Cheat day/Cheat meal

I do, and it's never hindered my weight loss.

I've been maintaining for over 2 years now (ignore my ticker, I'm trying to build muscle now) and during my initial "weight loss journey", I had a cheat day once a week. I lost 18 lbs in a few months easily just by eating healthy and exercising.

I like to view cheat days/meals as a form of zig-zag dieting. In a way, it tricks your body into "always guessing" how many calories it will have to burn. Plus, it's a good way to keep you sane and help you focus less on letting the numbers rule your life.

A typical cheat day for me was usually partying on Friday nights...lots of booze and salty snacks, I'd occasionally go over my goal by about 1000 calories.

I still have cheat days.
Today is mine, actually.

I'm eating coconut cream pie and playing drinking games.

Enjoy yourself, and don't feel guilty about indulging just a little. Just don't make a daily habit of it!

Good for you, buffets are like the kiss of death for me since my eyes are way bigger than my stomach. I don't think a cheat MEAL is bad especially when few and far in between. I'm trying to work on more mindful eating. Maybe you can use this as an attempt to pick only the foods you really want, and in sensible portions. Listen to your stomach and stop eating when you aren't hungry any more (hard to do at an all-you-can-eat). If you can't, then just be extra diligent in the following days. It's all about balance. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be logging every single thing I eat for the rest of my life...

I personally believe everyone deserves a cheat meal every week. It gives me something to look forward to every week and it's my reward to myself for working hard all week. I don't do a whole cheat day. To me that's overdoing it. I will have one cheat meal on either a Fri or a Sat. I don't do buffets though because of the fact that it's too much temptation to overeat. However, if it were me going to a buffet, I'd stay away from anything fried. If you must eat fried, then limit how much you have of it. I would also try to limit my intake of any sort of white pastas or white breads. I'd load up on the veggies and have seafood if they have it. If they only have chicken or beef, I'd eat that, but I'd make sure it was a lean cut of beef. I do not count calories when it comes to my cheat meal. I keep my portions in check though and do not overeat. Just be careful because all those trips to the buffet can add up quickly. You don't want to eat over 2,000 cal in one sitting even if you're not cal counting. When I know something is probably fattening, I eat a small amount of it, and not too much. Do not starve yourself throughout the day. Eat as you normally would, work out, and then don't worry about the rest.

Here are some tips I stick to when my family wants to go to the dreaded buffet (lol).. I start with the salad part. I make my first plate a salad and I eat the entire thing. Then I go for the hot foods. By the time I finish the salad and start on the fried chicken I am almost full. I also drink water. Water will fill you up versus some sugary drink. If I can fit dessert down my throat I will take strawberries off the fruit part and spread a lil of the chocolate from the ice cream Sunday section on them. It feels like you are getting a special dessert.

My boyfriend says I waste money when I go to the buffet because I am not piling my plate until food is toppling off it.. look like a volcano of grease.. LOL

I had Taco Bell yesterday. :facepalm:

My program actually has a Cheat Day built into it.....I just don't go completely crazy....I am down 73 lbs in 9 weeks just following a simple program that has me add small little lifestyle changes each week...and an app that messages my phone when it is time to do something like drink water, drink protein drink, take pics of what I eat, do 3o seconds of like squats before every meal to kick the metabolism in.....but I love the whole CHEAT DAY thing

I feel like you're going to do what you want to do no matter what people post on here. If you are at an all you can eat buffet and you want to stuff your face, you're going to stuff your face. I think you just want everyone to help you feel as though it's okay to stuff your face once in a while. And in my honest opinion, it is. Don't stress too much about it. It's one night.

Just wondering if this is a little insensitive, I mean isn't this what we are here for to support each other in times of weakness? and going to a Buffet is not her choice it's her significant other's choice, and she is trying to figure out what she can do. I don't think saying that she is "going to stuff your face" is very helpful,
Then again maybe it's just me

Maybe what you can do is estimate how much is on your plate and put it in your MFP later, just to see maybe how much you ate Good luck tonight, and remember to enjoy the company most of all, not the food !!

One day a week I go eat at a chinese buffet. But it's such a habit to eat healthy. I fill up on the raw cucumbers, boiled shrimp, amd the stirfry greebeans. I pick out the chicken and only eat the broccoli; and just one small plastic condiment cup of orange chicken. Im seriously full. Felt like I cheated but the majority of my food is green vegis. Its a great chest place. Sometimes I have them stirfry some cabbage with beansprouts and onions on the grill. Im not abandoning everything I have learned. After a yr, this is my lifestyle.

It's necessary to "cheat" once in a while. Otherwise, none of us can expect to maintain any kind of weight loss or healthy relationship with food over the long term. A healthy diet is about what you eat most of the time.

I have been using my fitness pal since Jan.

I weigh in on a Saturday morning and then Eat what ever I fancy that day - I still log it ,and watch as the calories go into the red - (Like the Saturday when I ate a whole large dominos pizza lol. )

I then stick to my guns and come Sunday go back and stick to my calories (or slightly under)

I try to exercise a bit to earn extra calories but tend not to use them on food - if that makes sense?

I don't feel like I'm on a diet, as nothing is restricted

So far I've lost every week.

Who follows the idea that, mentally, we benefit from a break or cheat in our diet once in a while? I'm planning on going to an all you can eat buffet on friday night with my boyfriend. I'm hoping to fit in an hour of zumba before we go which should minimize such an overload in calories. But should I actively try and keep to my cals (which i reckon will be difficult considering the lack of nutritional information available) or should I just enjoy myself guilt free? I have a feeling keeping within my cals would consist more of starving myself throughout the day rather than controlling myself at the buffet. I WISH I was able to do that! lol

I went to a seafood festival some weeks back and there was no way to accurately track anything, so I just made it a log-free day. I quick added some ball park/guesstimate calories and didn't worry about it. Didn't hurt my weight loss either.

I'm now taking one weekly log-free day. I know enough not to sabotage myself and I have a "general" idea what I'm eating, but if I have a bit of extra food (or not), then who cares? It's not "cheating". What it is, is good sense (for me) as long as it keeps me focused on my goal and helps me achieve it.

The other 6 days it's back on track and staying within my limit. I'm in a far better place than I was a year ago, and eating at or even slightly above maintenance regularly is a proven way to help people stick to a weight loss plan for the long term without getting burned out and quitting altogether. Some of us have to have that built-in flexibility so that we can enjoy the occasional holiday/party/whatever without worrying about it because we already know it works for us.

You do what works for you and what gets you to your goal. That's the key. There's plenty of wiggle room, and weight/health/fitness management is not a one size fits all where everyone HAS to follow the EXACT.SAME.PLAN. Follow the basic ground rules, and the details can be individualized as you prefer. Just like is true for everything else in life. This part of it is no different.