Cheat days - ruined an entire week

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  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
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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.
  • AndyLL180
    AndyLL180 Posts: 57 Member
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    <<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.
  • ivyana25
    ivyana25 Posts: 76
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    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^
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,473 Member
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    i cheat all weekend long, come week days, i am back.
  • gwicks54
    gwicks54 Posts: 201 Member
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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.
  • bfitnbfab
    bfitnbfab Posts: 79
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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. :)
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
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    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!
  • seestellarun13_1
    seestellarun13_1 Posts: 33 Member
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    http://teamripped.com/cheat-meal-or-not-p90x/
  • aleesh_
    aleesh_ Posts: 137 Member
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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! :)
  • jynxxxed
    jynxxxed Posts: 1,010 Member
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    So, what did we all decide?
    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.
  • Alissakae
    Alissakae Posts: 317 Member
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    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".
  • teresab101
    teresab101 Posts: 56 Member
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    Bump
  • Boobookittyfq
    Boobookittyfq Posts: 454 Member
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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:
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
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    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!
  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
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    Since I'm not on a "diet" I don't see what there is to cheat from?
  • ecw3780
    ecw3780 Posts: 608 Member
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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.
  • kjschaffner
    kjschaffner Posts: 1
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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.

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