Cheat Days.

if im hungry ill eat more if im not then ill eat normal meals i like to control what i eat so i know how much i have to burn off the next day x

I have a hard problem getting back into the right frame of mind following a cheat day. I want to eat other cheat food and I try to convince myself that it is all right to eat the left overs and then go to the movies and have the large popcorn with butter. It is easier for me just to stay on course and let inertia take over.

I will say yesterday i had two plain McChickens for lunch for a total of 620 calories, which is definitely within my calories. But for some reason they didn't taste as good, nor sit as well in my stomach, and my energy was horrible for hours afterwards. I was even full after one but still ate the second one anyways. I need to get to the point in my life where I will stop after one, but for now old habits are hard to break.

I am still a work in progress.

Next time I feel like a McChicken, I am only going to buy one and if I am still hungry afterwards I can always hit another McDonalds. There is a McDonalds within 5 miles of me no matter where I am anyways.

SB Sunday = BIG TIME cheat day here

Cheat meals: yes
Cheat days: no

A whole day of eating in excess would wipe out any gains that week.

Gotta call BS here. The wife and I went on a week long bender (over 2500+ cals per day) while on vacation. The result when we got home? Zero weight gained. We just kept lifting while on vacation.

It's going to depend a lot upon the individual.

Do you have cheat days? Why or why not? What do your cheat days consist of? What're your opinions on cheat days?

When you follow IIFYM and have a reasonable calorie goal, there is no need for a "cheat day."

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/817188-iifym

I don't allow myself cheat days. I do allow myself an occasional cheat meal. A trainer friend of mine once told me that a cheat day is only acceptable if you are at your ultimate goal as far as fitness goes. I do allow myself a bit of what I'm craving...but I refuse to "go crazy" on a meal...primarily because I know I'll have to make up for it with sweat later and I could jeopardize my progress so far.

yes .. absolutely. My friends and I go out once a week (usually Thursday nights) for GNO (girls night out). We range from 30-something to 60, and we don't drink but we ALWAYS eat. I try to go home from work an hour earlier so I can hit my stationary bike before we go, so I don't do too much damage to what I've accomplished. One time I tried ordering to fit my new way of eating, but I didn't enjoy it that much, The whole reason for us to get together is to visit ... and laugh ... and forget all the stuff that happened during the week that we didn't like much. So I've learned not to worry about what I eat that one night ... I just thoroughly enjoy my friends.

Do you have cheat days? Why or why not? What do your cheat days consist of? What're your opinions on cheat days?

When you follow IIFYM and have a reasonable calorie goal, there is no need for a "cheat day."

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/817188-iifym

The problem comes if you want something and IDFYM! I eat well, just less than I ate before, but I can go to a pub and have a couple beers, a bacon cheeseburger and fries and hit my limit in one meal. I'd rather have a day that I know I can get the cheeseburger and not sweat it instead of starving the whole day, just so I can fit it in my macros for that day.

i do one cheat day a week - & no i don't have challenges with using the word 'cheat', it's just semantics & it only brings on guilt if you think of it as a guilty thing. for me, it keeps me honest the other 6 days of the week when i know that if i really want something, i can have it on monday (my weigh in day) & it's not a 'reward', it's just part of my plan. generally, i eat really restrictively with no grains (no bread, pasta, pizza or anything like that), just protein and veggies or fruit (once in awhile). i enjoy eating this way & my body feels better doing this (so i don't need any input about what anyone might think of eating like this, it works for me - i don't judge others on what they feel works for them) although every once in a while, i do want to eat foods that aren't on my eating plan and so i allow myself to do that on mondays and i go right back to my eating plan on tuesday. i log what i eat everyday. what i've noticed is that if i cut myself short on monday because i feel i've already eaten too much then it's harder to make it through the rest of the week so i'm not doing that anymore - i'm eating what i want on monday, regardless of the count or whether i think i've eaten too much already and then the other 6 days are a breeze. i also do not add in an extra workout or anything like that - i do the workout that i would normally do the other 6 days, otherwise, it'd feel too punitive & it would feel like i was cheating. everyone is different, so do what works for you & sometimes that means experimenting to see what that is.

I have the occasional bad meal but find I still log calories and try and make healthier choices. I want to keep losing weight but I want this to be sustainable and about a change in lifestyle. I want to be able to enjoy going out and not feel guilty about it. If I keep dropping a pound or so each week and keep it off then that's me happy.