Cheat days???

Voca_Star
Voca_Star Posts: 140
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm feeling really guilty right now. I just had a very large piece of cookies and cream ice cream cake. I'm trying to reduce my c heat days to once a month, yet I had one last week. It's not that I have a hard time resisting junk food, I actually rarely crave it. But I was REALLY craving it tonight....

I'm working hard at reducing my body fat and eating that cake isn't gonna help :((

How often do you guys have cheat days?

Replies

  • OnionMomma
    OnionMomma Posts: 938 Member
    Life is not about cheat days, then you will always feel guilty.

    Eat what you like, just have a smaller amount.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    I'm with OMoms on this. Yeah, the cookies and cake aren't going to help, but they aren't going to kill you either. It takes 1000s upon 1000s of calories to gain a pound, so one off day isn't the end of the world. It's more when people feel guilty and give up that hurts them. Stop the guilt, enjoy your cookie day, make sure you have a lot more good days than bad.
  • MtnKat
    MtnKat Posts: 714
    Yea, I agree with cutting the portions down and keeping it within your calorie count....however you may want to look at the reason why you are binging. Are you sad, lonely, stressed, bored or something like that? I have a tendency to binge on junk food when I'm bored or stressed.

    There is nothing wrong with eating cookies and cakes....your body will still process whatever nutrients it can get from it. If you want to include it in your diet and know that you will eat some (for me it's potato chips lol), then work it into your calories and stop feeling guilty about it.

    I see food as energy for our body; all of it will get us up and go. But there is a big difference between rock bottom fuel and the high level premium stuff.

    Good luck!

    Edit: Oh yea....I haven't had a cheat day since I got serious about what kinds of foods I was putting in my body. Not that I have a problem with them, I'm all for cheat days, but I eat whatever I like and a good amount (1900 calories) every single day. I plan to have one someday, if I could ever eat that much food in one day or bring myself to eat a bunch of junk my body is no longer used to.
  • caubel
    caubel Posts: 9 Member
    I am leaning more toward a cheat meal per week. When I have a cheat day, I feel I go overboard, too. I need to rein it in a bit to gain control.
  • Voca_Star
    Voca_Star Posts: 140
    Um, lol, I didn't binge. I just ate one piece because I was craving it. I haven't had cake in a very long time, I had a very busy and tiring day and I just wanted something sweet. :)
  • Twiceasbad
    Twiceasbad Posts: 2 Member
    Cheat days can actually be benifical every now and then...I read that you should have cheat days so you can stick to your diet better.
    I have a cheat day myself every now and then and I have lost over 100lbs in 3 years. You should aim for progress not perfection when trying to lose weight. I would also like to add that you should eat every 2 to 3 hours to keep your metabolism up. If you wait 4 hours or longer your metabolism slows down and goes into fat storage mode and you don't want that. I hope this helps.
  • I_love_frogs
    I_love_frogs Posts: 340 Member
    I had two calories left tonight after dinner.

    I REALLY REALLY wanted some of the lemon bar in the fridge. So, I walked in place, dance, did jumping jacks, went up and down stairs a few times and managed to burn 200 + calories according to my Fitbit...enough for me to have 1/2 of the lemon bar that was saved for me. I also made myself drink 4 cups of water as well.

    Cheat? No.

    Treat? Yes...but I earned it, And had 60 cals left over as well.

    Don't deprive yourself...earn what extra you wanted...be it a serving of chips, a croissant, a candy bar...or a lemon bar. Just earn the cals and make sure that you have the allotted cals for it. You don't have to deprive yourself...just watch the portions and work them into your day.

    You are only human you know... you can have something not healthy now and again :) Just do it the right way!
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
    i agree with the idea of 'earning' it by exercising.
  • flyingpurplemonkey
    flyingpurplemonkey Posts: 105 Member
    I don't have "cheat days". If I am craving something and it doesn't go away, I try to work in a small portion into my calories for the day. I, personally, refuse to deprive myself of anything. I feel like this way is setting me up better for a healthier, fitter life rather than a short term diet. I feel confident I can maintain this way of eating for life, while I probably would cave and give up if I made this about rules I have to follow.

    As long as you are eating better (in general) than you were before, I think you are on the right track. Just keep moving forward!
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
    I don't believe in cheat days. Just eat what you want to eat every day, just stay within your calories and do it in moderation. I never tell myself NO on anything really, if I want something, I have it, but I account for it for the day. I'm allowed 1300 calories, so if I want to go over, I bust my *kitten* on the elliptical until I am still under or at 1300 netted. Of course there's some days, I've had 2 in just over a month now, that I've gone over, even so, not by much at all.
  • sparklelioness
    sparklelioness Posts: 600 Member
    I have a 'free day' once a week, usually on sunday. I dont like to call it a 'cheat day' because that implies that I'm doing something wrong, something I should feel guilty for. I call it my free day now. I eat what i want that day, but its not a binge day, either. Free day ( or reward day) doesnt mean eat everything in sight or try to cram in a bunch of things- just means if i want to eat out or order pizza or have mcdonalds, i do. I usually try to eat a healthy, smaller breakfast that day, but i dont always. Sometimes i have pancakes with butter and real maple syrup. The rest of the week i exercise and eat healthy. If i go over my calories on sunday (which i often do), i dont freak out and exercise myself silly trying to 'get rid of it'. For me, this is a healthy attitude towards food.

    Doing this, I've been losing 1-3 lbs a week. :)
  • Mighty_Rabite
    Mighty_Rabite Posts: 581 Member
    A cheat item or a cheat day is alright here and there as long as you keep it relatively sane. A single large piece of cake is probably not going to derail you much if at all.

    Now, the cheat days I've had.. I've had some monsters. In fact, this weekend so far is the first weekend in a long time where, at least thus far, I haven't gone past my set caloric intake goal in a given day. I find I'm most likely to "cheat" in certain situations, specifically long periods of boredom or being around people if/when they make food specifically because of my visiting.

    Last weekend.. I would easily estimate 8000 cal between Saturday/Sunday.
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