Cheat days - ruined an entire week

Reikofs

As others have posted, I will have a cheat meal...not a day. I will be tighter with the other meals then have a meal that I eat what I want. It's all about control. I will work out a little longer or harder if I know that I have a meal that I will probably consume more calories.

lintino

Consensus seems to be that cheat days are bad but cheat meals are allowable. Honestly, I didn't even want to cheat on those two days but I felt pressure to eat because they were "special" days (Valentines and my friend's Bday) and I was actually forcing myself to eat the bad stuff just so I could feel "normal" - I didn't even gain much pleasure from eating those things and it totally brought me out of ketosis.... I guess I'll just avoid cheat days entirely and maybe just have cheat meals once a month or so. Thanks a lot guys!

You have a new "normal". That's good

!:flowerforyou:

Spook_Nuke_Em

Cheat meal, not day. Then, you'll be okay. Once a week at most!

Spook_Nuke_Em

Cheat meal, not day. Then, you'll be okay. Once a week at most!

Oops, didn't mean to drive it into the dirt

whitecapwendy

I have only been on this site for 10 days, but have been at this since January 4 and am thrilled to say I have lost 25 pounds (as of Monday). Little by little I am learning what my trigger foods are and learning to avoid them. I have learned I can have success by having a taste (one bite) of a goodie rather than build it into my cravings. One meal out with friends (keeping in the back of my mind what the approximate calorie value is and taking it easy the rest of the day (not starving yourself, but picking lower calorie items). Valentines day I allowed myself one miniature Krackle candybar. These things are helping me not build up cravings that will explode into a future binge. Hopefully I can make this a way of life change.

whitecapwendy

Another factor is what is cheating to different people? For me it's going above 100g/carbs a day and going above my calories - I can eat a lot of fatty foods but it just can't be carbby which is most if not all junkfood!

I go over on carbs every day, but that is because I am doing a lot of fruits and veggies, and whole grains. Since they are good carbs, I don't worry about it.

Dulcemami4ever

I have 1 cheat meal and it actually seems to help me lose weight. I dont think it works if you over do it all day long and then go on a second day of doing the same though =/

jasonpclement

Cheat meals/days should not be so much that they undo an entire week of calorie deficit. If you are creating ~ 3500 deficit a week, and you cheat by 1500 calories, thats almost half of your weekly deficit. I would say only go over by 3-500, to assist in resetting any metabolic slowdown you may be experiencing.

jsuaccounting

I would be pretty happy with losing .6 lbs a week and cheating daily:) However, if you want to do cheat meals the recomended way - restrict them to a small time period (say 8 hours) or even just one meal a week. There are lots of theories about why they work but I don't think anyone knows for sure - but they do work for some people.

LovelyLaura2321

I think a cheat meal is probably better than a cheat day - that way you are still eating something you crave but in moderation.

rklein88

I had a double cheeseburger and a snack size blizzard the other day for dinner...some would call this a cheat day or meal, but for me it was just a treat. A few things I rarely eat, and with the rest of my day it only put me at maintenance for the day, not way over. Try this a day or so a week. If its a day you also work out, it feels like you can eat a ton that day!!

for example, my goal for loss is 1200-1400 daily net. maintenance is around 1950. So if I work out and burn 500 cals, I can eat 2450 and not gain! This makes for a great treat day, and it doesnt set me back as long as I keep my water up to get rid of salt! This is double what I eat on days I dont have time to work out, so it really helps me stay on track, especially on weekends or nights with friends

Good Luck!!

alevett

I have the occasional higher caloric meal - but I wouldn't call it cheating (that makes it sound illegal). I do sometimes go over my calories on a given day by a couple hundred calories (100-200) but I figure I am still doing much better than I was 3 months ago. My daily calories are suppose to be 1500. Every weekend (usually Saturday), I eat well for breakfast and lunch and then we get take-out for dinner and I order whatever I want. The meal is usually between 1000-1500 calories. I think sometimes you have to give your system a boost of calories so it doesn't feel like it is being deprived. Do whatever floats your boat and you can be happy with ! Good luck !

starvinkevin

I changed my opinion as of tonight - I think that if you're aiming for ketosis cheat meals/days that have carbs can spell disaster.... if you do low-carb right you don't even crave junk food. Like today I think I am in full blown ketosis after 2 days of feeling bad/nauseous and I am not craving anything. This morning I ate around 400 calories of chicken breast and took a 3 mile uphill walk that according to my HRM burned 1006 calories - even after that walk I wasn't hungry but forced myself to eat another 400 calories of chicken breast. I was doing really well and had a lot of energy last week before Valentines day and then stupidly ate a lot of chocolate cuz I felt pressured to haha and then I had super bad cravings all weekend and cracked on Sunday again... and still had cravings on Monday when I was restarting the low-carb plan. I went through the same symptoms I had before I entered full-blown ketosis last week - nausea, lack of energy, depression, etc over the past two days and all of that dissipated today and I no longer have any carb cravings or even hunger haha. So I guess cheat meals/days have no place in low carb .

LindsayLL30

I think of it more as an over all life style change... then to think of myself on a very rigid diet, which makes me feel naughty for not keeping up with it everyday... I do on occasion blow my calorie goal all to hell to go out and party and snack.... but I rather be slimish and fun....than a skinny b%*#@% that has no fun!!

You still have to enjoy life othewise why would you stick with it??

krissy_krossy

I don't have cheat days. How can you "cheat" if you'e changing your lifestyle? "Cheating" implies to me that one is dieting.

But really, I don't do that. I have a feeling one day will turn into two, into three, etc. I have on occasion gone over by a hundred or two hundred calories, but I don't have a set day where I say "I CAN EAT THE WORLD AND IT'S OKAY BECAUSE IT'S MY "CHEAT" DAY!" That just seems silly.

I don't have cheat days, have had no problem sticking to my goal (or pretty close on a small handful of days), and have been steadily losing weight. YMMV, though.

wifey103188

I have gone over my calorie limit quite a few time and I found that it kept me from losing that week~I agree with what a lot of people are saying have a cheat meal I found that that helped me a lot and didn't interfere with my weight lose that week~my biggest advice really stay in your calorie amount and if you want something extra or special~ work out so you have the extra calories back~

nomorebingesgirl2014

Good post ????