Cheat Days???

Here's a link with lots of info.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cheat+days

Some people do, some people don't.

The idea is that once a week you eat at maintenance or slightly above (many don't track the day, but should to prevent going too overboard).

It serves as a psychological tool to help keep from feeling like you're ALWAYS dieting.

Physiologically, it can ward off plateauing due to stress levels generated from constant calorie deficits.

All of this.

So, if you find out what your maintenance level is, you can still track that day and not go over that level of calories if it helps ward off binging.

I do a cheat day from time to time, but cheat day is kind of a bad term for in my mind (at least for what I do). I do it to keep my body from getting used to having roughly the same number of calories day to day; I do a low and high day. My high day is just a day where I don't have a calorie deficit. If my body would normally burn 1800 calories, and to lose weight I would eat between 1200 and 1500 calories, my cheat day is just eatting up to the 1800 point. I do this every week, and then about once a month I will really go over by about 1000 (for me 2800 calories). Finding out what works for you is the key!

Hi Bess!
My advise? Dont do it! My best friend and I started this journey together almost two months ago. Last sunday we took her son to the circus and it was plastered everywhere on facebook that it was "national dessert day" Wonderful,right? Anyway we decided to take a day off I mean after all we have went almost two months without ice cream...cotton candy..sodas.. pretzles the list of what we ate that day goes on and onnnn. We felt like complete CRAP monday and I weighed this morning...And I have been the same weight for tha past three weeks...not anymore. This week has been so horrible for my motivation. Although I have still been working out like normal. I am a small girl to begin with but I am currently preparing for a modeling convention in july. So even .5 of a lb is devistating to me. (sorry I digress) back to your "cheat days" Deciding to be healthy and lose weight isnt just a "fad" you can go through. It is a life changing decision. Sunday I realized that those foods werent as satisfying as they used to be and I regret eating them. Stick to your good eating. I know that sucks to hear but you will feel so so super wonderful about yourself. Good luck!!

When I was in high school, I was only eating 900 cals a day and exercising about 45 min everyday. I was always starving and had frequent headaches. My hair started falling out and my mom made me go to the doctor.

But, Sundays were my "cheat days", and I would pretty much binge all day. And even though I was only eating 900 cals a day, 6 days a week, the binge day made it so that I was only losing 2 lbs a week, so I figured that it was still a healthy loss, and that I wasn't doing anything wrong.

Well, those cheat days are what inevitably lead me to the binge eating disorder that I have now. And needless to say, I gained all that weight back, pretty much instantly.

I don't recommend cheat days unless you're good with self control. I'm obviously not.

I hate the word "cheat" since I don't consider this a diet, more a lifestyle change I don't consider anything I do to be cheating. Every decision I make toward a healthier lifestyle is a success. I try to cut out processed foods, fast foods, refined sugars, processed carbs, etc. However I'm not going to go my entire life without ever eating pizza again, so waiting until I'm at my goal weight to eat it would be crazy. Same with nachos lol. So when presented with the urge to splurge, this is what I do: moderation! Hubby desperately wanted Arby's after probably at least four months without it. Instead of getting a large combo meal with large sandwich, large curly fries & large lemonade (old me) I got a sandwich wrapped in lettuce with tomato no bun and a side salad, with water. I didn't feel deprived at all, I stayed within my calorie goal, and my pie chart didn't look too bad either. Best part? I didn't feel like crap the other day like I hear many day after their "cheat days"... Good luck making your decision on what works best for you! ????

P.S. I haven't had a plateau of more than a week (which I DO NOT consider an actual plateau) in the 4+ months I've been tracking my macros. I've only had 2 days of being over my calories during that time.

5 days on, 2 days off. That's my motto.

Im not dieting to lose weight ~ I am making a life style change and will be doing this for the rest of my life. I eat my food calories every day (and I'm still way under most days), and I never log my exercise calories. And once a week, Wednesdays are my cheat days where I dont "have" to track anything and if I want fried chicken and wine for breakfast lunch and dinner, I'll do it. But I dont. I can't half of the time if I really want to because it just doesnt satisfy me like it used to. Its almost like my cheat days keep me in check.

I like how you posted it. I also have been a binge eater, lots of food, sometimes on the hour. MFP really made me think of my calories. I'm 41 pounds down from when I started, 34 to go. I was stricter earlier on, bot only because my fitness level is much improved. My wife is on this with me, so that extra support means a lot! Now, we look at days we want to indulge and combined it with an increase in exercise.

I may be just a little more than 1/2 way to my goal, but my ability to do physical exercise has rapidly grown. If I indulge/cheat without the extra exercise though, it leaves me feeling off.