Cheat day?

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shorty35565
shorty35565 Posts: 1,425 Member
Tomorrow my family is having a cookout for my Granny's bday. I was wondering if it was ok to take the whole day off, just eat how I want. Would that hurt me badly? Or should I try to eat as little calories as possible until the cookout?

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  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Whether or not to incorporate cheat days is entirely a personal decision. If overall, your average intake is appropriate for your goals, then you will still make progress.


    Regardless of what you choose to do, I would suggest that you still place a high value on having a functional social life and enjoying time with your family. Balancing diet and lifestyle is important and there's plenty of people who fail to maintain this balance, in both directions.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Regarding the "would that hurt me badly?" question....

    Consider some overweight unhealthy person who spent a day eating clean and healthy foods and came out with a calorie deficit at the end of the day. What long term effect would that have on their health and fitness?

    Single outlier days mean nothing. It's your overall lifestyle and habits that drive long term health and success.
  • sunman00
    sunman00 Posts: 872 Member
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    completely agree with these guys shorty :-)

    my daughter & family came to us today & we went out for a nice family lunch; because we're on our 'journey' I didn't eat as much bread as I used to, didn't drink as much wine BUT I had exactly what I fancied on the menu, a delicious roast lamb lunch & thoroughly enjoyed myself & the company

    oh, and I went for a 4 mile walk in the morning :-)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    I agree with everyone above. First of all, a social life and family time is important and should not be significantly impacted by dieting. Also, if you do not allow yourself to enjoy these occasions and end up restricting too much, you can end up with adherence issues.

    Have fun, try not to go totally overboard, and get back on the tracking the next day.
  • shorty35565
    shorty35565 Posts: 1,425 Member
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    Thanks guys :) Really helpful!
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Locking as part of our new procedure to try to help is track open threads: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/914180-thread-locking-and-intake-follow-ups

    Feel free to PM either myself of SideSteel to unlock of you want to add anything.
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