Do you believe in "Cheat Days"?

I'm having a "cheat day" today, meaning I'm logging nothing and eating whatever I want, want being the operative word. I've had a high fever since yesterday, and have enough trouble getting myself to eat anything without the added bother of logging it.

It's also my birthday, so I was planning a "treat" dinner anyway, but I've postponed that for obvious reasons. I still won't feel guilty about eating it week later.

I agree with the whole "I'm not on a diet, so why would I cheat?" thing. I don't think it's comparable to cheating on your spouse, but I also think it's silly to have a day (or days) where you splurge. I'm trying to change the way I eat forever...not just to lose a few pounds. Allowing myself "cheat days" makes it sound like this is only temporary and that as soon as I'm done with this diet business I can go right back to eating Butterfingers out of the vending machine at work. Not gonna happen.

Do I believe in "cheat days" ?

No ..... nothing is off limits ...... but some foods are triggers, so I eat them sparingly :drinker:

My point exactly!

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I think the FB post is ridiculous.

If I cheated on my husband I would be destroying a sacred trust, breaking a vow and hurting one of the people I love most in the world. I would most likely do damage that could never be undone.

If I eat too many calories one day I get a little bloated and maybe have a little GI distress the next day.

Considering those two things to be anywhere near the same boarders on an eating disorder.

I like to call them "casual days" as oppose to "cheat days".

If i had a "cheat day" - my mind would think WOOHOO LET'S GO BUCK WILD lol

If i have a "casual day" - my mind says, well...sure if you want a cookie from the walmart deli - and it's on the sale rack - yeah sure let's do it - if not, no stress we'll probably come across something better later.

I find it's very important that I always have "doing better" on my mind - but sometime's I'm a lil' more relaxed, calling it a "casual day".

I do Tim Ferriss' Slow Carb diet, and cheat day has a very specific purpose and helps prevent your body from getting too comfortable with your diet during the week. It's been working for me so far.

Having a cheat day also makes it much easier to stay on plan. If you have a craving for something, just put it on the list for cheat day and enjoy it then.

No, I don't have "cheat days", what I have is "treat" meals. I don't like to use the word "cheat" because I feel like I am doing something wrong, and eating something out of the "ordinary" is not wrong in my books. Also, I don't allow guilt to be associated with food anymore, and "cheating" always produces guilt and many negative emotions that used to be part of my life. I live in this world, and this world has many wonderful foods ready for me to enjoy in a healthy and moderate way. So, I plan my "treat" meals and I enjoy them to the full of my abilities!

Some days logging and weighing get a bit cumbersome and boring.

If I know I'm going out for a special meal or it's going to be a holiday I call it a hiatus meal. It is a brief reprieve from having to do the tedious task of logging, measuring and weighing.

I just log it as a hiatus meal and figure it will be about 1500-2000 calories. You often forget everything you ate during holidays or you want that extra glass of wine and the dessert when you are celebrating a nice dinner. I dont do it often, but that is my one meal to enjoy my foods without thinking about portion control. I still set stipulations. Water first and then veggies!. Then I can allow myself that one meal or my little hiatus.

I made a convenant VOW to my husband. . .not to food. So, if I wanna splurge. . yep. . .I will. And I don't try to hide it because it's not a bad thing. . for my health/fitness goals.

I have a "cheat weekend" for my birthday each year. And that's it. So sue me ;-)

But even Bill Phillips advocates having a "free day" once a week in his Body for Life book. I know when I "cheat" I used to feel guilty and have a hard time forgiving myself and climbing back up on the wagon--but with a free day or just one free meal a week there is no guilt and it's just part of the plan!

Absolutely. One day a week (usually Saturday), I do not exercise or count calories. I eat what I want without any guilt. It has given me something to look forward to each week, so I make sure I work hard the other six days leading up to it.

I used to not believe in cheat days, but then I became burned out. When I would eat things I shouldn't, I would feel guilty, which would then lead to a cheat week, etc. This method has offered me a much better balance. Some cannot do it this way because they can't get back on the wagon the very next day. That is the key to making it work.

As long as a cheat day does not turn into two days/three days/one week/one month, I see no problem with it.

Edit: I also don't believe in deprivation. Lately I have ended up with some major calories to blow at the end of the day from my workouts, so sometimes I will hit up the drive-thru on a non-cheat day and get a Whopper or Big Mac. It is not the healthiest thing, of course, but it is nice to be able to do it and stay under my calories. I enjoy having the freedom to do that and still see results most weeks.

I have a reward systems to my life style change, and have to achieve goals, daily, weekly, monthly, to obtain, I guess more a treat than a cheat. I have done many diets and what not and all have failed because of me looking at stuff as cheat days etc. I am making my life style better this time, my reward system can be silly and not all rewards are food related, actually most of them are not, some are underwear shopping, hiking trips and so on. I guess all I'm trying to say is that I enjoy my reward system, it sets me smaller and larger goals to work towards and makes me feel prouder in my journey.