Cheat day/eating calories back

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Ashleys0981
Ashleys0981 Posts: 22 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
To those of you that eat your calories back which you earned by exercising, do you have a cheat day as well? Just wondering if "saving" the calories earned for a cheat day will work. Any feedback on whether eating back calories worked for you is welcome, thanks!
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  • IronDame
    IronDame Posts: 275
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    Why would you "save" your calories to eat at a later date? That doesn't make ANY sense.

    Some days I eat my exercise cals back and some days I don't...If I'm hungry then I eat, if not then it's obvious what I do.
    As for cheat days...I don't tend to set a day to cheat...If I eat something bad one day oh well I will live.
  • UnoDrea3732
    UnoDrea3732 Posts: 342 Member
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    As for cheat days...I don't tend to set a day to cheat...If I eat something bad one day oh well I will live.

    I feel the same way! I used to do cheat days but just found out that I could eat every calorie I burnt that week back in one day. I would literally bust my *kitten* all week and gain it all back in a weekend and repeat. Definitely a vicious cycle.
  • wholelottarosa
    wholelottarosa Posts: 74
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    I don't think calories are something you can save up, like in a bank account.

    Wouldn't that be great though, you could get interest on the calories and eat more in the future. :D
  • WillLift4Tats
    WillLift4Tats Posts: 1,699 Member
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    I don't think calories are something you can save up, like in a bank account.

    Wouldn't that be great though, you could get interest on the calories and eat more in the future. :D

    Haha yes!
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Yes, you can save calories and eat them later. I wouldn't take this practice to extreme endpoints but day to day you're fine as long as your average intake over several days is appropriate to your goals.
  • santini1975
    santini1975 Posts: 175 Member
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    I wouldn't see much point in exercising just to eat the calories again.
    Quite the opposite- if I eat more than I should I have to exercise extra to make up for it!
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    I use MFP the way it was designed to work, so I don't include my exercise in my activity level. Instead, I log it when I do it, and eat those calories back. It has worked well for me, and I've lost at a rate very close to what MFP has predicted. Another option is to include exercise in your activity level when you work out your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), get a higher calorie goal and not eat back exercise calories. I will probably move over to that method once I'm maintaining, but for now, I feel like it's a bit more accurate to log my workouts separately.

    I don't have "cheat" days, I pretty much eat whatever I like day to day anyway. There are occasionally days when I exceed my calorie goal, but I don't call it cheating, it's just life.

    As for the "saving" calories for later in the week - I don't see a problem with it over a short period of time like that. Your body doesn't reset each midnight, and it's unrealistic to expect to eat the exact same number of calories every day. Lots of people have success with calorie cycling, where they eat a little less one day, and a little more the next. As long as you're not too extreme (eg fasting for 6 days and eating a week's worth of cals in the 7th day) then I don't see why not.
  • Miche11e5
    Miche11e5 Posts: 114 Member
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    I tend to focus on my weekly numbers. Some days I'm over, some days I'm under but if at the end of the week I'm within 100 calories (over or under) of the weekly goal, I feel it was sucessful.
  • junipearl
    junipearl Posts: 326 Member
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    my "cheat days" consist of me still eating under my calorie goal, but just eating more unhealthy food.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    I wouldn't see much point in exercising just to eat the calories again.
    Quite the opposite- if I eat more than I should I have to exercise extra to make up for it!

    :huh:
    So, you won't exercise to get more calories to eat, but you'll exercise more if you eat too many calories? Interesting logic.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    I wouldn't see much point in exercising just to eat the calories again.
    Quite the opposite- if I eat more than I should I have to exercise extra to make up for it!
    The point is, because the way MFP is designed to work, it gives you a calorie goal that has a calorie deficit already built into it. Even if you never did any exercise, you should still lose weight because the calories burned through everyday living would be more than you were consuming. Additional exercise makes that calorie deficit bigger which may not be healthy (depending on various factors) and may be unsustainable. Most calorie-counting plans do not work in this way and would give you a higher calorie goal to start with, because your planned exercise would be counted already.
  • Cyclink
    Cyclink Posts: 517 Member
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    To those of you that eat your calories back which you earned by exercising, do you have a cheat day as well? Just wondering if "saving" the calories earned for a cheat day will work. Any feedback on whether eating back calories worked for you is welcome, thanks!

    Let's first clarify: "eating back" is kind of like "toning" and "spot reduction". Lots of people worry about it, but the concepts behind it are fictional.

    You are either eating enough to fuel your body and all its activities throughout the day or you are not. Whether that activity is laying on the couch reading or training for Iron Man triathlons, your body needs some amount of food to be healthy and continue to function well, even if you are losing weight.

    If your diet is based on someone laying on the couch all day and you are lifting weights and doing cardio every day, then you can expect many more problems (usually in the form of plateaus, fatigue, lethargy, and more susceptibility to colds) along the way than someone who is eating enough.

    As for saving up, it depends. If you are talking about and extra 300 calories, probably no big deal. If you are talking about 1500 calories, then you just undid several days worth of work.
  • adk88
    adk88 Posts: 143 Member
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    I wouldn't see much point in exercising just to eat the calories again.
    Quite the opposite- if I eat more than I should I have to exercise extra to make up for it!

    :huh:
    So, you won't exercise to get more calories to eat, but you'll exercise more if you eat too many calories? Interesting logic.

    I thought the same thing when I read that.
  • Scott_Chaput
    Scott_Chaput Posts: 114
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    I don't eat my exercise calories as I get them... I started out having a "cheat meal" on Saturday nights with the wife. We eat whatever we want within reason.

    I had half a large pizza and fries last weekend with a few mozzarella sticks and two Oreo truffles. I log everything then work for the rest of the week to exercise off those calories and much much more...

    Log EVERYTHING and be mindful of it when working out.

    I got a heart rate monitor watch too so I could track my calorie expenditure when working out.
  • castell5
    castell5 Posts: 234 Member
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    While on a quest to lose weight steadily, I never gave myself a cheat day. Why add a day more onto reaching my goal? Never saw the point. Once I reached my goal, I increased my calories, but cheat day? No, I have realigned my eating habits to be healthy eating. Can ice cream fit into that healthy eating? Yes! Of course it can, your body does need fat so yes it can.. within reason and with a realistic portion. Not like I used to eat!
  • sarahharmintx
    sarahharmintx Posts: 868 Member
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    The phone app lets you look at the weekly average. Thats what I tend to follow. If I want it and Im in the green, I go for it.
  • postrockandcats
    postrockandcats Posts: 1,145 Member
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    To those of you that eat your calories back which you earned by exercising, do you have a cheat day as well? Just wondering if "saving" the calories earned for a cheat day will work. Any feedback on whether eating back calories worked for you is welcome, thanks!

    I don't have cheat days, for the most part- I will splurge on special occasions like a birthday party, but those times are few and far between. I eat calories back if I'm hungry or there's a huge number left over. :)

    I've lost those 35 pounds since July, so I've got to be doing something right! :D
  • holly3585
    holly3585 Posts: 282 Member
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    Why would you "save" your calories to eat at a later date? That doesn't make ANY sense.

    Some days I eat my exercise cals back and some days I don't...If I'm hungry then I eat, if not then it's obvious what I do.
    As for cheat days...I don't tend to set a day to cheat...If I eat something bad one day oh well I will live.

    LOL just because you can't wrap your brain around it doesn't mean it a crazy idea. Geez a lot of people tally weekly calorie goals and not just daily--zig zagging calories.......
  • Pnknlvr96
    Pnknlvr96 Posts: 104 Member
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    I don't technically have cheat days, but on the weekends I allow myself to go over my daily allotment by a little bit, if that's how it works out. I don't try to go over, but if I'm over by 300 calories because I had a brownie, I don't beat myself up over it. A few hundred over, I'm ok, but not 2,000 over!
  • Scott_Chaput
    Scott_Chaput Posts: 114
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    I love the cheat MEAL concept.

    It will slow my weight loss down over time making me take a little longer to get to my goal but I accept the fact that getting to where I want to go is going to take time.

    If I tell myself I can never ever ever have a Big Mac again I will be less likely to stick to the diet plan. So one single meal every week I indulge at a reasonable level. I work out like crazy during the week.

    It will of course slow you down a little bit but it will keep me going on the diet plan for longer and make me more successful over time. I still stay under my weekly calorie goal.

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