Regarding the idea of a weekly "cheat day"

4Boys4Me

I haven't read all the comments so sorry if this has already been mentioned. Look into the Spike diet. It allows one day a week where you spike your calories on purpose and the rest of the days are kept low but nutritional. I don't follow the plan but I've read about it and I allow myself a spike day (not called a cheat day) about once every two weeks. I just had one on Saturday, ate about 2400 calories (quite a bit of sodium with that) when I normally eat 1300. My weight was down the following day and down even more on Monday. So I totally believe in a Spike Day. It's better to plan it and have than to have a unplanned gorging fest.

SRedles

Before I had my baby I was active and ate healthy at 5'7" was 135lbs and I had a "cheat day." I'm for the idea for sure, but I think some people just take it to a whole other level of cheating. Every sunday I'd allow myself a treat. One meal, snack or dessert, but only one, and a reasonable portion. None of this shoving as much crap into my mouth as I can BS.

I don't know about his reasoning, but I can say that my ex was a personal trainer and his gym was big supporters of cheat days, however their reasoning was that if you never give in and give yourself that craving that has been haunting you for only god knows how long, then one day you'll have a bad time at work/school/life and will fall off the wagon. It's a lot easier to have a controlled cheat in your plan than no cheat at all, and makes the whole thing more enjoyable knowing that if you work hard, and stick to your diet you'll get to have that yummy thing at the end of the week.

Maybe we should call them reward days instead?

Oaeneo

I don't do cheat days unless I have one.

jcreazy

Well when I have a cheat day, like pizza, I only eat a slice or 2 when before I would eat the whole dang thing. Cheat days don't work for everyone though, I know people that have a cheat day and before you know it, it turns into a cheat week and they fall off the wagon.

angelaanhela

I actually tried this. Was following the Tim Ferriss Slow Carb diet where you pretty much dont eat any dairy, carbs, or sugars for 6 days then you can eat whatever you want on the 7th. I lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks but then my body couldnt recoup from the cheat days anymore so I would gain 3-5 pounds from that one day and it would take the entire week to go back to what I was. That lasted about 4 weeks of not losing anything. It works extremely well for other people but I think for me personally as an obese woman with hormone issues and an extremely low metabolism, the diet just wasnt working for me specifically the way it was laid out.

From what Ive seen from the success stories (100-200+ pounds lost) is over and over again them saying that they didnt do anything 'special' or any miracle diet or drug. The majority said they ate healthier, tried to stay under their calories for the day (unless they start to plateau then a cheat day or meal), and moved more. From that you usually lose about 2 pounds a week, unlike the diets like the slow carb or special diets with cheat days when you can lose about 5 pounds a week. Which is great for those people that it works with! But unfortunately it didnt work that way for me.

But that is ok because Im still learning and Im still losing and you have to do what is right for you because it is a life style change.

bigaussiebloke

I think a "Cheat Day" every week is healthy for every marriage! Looking for willing participants!

MichelleKacz

I think the tricky thing about having a cheat day, is you encourage the food addiction (in my case anyways). So if you’re at the start of your journey, cheats shouldn’t even be an option in my opinion. I look at food crutches as an addition, and like a drug-addict trying to kick the habit, you need to go through the detox/withdrawal (admittedly the misery and tears too) and kick the habit. It’s not easy, but time goes by quicker than you realise and before you know it, you've created a whole new habit, this time one that is good for you. You don’t need to go hungry or starve, you just need to put the right things in your mouth and believe you are capable of changing! I’m not saying you can never have treats again, I just don’t think we should use food for comfort or reward. Once you are over the hurdle it's a different ball game all together - add those treats back into your life, in moderate portion sizes, every so often, but I do believe in cheat meals and not cheat days.

Lulzaroonie

Eating well isn't about perfection.
Some days you're going to eat too much. Some days you're going to eat too little. And some days you're going to have a piece of cake, simply because the occasion calls for it. And that's ok. There is room for every type of food in a balanced diet.

kingofcrunk

I don't like the idea of a designated cheat day where you must cheat on that day! I think in life sometimes you have to have higher calorie meals and/or days and these can be chalked up as a cheat day. But scheduling one in for a certain time each week doesn't sit well with me. Just take them as they come and try to avoid having too many cheat days in a short period of time!