Cheat day/eating calories back

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.

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.

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.

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.

my "cheat days" consist of me still eating under my calorie goal, but just eating more unhealthy food.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

One has nothing to do with the other. Or very little. I concern myself more with meeting a weekly goal rather than a daily one as I don't eat the same thing every single day so it is easier this way. This does occasionally leave me with an excess of calories on Saturday and Sunday, but I don't just binge on whatever I want.

I just try to stay under for the week.

Do NOT have cheat days, just cheat meals.
Eating calories back is counterproductive to burning them off in the first place.

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.

Some people save their calories for a later date, such as the weekend so that they are able to go out with friends and have fun. I've only done it once, for a halloween party this year so that I could eat and have fun with everyone without worrying over the calories I ate. It worked out perfectly and I still didn't go over for the week. This doesn't work for everyone, most of the time unless it's a special event it won't work for me. The results after halloween eating..I did not gain anything back.

Sometimes I will save them if I know I have a big meal coming up soon. But most of the time I'm lazy and get a massively fantabulous cheat day even those saved up calories couldn't have covered.