccoli with the sauce on the side. I am personally making this a new lifestyle so I don't want to make cheat days a habit (which is what got me here in the first place), but I will have a treat now and then which is definitely part of a healthy lifestyle.
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