Do you believe in "Cheat Days"?

Cheat days are considered bad merely because of the connotation associated with the word.


In reality, holding a 1200-1600 diet intake for many days (weeks) straight is not good in the long term. Occasionally you need to up your intake just to let your metabolism know it is not ok to just go into hibernation.

No. I believe in a "Cheat Meal" - but not an entire day. It's also still relatively healthy - nothing too overboard for me.
Saturday we went to Outback Steakhouse and I had steak, lobster tail, baked potato with sc/butter, a salad (w/vinegar/oil dressing) and two glasses of wine. That's my "Cheat Meal" and it was WAY over on calories, but you know what - it's once a week.
An entire DAY to cheat, now that would be detrimental to my plan, therefore, I do not do it.

I'm not on a diet, so I don't really see the need for cheat days.

Exactly! I have a high day Saturday sometimes and a lower day Sunday to balance it.. It's all part of my life style that I enjoy a nice meal with my partner on a Saturday that may have more calories than the usual. It's balanced out Sunday so it's not an issue.

During a lifestyle change, you will live life. There will be occasions when your macros are blown out of the water. I don't see it as a cheat. It's not something to feel guilty about and to me that's what cheating is. I'll get back on the merry go of life the following day.

I think spiking your calories up and down is not a bad thing for your body, but I don't think you need a blow it for a whole day thing going to lose weight, if you need those days psychologically then you need to work out why you do. Are you restricting calories too much? How you still got a negative association with food?

I intend on doing this forever. There's no end to it. When I get to goal u may eat a little more but the principal will be the same. Eat well, fuel my body, have occasional treats and if you over indulge make up for it by being extra good for a few days.

Zara x

Not on purpose, but I don't come in under my calorie limit every single day.

I don't plan cheat days or anything, I save it for when unhealthy is pretty much my only option, or holidays...but it suckssss because I feel so different from other teens because I'm healthy..but whatever I guess.its my goals so I probably shouldn't care!

wow great post thanks.

I think one of the most important points brought up here concerns the difference in how we define cheat days. For some people this means eating something out of the ordinary like chocolate that they've banned, for some some it means eating out and not logging at all, for some it means logging but eating three times their calories, and so on and so forth.

Those all count as cheats in their own ways. I think the simplest way to think about it is like a student cheating on an exam: they are only cheating themselves. So, regardless of the specifics, if you're taking a meal or entire day out of your diet and it is harmful to you (via weight gain or guilt), then it's a cheat. If you feel you need a day off, if you subscribe to the belief that it boosts your metabolism enough to help (I don't), and that day off is a part of your regimen and isn't having negative repercussions, then fine.

That said, I don't do cheat days. I do believe this is a lifestyle change for me (needing to lose 200lbs), so I need to maintain a relationship with food that is sustainable and doesn't make food my enemy. I only eat 1200 calories and I love the foods I eat. Even in that caloric intake, I manage to fit in 100 calories a day (give or take) of a treat. Or I will have, actually quite often, a piece of toast with Nutella in the morning balanced with an egg white omelet, and that's not even thought of like a treat for me--that's just my balanced breakfast. I make sure my macros are always met and that my treat fits into that. It's usually a treat because it lacks the nutritional value of other foods, e.g. glass of wine, chunk of chocolate, 1/2 cup of ice cream, etc.

When I have done cheat days in the past it meant that when I wanted some licorice during the week I held off to the weekend and then ate a whole package of the stuff. Now, I have one or two pieces if I want it. I've never been a binge eater, but for these reasons, I think the cheat day might be a particular concern to bingers.

As far as the OP goes, I think, while it may seem extreme, the analogy between diet and marriage is an important one. Some people have taken this to mean, "Oh, so eating a Big Mac is as bad as cheating on my spouse," but I don't think that's exactly where this was going. I think it's more "not giving myself 100% all the time is like not giving my spouse 100%" – it's unfortunate. Again, the diet isn't cheated; we're cheated (in certain cases of cheat days).

Maybe it helps if we think of it, not in terms of infidelity, but in terms of sexuality. I wouldn't tell my beloved, "I might ignore you a bit this week and be a jerk, but we're going to have sex every Saturday. We're actually probably not going to see each other all week. I might actually hate you all week and we may not even touch, but Saturday it's going to be a sex-a-thon." Now, some people might be like "woo hoo sex-a-thon!," but...I'd rather live in a world where sex is always an option, a world where respecting and interacting with my beloved is a daily event, and finding time and fitting it in is a part of my commitment to my beloved.

That's more how I read this relationship--one of sustainability and respect for our beloved bodies.

If you don't "believe" in cheat days (or whatever you want to call them), then your metabolism wont "believe" in working well either.

Enjoy that.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11126336?ordinalpos=47&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3456075

Takeaway: overfeeding (the scientific phrase for eating too much, or “cheating”) only boosts your metabolism between three and 10 percent for no more than 24 hours, making the little boost not worth the hundreds or thousands of extra calories. (Like, if your BMR is 1600, a "cheat" day could make you burn an extra 160 calories the next day MAXIMUM... probably not worth the hundreds or thousands of extra calories people take on "cheat" days.) Totally not worth it when you factor in the continued positive impact building muscle or drinking water will add to your metabolism without having huge pitfalls.

If you're going to argue the benefits of cheat days, it's not metabolic, it's psychological: http://greatist.com/health/cheat-days-explained/ (please actually see references within that article). But, even then you hardly have a strong case to support cheat days when so many things can more significantly increase our ability to adhere to a new regimen--again--such as exercise.

I log what I eat and exercise M-F. I don't drink alcohol and I don't eat sweets M-F. Sat/Sun I don't think about what I'm putting in my mouth. It's part of moderation in my eyes. With that said, I don't stuff my face with everything fried just because it's a weekend either. I just eat what I want and don't scrutinize it or beat myself up about it. And when Monday comes back around, I start again. I think it's what has helped me finally stick with something that works. I've lost 7 lbs in the last 4 weeks. I feel good and am starting to notice subtle changes. I'm sure it slows my progress, but I'm ok with that. This is a marathon not a sprint, and if taking time off helps me stick with it overall then that's what I'll do.

My feelings exactly. Saturday is normally my day off of cooking. It doesn't always end up being terrible-for-you eating out, but it's always something my family and I enjoy.

my calorie goals were pretty low, so cheat days worked fine for me and i lost weight anyway. comparing i to cheating on a spouse is silly.

this

I understand the meaning of discipline and consistency with your diet, but, you shouldn't deprive yourself of the things you like.

Treating yourself to something once a week is not a big deal and will not keep you from progressing. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is great but there's space for special occasions. I'm not saying eat that extra piece of cake or grab 4 or 5 cookies that are in the office, but, don't keep yourself from social events or have the mentality that dessert is the end of the world.

Wanting a change in your appearance and health means making an adjustment to your lifestyle and I'm all for that but keep yourself sane in the process.

I agree with you 100%...

Every Wednesday, I go out with my husband and friends to a pub and have a "cheat meal" - something I normally would avoid. French fries, club sandwiches, or a wrap of some kind.

I call it a cheat meal, but I log every single calorie I eat. Sometimes I go over, sometimes I don't. But I move on. I don't really consider it cheating, I hold myself accountable and work out as hard as I can the day before and after.

I don't care what other people think, or what other people call it, as long as it works for them.

I cheat if I want!!!

yes, very much. in every aspect of life

The only person you are cheating with a Cheat Day is yourself. Cheating resets your cravings. How do you ever expect your body to get use to lean meats and veggies when you give it Pizza and Burgers once a week? Its like a smoker saying they will just smoke once a week. Once a week turns into once a week and when I am stressed. Then once a week and when I am stressed, and when I am celebrating. Then once a week and when I am stressed and when I am celebrating and when I am bored. Then once a week and when I am stressed and when I am celebrating and when I am bored and on any day that ends in a Y.