Cheat day?

sbbhbm

I do a cheat day. I make a list all week long of the things I've really been craving, and then on Saturday I review it, see what still sounds good, and then have it. It's funny to me how awesome something will sound on Monday, but if I ride out the craving, by Saturday it just really doesn't sound that great. And the thing is, from eating such small quantities of food all week, I don't really eat a ton of what I've been craving, because I just don't have the capacity to gorge myself. I usually only go 200 or so calories over my usual total.

I also still work out on my cheat day. No point in really blowing it. I alternate my cheat day and my lazy day. Cheat day on Saturday, lazy day (no working out) on Sunday.

CrazyTrackLady

I love the idea of a cheat day, but I don't do them because the foods I *would* cheat with are the very same ones my body doesn't tolerate: breads, cookies, baked goods, etc. Trying to follow a GF diet is what keeps me honest. Fast food? Nope, no guarantee it is GF. Eating out at a restaurant? I can't afford it. Although I am going to a restaurant tonight for GF pizza.

I've just learned to eat in moderation and stick with my calorie counting. I don't really feel as though I am depriving myself of anything. And dark chocolate is good for the heart, so there's that!

Lastly, the one "cheat" i would have is alcohol, which isn't the healthiest thing for me to do, so I avoid large quantities of that, too.

I guess I can't even cheat on myself.

jhstroebel

"During the week I cut out rice, bread, pastas, dairy and pretty much anything processed if I can avoid it. Thanks in advance guys!"

Based on your post it seems to be these are the things you are craving that you are cutting out of your diet during the week... In my opinion, don't cut these things out if they are what you enjoy eating. Find healthier alternatives and don't have cheat days (I say days because I don't consider it cheating if you have a higher calorie meal as long as it fits inside your calorie goals for the day, but if one meal puts you over for the day, its still a cheat day).

Rice: Whole grain rice or Quinoa (both are good, and can be found plain to cook as you want or boxed for quick and easy fixing).

Pasta: Again, whole grain pastas. I've found I actually like the whole grain pasta better and it helps get me the fiber I need in my diet in a natural way without the side effects of going to a FiberOne type supplement. They are still fairly dense in calories, but if you go to lower fat or reduced calorie sauces you can make a meal that still fit inside your calorie goals for the day.

Bread: Whole grain breads, whole wheat bread, thin sandwich buns that have fewer calories, more fiber, and will help satisfy those cravings. My problem was always crescent rolls, but they make low-fat crescent rolls that are 90 calories (I believe) that are a good substitute but i still only have 1 or 2 at the most.

Dairy: Dairy is good, low-fat (skim) milk, 2% milk cheeses, or kraft even makes fat free cheese (it doesn't melt the same, but I think it tastes ok in some situations), I also do sugar-free, low-fat pudding or other diary dessert snacks.

Breakfast: Egg whites, turkey bacon/sausage, veggies (not a big veggie person but most people are), low fat cheese (see dairy above), potatoes that aren't fried in fatty oil, and whole wheat toast/english muffin/misc bread. Alot of people in my office go for greek yogurt, you could add some granola. My mornings normally start with a granola bar of some sort, but when i'm cooking its egg white egg beaters, or even just egg whites separated from the egg and put into a low-fat cheese and ham omelette with turkey bacon and a whole wheat English muffin. 600 calories for a meal that normally is breakfast/lunch.

The biggest thing I found on days that most people would make a cheat day (I almost never have a cheat day, i like seeing the scale go down too much) is that I plan my other meals that day accordingly. I have breakfast options ranging from 190 calories to 450 calories (Granola bars, frozen breakfast sandwiches, whole wheat bagel, etc), and can do the same at lunch (290 calories to 650 calories on a healthy lunch), or at dinner (290-650 again). If I were to eat every meal like this i'd never reach my calorie goals (even worse after getting calories back for my daily workout), but I can go low for the other 2 meals to allow me to go out to lunch or dinner and have a 1000+ calorie meal and still fit it inside of my calorie goals. I've been known to eat low breakfast and dinner and workout hard to fit a pizza hut buffet meal inside my calorie numbers (not healthy, too much fat, not enough good nutrients, but a social activity with co-workers that I sometimes let myself enjoy anyway).

Its all about how you approach whatever your goal is. I refuse to cut wide categories of things out of my diet because then it isn't something I can sustain for the rest of my life. I'm 7+ months in and my diet has changed permanently, because I know its the only way once I achieve my weight loss/strength goals that i'll be able to not put some or all of the weight back on.

One more piece of advice (that I rarely follow myself) is if you're going to have a big meal, try and make it breakfast or lunch. It will give your body more hours before bed to break down the food and help burn off those calories.

dare2love81

It's simple really. Everything in moderation. If you can fit it in your calories, go for it. It prevents future binging if you don't cut everything out completely. Having said that, one cheat meal per week is not going to derail your progress unless you go WAY overboard, and that's pretty hard to do in one meal.

mom2warriors

I stick to my eating plan during the week, but on the weekends we usually go out at least once so I call that my "relax" meal. I don't count it and I savor all the yumminess of it. If we don't go to a restaurant though I don't miss it because we go so little now that I don't have that craving any more. Also, my husband and I only do a "sweet" every two weeks. I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas and I can't just do a little here or a little there because then my sweet tooth will kick in and the next thing you know I am hiding in the closet with a chocolate bar. Ha!!! So every two weeks works for me and it has helped my craving for sweets tremendously.

apriltrainer

I do more of a cheat meal. A whole day? I easily can blow my week...easy. I eat one nice big meal and that's it. Normal the rest of the day. The other days I don't cheat but I still have a cookie here or there(that I don't consider cheating) because I fit it in within my usual cal guidelines. If I have to wait till "cheat day" I will easily go overboard.

I put my cheat meal on the day I am most likely to go over anyways...but I don't overdo it the other meals or snacks because during the week I've had a bit of goodies spaced throughout my week already.

coderedjulia

Cheat days never worked for me in the past. I would gain a couple of pounds, and then it would take me a whole week to get back to where I was, maybe longer. I say go for a cheat meal, like say if you want a donut, have one in the morning. I would never do a whole cheat day though.

wickedbrunette

I choose one day during the weekend (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) to have a cheat meal for dinner. I haven't done an entire cheat day mostly because all I have in the house is relatively healthy stuff anyway. I'm seeing good results so far (it's only been a month so I know that has something to do with it).

Instead of a whole day choose a meal that you want to treat yourself with. Even have dessert after. BUT log it. It never hurts to see what you are eating. That may help to see the numbers so you know to only do it once a week too.

elainecroft

I don't do cheat days, but I am less strict on the weekends than weekdays. Also, I plan calories for beer or chocolate pretty much every day to keep me sane!

SteelersFan7

Definitely pancakes or Mexican food.

juxtapose

Options:
A good cheat day meal could consist of fruit and dark chocolate - sugary things you may avoid during the week.

ALSO, sweet potato in comparison to a brown or red potato, as it has low GI value so it won't spike your blood sugar, and you can enjoy some healthy carbs. http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

applekrisp1988

I don't give myself an entire cheat day, no. I give myself a cheat meal, I look forward to this meal all week and I have an entire 6 days to think of what I will eat. Every Wednesday dinner!

This week was meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Yummy yummy!

mscoco10

I would say try to still use moderation and make good choices. I don't call it cheat days anymore b/c it's no longer a diet but lifestyle change. Also we must learn to just say NO!!!

tennesseeleigh

I usually do a cheat meal once a week too. Maybe try subbing a whole wheat roll for the yeast rolls. As far as pasta, I either use whole wheat pasta or the Barilla plus pasta that has extra protein. It still fills my carb craving but it's a healthier choice for me than regular white pasta. I do try to make better choices on my cheat meal even though I'm not restricting my calories. For example, if we're having pizza I will have cheese pizza on a regular crust instead of pepperoni pizza with a thick crust. This week my cheat meal will be during the Super Bowl. I know chips and cheese dip will be involved. We're also doing buffalo chicken. Instead of using wings, we will use chicken breast tenders. They will still be fried and covered with butter and hot sauce but I'm starting off with a leaner cut of meat. I can't think of a healthier substitute for a donut so if I was craving one I would probably just have it and enjoy it. For dairy you could use reduced fat instead of full fat versions.

If there's something I'm really craving during the week I let myself have it but just adjust my intake the rest of the day. For instance, yesterday I was having lunch out with a friend at a place that has a really great fried green tomato blt. I didn't count it as my cheat meal for the week because I adjusted what I ate the rest of the day to make sure I still stayed within my calorie goal and macros.

tennesseeleigh

Oh, and I wanted to add that I totally understand what you mean about carbs being your weak spot. I love my carbs! I aim for about 1600 calories a day and have adjusted my macros to 40% carbs/30 protein/30 fat. That allows me to have a reasonable amount of carbs without going overboard on a daily basis.

And a great substitute for rice is quinoa. About the same calorie count but has more protein. It satisfied my carb craving but doesn't trigger me like white rice does.

hendinerik

Agree with the posts I saw -- occasionally I have a "cheat day" but too often it turns into multiple days, and steamrolls a bit..;
If it's a cheat meal or maybe just a treat now and then i think it's much easier to damage control.
For me it's processed sugar -- it's a drug for me ice cream, cookies etc... it's like some chemical is triggered in my brain that makes me go insane or something!
Good luck

bgelliott

I won't do a "cheat day" because then I over indulge. I try to keep it to a "cheat meal" one day a week. My most fav place to go is Rubios and I will order a steak or shrimp burrito. It's full of flavor and satisfies all of my cravings but it's still on the cleaner side of cheats.

JessAilene86

Thanks for all the advice, and suggestions everyone. I will definitely take everything into consideration. Happy losing everyone!

wash5150

I don't have a "cheat day" but i'm a lot more relaxed with my eating on the Weekends. I usually stay in my calories though but I might eat fast food a bit more. With that said, I don't cut out anything in my diet because I truly believe that we should be allowed to eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in moderation. If I completely cut out anything I would probably act like a rebellious teen and then binge eat but if it works for you then go for it.

^^ This ^^
I don't do cheat meals but I do try and leave a calorie buffer where I can or work out a bit more, especially if I know there's an event coming up where I might "indulge". If I know I'm going to be eating more calories I definitely try and make it up by working out to get back to 'even'. Next weekend I'm going to the Hard Rock with some friends and I already know what I'm having so I'm budgeting my calories through the week just for that.

efirkey

I wanted a pizza the other day so I had one of those frozen healthy pizzas that was 750 calories total. Normally I would have had a regular Dominos pizza which would have had around 2000 calories. I figured this was a much better solution to curb my pizza craving. Ultimately I would like to get it to the point where my inner portion control will keep me eating under 1000 calories for dominos pizza but I am not there yet.