Cheat days - ruined an entire week
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Cheat days for me are physiologically defeating. It is like a downward spiral, with me telling myself it's ok when I know its not. Oh well back on the horse again after a BAD 5 days...........sigh.0
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I don't have a "cheat day", but on the weekends and special days I will treat myself to something I don't normally eat all week. But I'm always aware of how many approximate calories it has. Valentine's day and the day after i had a chocolate covered strawberry and 2 chocolate covered orieos. I still have some left, I don't know what I'm going to do with them because I don't want to hurt my hubby's feelings...:brokenheart:
Take them to work and leave them in the break room. Someone else will eat them and he'll assume you did. You'll make 3 people happy. :happy:0 -
When I first started this change in eating I was all in and then I realized that I have to make a life change that I can live with. For some people they can easily never eat so called 'junk' foods and be fine with that....well I love all food, nutritous and otherwise. I just have to be realistic in my portions and balance of foods. Some days I blow it but I log it because this is for me and I don't really care what anyone else thinks abvout what I eat, and I move on. The main thing is yes we are all trying to be heathier versions of ourselves but you have to be real and do what is going to work in the long run. Blowing it for a whole week is not the best thing but learn from it, remember how it made you feel and when you have those cravings remember that week and maybe it will help you prevent a repeat
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I go out for a 'reward' meal once a week, and it's been great so far.
Sometimes I just get those cravings for greasy pizza, butter chicken, cheeseburger, etc. And I just tell myself that after my week of healthy eating, I can treat myself to an 'unhealthy' meal on the weekend. It keeps me motivated if I treat it like a reward. That one meal a week satisfies my cravings and keeps me on track for the next week.
It may not work for everyone, but it hasn't hindered my weight loss yet and it makes everything easier mentally.0 -
I think you overdid it a little bit since if I read correctly you ate an addtl 1500 calories. On sundays we always go out dinning as a family and I have a 'cheat meal' but only one and only that one day. I feel its enough and I still lose weight.0
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Agreedcheat days are exactly what it says its cheating. you dont need to do them you choose to just control yourself and maybe just splurge on a meal or something0 -
Cheat days for me are physiologically defeating. It is like a downward spiral, with me telling myself it's ok when I know its not. Oh well back on the horse again after a BAD 5 days...........sigh.
This.
I think it depends a lot on you and your history with food. I have not been doing this long enough to have made my new eating habits true habits. So if I start justifying cheat meals, they'll become cheat days. Then I'll have 2 a week, then 3, then I'll be right back where I started. That said, at this point in my journey, I still eat foods that I enjoy - cookies, some chips, etc. I just make sure they are in my goals. I want this to be a life-long change and something I'll be happy living with.
Oh, my bad - I read the above quote as "psychologically" defeating. But I stand by my comment.0 -
I don't let myself cheat once a week, but I think the important thing to think about when you have a cheat day is not to beat yourself up over it. Accept it, and move on, don't let it get you down too much. My husband and I had a nice dinner out for V-day, and yes it took a week to bounce back, but to me it was worth it. If it's not worth it, it's not worth "cheating". However, I do believe in eating "cheat" foods. For example, I had a piece of pizza a week ago because it looked and sounded good. I recorded it and still made sure I stayed within my goal. I think that's the best way to "cheat".0
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I don't really cheat anymore. If I want a cookie/cake/fries/whatever one day, I just eat it (or half of it). Usually that prevents me from wanting to go crazy another day. Feeding the craving immediately is great for preventing overindulgence
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I agree cheat DAYS are bad...cheat MEALS however...not so bad because it's just one meal. I allow myself to have one meal, once a week that isn't so great for me but something I have been craving. I don't like cheat days well, because there goes your whole day! One meal will not make or break you, one day however...yeah maybe. Practice portion control too on cheat meals. You do not have to finish your whole plate. Hopefully this helps 0
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Personally, I do not have cheat days.
Every other weekend, I may have one day where I go out and drink too much or order a pizza with friends but I still try to make that fit into my calories for the week. And if I go over I make sure it's only by 300-400 calories max and I make myself pay for it the following day to make up for it. Or I spread out over the next 3-4 days by going under 100 cals or so each day so that I balance out for the week.
But generally, if I "cheat" I keep it within my calorie allowance for the day and make myself eat a salad for dinner or something else low calorie.
Through doing this I have found I have gone from eating 3/4 of a large pizza from dominoes if someone offered it to me to eating 3 slices and being so full I can't move.
I do not think cheat days work. This is supposed to be a lifestyle change and you have to completely change your eating habits. This means that you can still eat the things you like, but in moderation.0 -
<<A "cheat" day for me would constitute eating a maintenance level of calories>>
This. ^^
During the week I try to have a deficit but on the weekends we tend to go out for a meal or make something like pizza.
On those days I try to only eat to my TDEE and will exercise to make sure I don't have much of a calorie surplus.
I'll also make sure my other meals that day are healthy and low in calories.
I also log everything.
1 bad day can ruin a whole week of hard work.0 -
I have cheat meals, not a whole cheat day. On my cheat meal, it's usually because I skipped breakfast (happens sometimes on the weekend) so I have to make up the calorie goal. Cheat meals are better than a whole day of cheating. I absolutely HATE the red numbers from eating over my limits.
This^0 -
i cheat all weekend long, come week days, i am back.0
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If you know you have a special occasion coming up then save some calories to spend. You can enjoy it without any guilt.I don't do cheat days. If I have a meal, or a day when I can't control my choices as well, I try to enjoy them and get back on track. This is for life.0
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So I cheated on Valentines day and Sunday slightly (ate maybe 1500 over my dieting calories on each day) and it hindered my weightloss a lot to where I didn't lose anything until today (0.6lbs).... do you guys really think they're helpful? Psychologically, if someone is able to stick with their diet without a cheat day why cheat?
One thing that I see here, and that I don't think anyone has touched on, is that it appears that you may be weighing yourself too frequently. Your weight will change day to day even if you are fanatical about your calories and exercise. Don't focus so much on the numbers on the scale. It's a hard cycle to break, but only weigh yourself every two weeks or so. There's more to life than that scale with the numbers or LED on it. 0 -
Consensus seems to be that cheat days are bad but cheat meals are allowable. Honestly, I didn't even want to cheat on those two days but I felt pressure to eat because they were "special" days (Valentines and my friend's Bday) and I was actually forcing myself to eat the bad stuff just so I could feel "normal" - I didn't even gain much pleasure from eating those things and it totally brought me out of ketosis.... I guess I'll just avoid cheat days entirely and maybe just have cheat meals once a month or so. Thanks a lot guys!0
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I don't see anything wrong with "cheat days" on extra special occasions, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or maybe an occasional wedding because eating bad a couple days a year really will not hurt much in the long term. Just don't make a weekly, or even monthly habit out of it! 0
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I've decided that everybody else can fear ocassionally eating beyond their deficit, but I'm going to go eat some bacon. And then some more.So, what did we all decide?0 -
I don't "cheat" at all. I eat what I want, when I want, so long as it fits in my calorie goal for the day. If I do go over for the day (like a holiday or special occassion), it is typicaly less than 200 calories
I agree with this. And I log every single day, every single bite. I don't believe in deprivation, but I have to be more responsible about what I eat now, in order to get out of the mess I made of my body by constant "cheating".0 -
Bump0
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1. Cheat MEAL not day
2. dosent ruin if its in moderation
3. you need to enjoy it sometimes if not you just want to horde everything in sight
:flowerforyou:0 -
Another factor is what is cheating to different people? For me it's going above 100g/carbs a day and going above my calories - I can eat a lot of fatty foods but it just can't be carbby which is most if not all junkfood!0
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Since I'm not on a "diet" I don't see what there is to cheat from?0
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Cheat meal not cheat day, and by cheat is should be 1 treat you really enjoy. Not an entire day of eating whatever you can stuff in your face. I am not judging, I am speaking from personal experience.0
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Bob Harper's book suggest you have one meal a week that you can cheat. When the meal is over, you begin again. Also, if you know in advance that you are going to eat more calories than you should, add more cardio.0
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When I have a "cheat" - which is no more than every 10 days, usually closer to two weeks - I try to stay within maintenance cals and just not run a deficit that day. So for me, a cheat meal is about 500 cals over goal.
I don't know if my body needs it but it is a great mental motivator for me. I don't even really look forward to the food but it is a way to have a night out with friends or hubby and not be so concerned about what I am eating.0 -
I try to stay within my calorie goal each day even though I do allow treats. I look more at my weekly progress. I try to allow deficits each day for date nights and weekends that are planned.0
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Cheat days have a way of morphing into decades for me.0
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