Cheat Days

peanutkel7
peanutkel7 Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay so I just officially started my diet yesterday, and so far I am doing great..healthy food, gym, vitamins, etc. Although I am not hungry and feel full at the end of each day, people are still telling me I should allow myself cheat meals or a cheat day.

Can someone with knowledge of eating healthy tell me what a cheat day consists of (I have to assume no fast foods or fried), and is it a day or a meal? I mean if I can avoid it I will but they say that is how one fails their diet.

Replies

  • ElizaRoche
    ElizaRoche Posts: 2,005 Member
    not a cheat day, more like a a meal or a ´treat´... Sometimes I eat a candy, or grab a chocolate, or maybe eat a small slice of cake. I dont go with cheat days, id feel awful after it.
  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
    You don't need to "cheat". When you exercise you gain extra calories that you can eat if you want to, so if you want to "cheat", go burn 500 calories, then go eat that huge slice of chocolate cake.

    Just work the foods you want to eat into your calories for the day.
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
    Some people are advocates of eating whatever you want for a meal or a day. My take is healthy is a lifestyle - and there will be times that we eat things that are not "on our diet". A piece of birthday cake, a drink with friends, etc. To me this isn't a cheat - it's part of my life. My take (having studied nutrition and lost over 100 lbs) is that an intentional "cheat day" is only cheating yourself out of your health.

    Good luck with your weight loss journey!
  • uidape1
    uidape1 Posts: 6
    I feel terrible when I have a cheat day. I started having cheat meals once a week. I ate until I almost died of whatever I wanted at one sitting. Then I started to limit my cheat meal to a normal amount once a week. Then I told myself I wouldn't have a cheat meal until I lost 5lbs. So that's what I've been doing.

    You can undo an entire week of dieting on one meal easy. Have some fast food and some cheese cake...

    Eat lots of green veggies and you won't want to cheat. You'll feel great and healthy.
  • rw10091960
    rw10091960 Posts: 3 Member
    For me a cheat day is any time i don't record something I ate that would put me over my calorie goal for the day. It is a bad habit and can kill your diet (insert the word lifestyle change). Be true to yourself, record everything that you eat, it is the only way MFP works correctly.
  • darkguardian419
    darkguardian419 Posts: 1,302 Member
    80-20.

    80% healthy "good" food, 20% "not so good" food.

    Just hit your calories :)
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
    ^^^ This

    But also, if I'm having date night with my hubby or it is a special occasion or something, I might eat a little more than normal or forego calorie counting for that day/meal. In fact, that is part of my hubby's deal...he will not complain about all the healthy food I make if I don't calorie count on date night ;P It is all about having everything in moderation!
  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
    The hard part of taking an entire day to cheat, is that its harder to restart the next day. If you've been losing well, and are on a great exercise regimen for a few weeks and your metabolism is burning everything you eat effectively, and you have the will power to not make a day of cheat into 2 days of cheat, THEN you can go to disney for a day and eat crap food all day and not regret it the next.
  • skinnybitchbarbie27
    skinnybitchbarbie27 Posts: 306 Member
    I don't like the idea of calling it "cheat" because hopefully you are in this for life. Which is why I am getting to my next point;

    I know in my life I will never stop eating pizza or never have ice cream ever again. That is where moderation comes in. I allow myself one meal where I still count calories but will allow myself to have something out of the ordinary like a loaded baked potato with my steak or a dessert to share with the hubby. It is always on saturday and the condition in my life is I have to have my morning workout classes done to do so. I wouldn't say go batsh*t crazy. Sitting down for a meal of fried foods will make you feel bloated and if you weigh in the few days after that, forget it. You'll be bloated from the salt. I do not eat fast food and don't recommend that either.

    You should allow yourself something special, something you know you will not get but on an every few week/month basis.
  • aadutton
    aadutton Posts: 87
    You don't need to "cheat". When you exercise you gain extra calories that you can eat if you want to, so if you want to "cheat", go burn 500 calories, then go eat that huge slice of chocolate cake.

    Just work the foods you want to eat into your calories for the day.

    this.

    don't completely deprive yourself of the things you love. just work them in, in moderation.
  • whr_spur
    whr_spur Posts: 2
    when i started out i thought cheat days would be fine. After 3 weeks of once a weak cheat days i realized i was just harming the healthy habits i was creating. Now i find just allowing myself one thing here and there is the way to go for me. Of course you're going to have times where you go overboard, just don't get down on yourself and use it as an excuse to quit. When ever i get the urge for something i know is really bad for me i'll look up it's nutritional info on the app for my phone. That is usually enough of a shock to steer clear of it. After you build the healthy eating habit you'll find you won't even want to have any cheats cause it makes you feel sick or bloated.

    Well that's just my experience with cheat days. Everyone is different
  • 4_Lisa
    4_Lisa Posts: 362 Member
    Okay so I just officially started my diet yesterday, and so far I am doing great..healthy food, gym, vitamins, etc. Although I am not hungry and feel full at the end of each day, people are still telling me I should allow myself cheat meals or a cheat day.

    Can someone with knowledge of eating healthy tell me what a cheat day consists of (I have to assume no fast foods or fried), and is it a day or a meal? I mean if I can avoid it I will but they say that is how one fails their diet.

    I don't do cheat days... but I don't deny myself either. If my kids have something that is really tempting, I take a bite and log it. If I'm going for drinks, I will do a workout to earn the extra calories and try to go with the least calories in the sitting. I find if I indulge in the treats only one day a week it makes it harder to stay on track than allowing myself something when I am craving it. For myself getting back to it the day AFTER the cheat day was always difficult. I try to be really good all week then blow it on one day? No it's a lifestyle change that you are making, it should be day to day, not 6 out of 7
  • theplatypus
    theplatypus Posts: 27
    I don't think you should think of it as a "cheat" day. I think that brings up bad thoughts and thinking that if you have one sugary cheat you failed on your diet. When I used to think of having a cheat day or meal, I would usually end up eating way too much junk food. Now I think of it as I get to allow myself a few more calories than usual and I feel better emotionally/physically.
  • ebrown30
    ebrown30 Posts: 31 Member
    I'm not super knowledgeable about this but if there is a day when I'm going to go out with friends or indulge in something I'll make sure I double my work out that day so I can eat back the calories I burn. I try to never go above my TDEE (Only once since I started back on MFP) because if I'm not loosing that day I want to at least maintain. I try not back slide.

    I have not felt deprived of anything since using MFP.


    Good Luck.
  • ericahassinistermotives
    ericahassinistermotives Posts: 92
    It's all about moderation.
  • IronGirlShae
    IronGirlShae Posts: 58 Member
    I allow myself to eat what I want as long as I stay 'on budget' for the day. And I make sure I earn my treat before I eat it. Going on the treadmill/elliptical for an hour before having a nice dinner out for example. Don't eat a bunch of junk and tell yourself you'll work it off later, you might get tired, or have some last minute thing pop up.

    Someone mentioned Disney Land and that is a great example, as I was just there last week. Being on my feet 12-13 hours a day meant I could indulge quite a bit. (A churro, some fries, a burger, half an ice cream, etc) during the few days we were there. And I still didn't bust the 'budget'. I lost 2.2 pounds that week!!
  • RonandDi
    RonandDi Posts: 120 Member
    Like was mentioned, there are some foods that I will never be able to exclude all together, but they are not good for me. Wings and beer in particular. I don't eat them as often as I used to, but when I do, I don't worry about what they are doing to me. I eat till I'm done. This might not be the best approach, but it keeps me focused the rest of the time. I do the same with exercising. I get up early all week to exercise and by the end of the week, I need a couple days off.
  • peanutkel7
    peanutkel7 Posts: 9
    That is my biggest worry, feeling terrible about it.
  • peanutkel7
    peanutkel7 Posts: 9
    This is what I assumed! But people were telling me all different things. I am not big on sweets, so desserts will never get me, for me it would be a potato with my meal or something. I will never be able to give up fun foods, but in moderation and occasional fun nights out, I think it can work. Especially since most days it seems I am under my calories for the day bc of the exercises I throw in

    thank you everyone for the helpful replies!
  • Telecide
    Telecide Posts: 19 Member
    4494

    That is the amount of calories in a half gallon of Coldstone Birthday Cake Remix ice cream. My cheat days will usually include one of those, a large pizza, hot wings, maybe a burger, peanut butter cups or peanut butter m&ms if there's room. They can easily reach 8000 calories, which is almost a week's worth for me. Still, nothing that can't be fixed in a week. Unfortunately, last time I let the id out of its cage it didn't want to go back. Took me about a month and a half and two full belt notches to get him back in there. I just about got back to where I was before that last cheat... period, which is about 12 lbs from my goal.

    Hopefully, I've learned my lesson. We'll see.

    Edit: although next cheat day some fudge might be nice... and a Hungarian cake I remember from my youth, dobos torte.
  • crazybookworm
    crazybookworm Posts: 779 Member
    I never have "cheat" days. Diet signifies short term, it's a lifestyle change. It's all about portion control and moderation. There are certain things that I gave up for good(like soda, etc) but when it comes to everything else, I just watch my portions and how often I have it. I still have chocolate, ice cream, a cupcake, etc but I just moderate how often and the portion size :)


    My motto is "If your doing it right 85% of the time, then you can give in for the remaining 15%"
  • peilover010202
    peilover010202 Posts: 32 Member
    Well, I'm new at this myself. But, i will say that I've found working those calories in helps me. I find I've been craving sweets. So, I've found some things that help curb my sweet tooth, but yet keep me under my calorie goal for the day. (skim milk with 1tsp of ovaltine, special K pastry crisps, chocolate fiber one cereal with skim milk, 1/2 english muffin with 1tsp of reduced sugar strawberry jam.)

    My "cheat" days so far have consisted of going out to dinner with my family. I still keep everything in moderation and try to keep it very close to my calorie goal too. As an example, we went to a Mexican restaurant. I asked for no cheese, sour cream, or guac. Ate a handful of chips with salsa rather than 1/2 a basket and ate a lunch size portion. I recorded that the best I could with the ingredients I saw (and guessed - like oil/butter) and I was still under for the day.

    Another time, we went to a pizza place. So, I did a longer workout that day and burned about 600 calories. That "made up" for the extra calories I consumed.

Categories