can a cheat day ruin my diet?

HeidiCooksSupper

You cannot ruin your diet with a cheat day. What you eat is your diet, no matter what that may be.

I "cheated" myself last night. I finished off a container of nuts instead of eating just one serving. What did I cheat myself out of? A day of eating TDEE-20%. Instead I had a day where I might even have eaten over my TDEE before exercise. What does that mean? It will take me a day or two longer to lose 140 pounds. I cannot undo in one day or one exercise session what I did last night. Can I undo it in a few days? Sure, by reducing food intake and increasing exercise.

I am not "on a diet" I, like all animals, have a diet. The diet I used to have was too fat laden and calorie heavy. I exercised too little. I weighed somewhere in the 280s and was eating a diet that maintained that. My diet now is healthier and better proportioned such that I am losing about 1.5 pounds per week. I am now eating a diet that does not maintain a weight of 280+ but instead causes weight loss. That's how it works. Eat less than you are burning and you will lose weight (unless there is some underlying medical condition preventing it).