I've heard some people have "cheat days"...

karmahunger
karmahunger Posts: 373 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I ate quite a lot today, was over by almost 500 calories =/ It was mostly healthy stuff but it all went downhill.

Do "cheat days"; where I can eat more than usual, actually work if they are like once a month?

Replies

  • karmahunger
    karmahunger Posts: 373 Member
    And by work, I mean it won't mess up my weight loss too bad. I ate just over 2000 calories today.
  • flying182
    flying182 Posts: 26
    2000 calories won't see a gain as the body needs about this to maintain itself anyway. Remember, like sleep and bank accounts you can have the odd debt day as long as you put in more credits overall! :wink:
  • FitSuga
    FitSuga Posts: 259 Member
    That's probably about Maintenance before excersize, so you're fine. I eat at maintenance or even above if I stall, and the weight starts to drop again. I will not hinder your efforts.
  • CATindeeHAT
    CATindeeHAT Posts: 332 Member
    2000 calories won't see a gain as the body needs about this to maintain itself anyway. Remember, like sleep and bank accounts you can have the odd debt day as long as you put in more credits overall! :wink:

    Fantastically said.
  • gbbhey
    gbbhey Posts: 188
    You call that a cheat day!?

    2000 calories won't derail you, just make sure it's not yesterday's excuse/today's failure. Everyone has a day where the office mate has a birthday, or you come home from work and feel like pizza and beer. It's called life, and it's just as important to live than it is to diet & exercise.

    Cheers,
    Jared
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    The important thing is to know yourself. If you are the sort of person who can't have a cheat day without it derailing your entire diet, then you shouldn't do them. However, if you are the sort of person for whom knowing you can have that piece of chocolate cake at the end of a long week is what keeps you sane and allows you to stick to your diet the rest of the time, then you should.
  • Off10h8ed
    Off10h8ed Posts: 282 Member
    I go over 200-300 occasionally but most days I am under by about the same so it all evens out!
  • St3venMac
    St3venMac Posts: 2
    You call that a cheat day!?

    2000 calories won't derail you, just make sure it's not yesterday's excuse/today's failure. Everyone has a day where the office mate has a birthday, or you come home from work and feel like pizza and beer. It's called life, and it's just as important to live than it is to diet & exercise.

    Cheers,
    Jared

    Ha ha well said. My last cheat meal (I have one very 2 weeks) was whole large pizza, chicken wings, garlic bread, chocolate ice-cream 5 beers and some nachos with cheese. Now that's a cheat! Helps to keep me on the straight and narrow the rest of the time.

    Life is for living it can't be all about diet, diet, diet. **** happens - move on. You can't change it or make up for it get back on the wagon and keep moving forward.
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
    I used to do a cheat day, but found that it just made me miserable during the week. You can eat the things you like, but do it in moderation. Have a serving size of chocolate or cookies or what-have-you. Depriving yourself will only make you binge in the end. Don't be on a diet, be on a lifestyle change.
  • MDWilliams1857
    MDWilliams1857 Posts: 315 Member
    I ate quite a lot today, was over by almost 500 calories =/ It was mostly healthy stuff but it all went downhill.

    Do "cheat days"; where I can eat more than usual, actually work if they are like once a month?


    You might have gone over your goal by 500 calories but your goal was probably a 500-1000 calorie deficit right? So you really didnt go over you just made your deficit smaller, or went over by very little.
  • BernadetteChurch
    BernadetteChurch Posts: 2,210 Member
    I think random cheat days are fine and nothing to worry about, and probably even good for you. But I think planned cheat days are potentially very dangerous and should generally be avoided, just in case you find yourself gorging because you're allowing yourself to, rather than because you really want to.

    Hate the term "cheat" day, by the way!
  • ang3h
    ang3h Posts: 185 Member
    I ate a bit over 3000 calories several days ago after two weeks of eating under 1700/day. Bloated like crazy for two days and then lost a couple inches.

    I think it's good to "cheat" once in awhile.. I've noticed that if I'm "good" for a couple weeks and then have a day where I go all out I end up skinnier from it.

    Although when I do a "cheat day" (binge..) every week I start gaining.. I tend to start getting more lax and eat more during the week as well, so that doesn't help.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    I ate quite a lot today, was over by almost 500 calories =/ It was mostly healthy stuff but it all went downhill.

    Do "cheat days"; where I can eat more than usual, actually work if they are like once a month?

    Your concern appears to have been answered well enough so I thought I would suggest something: rather than accidentally go over because of cravings or whatever (which results in anxiety, anger, disappointment, worry etc), plan a cheat meal in advance so it becomes part of your weight loss strategy. I always have one with the family once a week but otherwise aim for 1700-1800 a day.
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
    At the end of the day it's all about your daily average. You can eat less some days to eat more other days if that is what you like to do, and in my opinion, it is even beneficial to do so. I believe I have something written up about this on my profile under 'why the UD2 diet works'.
  • Sick_Beard
    Sick_Beard Posts: 407 Member
    Ideally you want to have a cheat day or spike day as some would call it where you would eat about double the amount of carbs you would usually eat as this increase leptin levels which is beneficial to weight loss.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    My cheat days take my carbs up to 400-500g and about 3000-4000 cals.

    Light weight!
    =D

    they help with hormones so having "refeeds" "cheat days" "spike days" is actually good.
    Look up Leptin and read all you can about it.
  • lauraatkinson85
    lauraatkinson85 Posts: 84 Member
    Try to see this as a way of life not a diet. Im going to a wedding tomorrow where I will have no control over how many calories Im eating and you can be damn sure Im going to be enjoying the pink wine! Ill log everything as best I can, and then do an extra 45 minutes at the gym on Sunday.

    Ive stopped thinking of them as 'cheat days', and try to make sure my calories balance over the week by going for an extra swim or another gym class.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    Lance Armstrong cheated.

    Look what happened to him!

    Cheating is for cheaters.
  • sgarrard01
    sgarrard01 Posts: 213 Member
    2000 calories won't see a gain as the body needs about this to maintain itself anyway. Remember, like sleep and bank accounts you can have the odd debt day as long as you put in more credits overall! :wink:

    Love this saying!, even if i dont agree with 'cheat days'....
  • ElinaCarroll
    ElinaCarroll Posts: 14
    Ideally you want to have a cheat day or spike day as some would call it where you would eat about double the amount of carbs you would usually eat as this increase leptin levels which is beneficial to weight loss.

    Completely agree. I do believe in having one spike day a week. Not gorging, just eating normal calories and a range of nutritiously dense foods and foods rich in omega3 for example, that would otherwise not fit within the diet. I have found that keeping a strict diet during the week and eating normal calories one day a week speeds up my weight loss, and helps me feel more happy. Have to be careful not to turn this into "reward with food" though. Rather, treating it as a necessary spike day to help weight loss and replenish energy levels....
  • porkhunt
    porkhunt Posts: 5
    I have 2 cheat days every weekend!! I'm super strict during the week and then go let loose going 5-600 cals over maintenance BMR for my weekends. That's around 2800 cals each day. I still average around 5500-6000 cals deficit a week. I've read it's good to keep your body guessing constantly, your metabolism is less likely to slow over time. If you can manage your cheat days within sensible boundaries, I still reach all the targets I set for myself..
  • ohmyshysamantha
    ohmyshysamantha Posts: 138 Member
    "cheat" days are fine I prefer the term "off" days because it makes me feel less guilty to say "oh I had an off day" vs "oh today I had a cheat day" I dont recommend planning an "off" day because then you may over do it because you can not because you want to. I save my off days for "oh crap I drove to school this morning and left my lunch on the roof of my car, I'm on my way to work and I'm already on the high way so I cant stop at jimmy johns." or "My boyfriend is taking me out to dinner at my favorite resturant tonight if he sees me start logging my calories he's going to get annoyed" or "my boyfriends mom made dinner, one scoop of her broccoli is probably 800 calories but if I refuse her cooking she is going to start hating me" So an off day is perfectly okay just try to save them for when you need them instead of planning. And dont let it derail you. if you have an off day the next day turn around and stick with your calories.
  • kenazfehu
    kenazfehu Posts: 1,188 Member
    I think you'll be o.k.

    I can't have cheat days because cheats happen spontaneously. I come home to discover my son made dinner, for example, and I can only guess about the calories in it. I plan to stick to my routine every day, but if my plan gets side-tracked, I have to remember not to let it take me completely off course (which it did a week or so ago) but get right back to the plan.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    A cheat day CAN be beneficial.

    Basically, a prolonged calorie deficit will result in slowly increased stress and the hormones related to it. In time, this slows down and can stop weight loss.

    A cheat day is where calories are slightly above maintenance but not ridiculously so (5000 cal day is NOT a cheat day, that is ABANDON SHIP day). What this does is lowers the stress on the body enough to ensure that the stress levels never get too high.

    However, it is RARELY seen that way. Most that do so use it as a psychological tool to avoid going insane from always eating less.

Categories