To cheat or not to cheat?

I have a cheat day... I dont go to the gym and I eat what I want (In moderation) on Sundays, Everyone Ive seen lose weight allowed themselves one cheat day... THE TRICK IS to make sure that you get back on track and dont eat a whales weight in food. What I do is I eat very light for my breakfast... enough as to where I wont feel hungry, then after that for like dinner I eat what I craved for the whole week. If your working out everyday and eating right everyday, you deserve one day so you wont go insane. Therefore you wont feel like this is a chore rather than a life style change. (Even my Dr recommended this to me He lost a ton of weight as well) Good luck!

I do not eat 100% clean, but I do not consider anything I do cheating. If it is part of my eating plan to incorporate foods I enjoy, how is that cheating?

I think it's sort of personal, and you have to do whatever is most sustainable for you.

I used to follow the philosophy of "you don't need a cheat day, just eat whatever you want in moderation if it fits in your calories and you'll be fine!" but after a few months of this I learned that almost ANY time I allowed myself a little treat - one cookie, one cupcake - even if it fit into my calories, it would send me off on a terrible sugar binge and my calories would skyrocket. I find if I don't have any sweets, it's easier for me not to think about them.

I'm going to try not eating any sweets for the next two weeks, and then giving myself a free day to eat whatever I want, and then get back to excluding sugar the next day. I envy the people who can control themselves well enough to eat only one cookie, but I'm just not there yet. But, I don't want to NEVER eat sweets again, so I'm going to try the cheat day plan, and see how it goes.

I have a couple a week. I'm a university student so they are always giving out free pizza once or twice a week. I just can't resist plus its a free meal and that is one to two meals a week I don't have to buy and cook for. I'm still losing pounds and inches. It's about making the right eating and exercise choices 80% of the time and letting loose and eating delicous junk food and drinks 20% of the time.

Those aren't the only two options. If you eat at a small enough deficit and exercise to burn more calories, you can include just about anything within your daily goals. I do that, and never need a "cheat" day or meal.

It's not cheating if its planned.

I have one day a week (Friday) where I just eat whatever I want. It's not cheating. It's how I choose to eat. I had 1200 calories worth of pancakes with chocolate chips and peanut butter on Friday morning without regret because that's how I planned it.

I don't plan "cheat days" but let my body decide when I need more calories or a different percent of macros. It works for me.

I feel like I can only deprive myself for so long. I usually allow myself ONE ITEM to cheat on every two weeks, but ONLY if I've lost at least 3 pounds. Other than this, I don't give in to anything because I know that if I'm good about what I eat, then I can cheat without feeling any guilt whatsoever:) I think its okay to cheat once a week, but if you do, don't dedicate the whole day to eating whatever you want, but choosing one thing instead.

Hi, Amanda.

In my view, it depends.

When I was morbidly obese and only dieting for a short period of time, cheat days made little sense. After becoming more lean and dieting for a long time, they became necessary, for resetting various hormones.

On cheat days, I eat whatever I want and however much I want. Yesterday, for instance, I ate nearly 6,000 calories, including 600 grams of carbohydrates. I spent most of my so-called journey following a very low carbohydrate, ketogenic diet.

Body recomposition is a dynamic process, so the strategies used need to be dynamic as well.

I don't have restrictions so I generally don't feel the need to "cheat". There's plenty of room in my goals to have what I want any day of the week. But there are times when it's a special occasion or whatever and I don't feel like eating in moderation. I'd like to have steak AND wine AND dessert, etc. It's not a big deal. One day of "cheating" won't ruin my progress anymore than one day of eat a deficit would help an overeater get in shape.

If I didn't "Cheat" when I have PMS...people would get hurt.
Gimme chocolate!

There is no cheat. It's ridiculous and unrealistic to cut anything out that you are not willing to cut for life. I indulge daily. I had a wagon wheel yesterday, but just one instead of half the box. I am concentrating on cutting body fat more so than losing pounds. I cut 5% in just over a month, and I gave up nothing.

When my husband and I dieted together in the past, we would have a cheat day, but soon he couldn't deal with going back to portion control and that killed the diet for both of us. I'm not on any sort of strict diet. I thought the only rule here was eating in moderation. As I log my food, which I never did before, I can see where I could've made better choices and did make some changes to my diet but I don't miss anything that I decided not to eat or drink any longer.

Today, however, we're going to have our corned beef dinner and I'm not going to practice moderation. Call it a cheat day if you want, but everything I consume will be healthy even the Irish Soda Bread, I'm just not putting on the brakes and will probably eat leftovers for a few days. I will be logging my eats at all times oinking all the way. BUT, I won't have any beer. Not drinking any alcohol is one of my changes and I don't miss it or yearn for it.

I would never look down on anyone if they needed a cheat day. They are only hurting themselves as I will be if I overdo it too much. If they are practicing moderation, then they are already eating everything there isbut in smaller quantities so what is the need for a cheat day?

I personally think that having a cheat day is important and necessary to curb your cravings. I give myself two days a month to have 'cheat days' so if there is a special occasion, I can enjoy the food around me rather than feeling required to stick to the same old same ol'.

I don't call them cheat days tho, I think of them as reward days instead. I don't stray off my new lifestyle diet hardly EVER so when I decide to have a reward day, it really is something I treasure. I eat whatever I want and I eat the things I crave most. It allows me to enjoy it and feel satisfied. Then the next day I get right back on and stick to the normal diet.

I don't know if this will be helpful or detrimental to weight loss, but I do know that it will boost your metabolism if it has slowed down from eating fewer calories and it will keep you sane lol. Diets shouldn't be about torture, they should be about goals and compromise.

I have a cheat day once every 2 weeks on grocery day. I buy all healthy/good foods to last me 2 weeks and 1 days worth of cheat food for that day. But I still try not to go over by more than 500 calories. (To keep me under 2,000 for the day.)