Cheat days - Worst idea ever

Cheat meals, I agree with...days...not so much. I think newbs (those newer to losing weight/your stereotypical yo-yo dieters). Sunday is mine. I however, am at church all day and almost never eat breakfast that day - so I'm fasting till lunch/dinner time where we usually have unhealthy food. I eat 2,000 calories a day and STILL lose weight, but I'm extremely active. At my activity level, a little extra won't bother me...but I think some people really need to make sure there doing more than laying on their back doing pilates before they induldge.

I think the word "cheat" implies a psychological break/reward. I can see why people think that doing a "cheat day" reinforces the idea that eating well is punishment. But there are good reasons to do a planned and controlled "refeed", and I plan on doing that when I get a little further along.

Maybe it is a personal need to approach differen, or human nature, not sure. But all I know is that "cheat" anything becomes an increasingly slippery slope for me. Example - Chewed snuff from age 13-36. Tried quitting and made it 2 years. Then I figured since I had this thing licked, I could start up "just" doing it while cutting grass. Then it was "just" while I was doing outside work. Then it was "just" outside of work. Then it was.... well, I fell back into full time. Luckily the second try was better luck. Cold turkey and have been off it for 8 years.

Food wise, I am a yo-yo. I go from highs of 299 to lows of 225. This has typically been a 5 year cycle. I am now on my downward swing and hopefuly at 48 a tad wiser. I dislike cheat day approach... Why? because it scares me. So, when I know things are going to be challenging with food, beer, etc on a specific occasion, I pre and post work my tail off. I have burnt as many as 4400 calories in a 24 hour period (thank you BMF) to prepare for a party. Just last night we came into pittsburgh for the hockey game. Worked out double before we left and i drank what i wanted and had some not normal food to me. Post game, I walked Duquesne campus (hilly) three times and a toal of 18,600 steps for the day. So high intake, but even higher burn.

Be careful of "cheat" anything.... if you are not of 100% strong conviction, it will bite you in the *kitten*.

Just my .02 cents.

Ted

I don't plan 'cheat days'. I allow myself to eat a treat everyday (assuming it fits into my goal) so I don't need to go all out and eat 2500 calories of rubbish on one day. Only time I won't log is a family/special occasion like weddings etc (simply 'cause it's awful trying to even GUESS what they put it in wedding food!).

Some people have that little bit more willpower than others - they can allow themselves to have just one serving of chocolate per day, whereas others can't stop at that one serving so they save up calories or whatever they do for their 'cheat days' and then eat whatever they want on that day.

If they work for some people - and they do seem to - then I say go for it!

I rarely have a "cheat" meal as I eat everything and eat portions that fit within my calorie allotment. so there is no need to feel deprived. Some days I eat a bit more and some days I eat a bit less. I ate what I wanted on vacation but tried to eat as healthy as I could for eating out 3 times a day. I needed to change how I looked at eating not just how much I ate. If I did not change how I felt about food I will not maintain my weight loss. I am not deprived by my diet but feel better for it.

I want to learn how to eat like a normal person, I don't want to diet! I want to make a lifestyle change, I want to be able to go to a holiday dinner or birthday party and not feel like I am cheating on my diet! So portion control is what I need to learn! As far as a cheat day, whatever works for you! We each have to find our own way, what works for one person, may not work for another. Unfortunately it's usually by trial and error, as is life!

u

I don't understand the concept of 'cheat days'. Whoever made the term up and promoted the idea has a lot to answer for.

I understand 'No exercise days' (rest days) but 'cheat days' I don't. I don't understand why someone would work hard all week then set aside a special day to blow it. I personally dont think going over calories on ANY day while staying within your weekly calorie goal is a cheat... that's just balancing your calorie intake over a week. But for the life of me I can't understand why someone would be on a 'diet' but set aside a day where they can eat whatever they want and think they are 'entitled' to it because they've been 'so good'. I mean who are they kidding?? Isn't that like telling an alcoholic they can drink as much as they want one day a week???

Look... I know this post will have already come across as all 'judgemental' but if there's any 'cheat day' advocates out there I'd love you to explain to me why cheat days are a good idea and how cheat days don't become 'cheat weeks' and how cheat weeks don't become blown diets.

I've never understood it either. You're setting yourself up to fail because you likely will overeat. I make an exception for major holidays and family birthdays, but don't consider them cheat days.

My diet is so clean six out of seven days of the week that I feel (and know) that one day a week I can have a meal or two that isn't so healthy. I have been doing this for months and continue to see improvements in my body as I move forward. I like eating healthy but it is always nice to have pizza or something like that if I am feeling in the mood for it once a week. "Fat guy" saturdays - best idea ever :glasses:

Can't say I disagree with the concept or the logic....

However, one meal a week, I don't "log" into MFP. It's usually the post-church trip to Red Robin.

It's weird to call them cheat days. There's no test, nobody's giving me a grade, I'm doing this for me. There are days where I realize I'm not going to be under my goal. That's life and I'm not going to get too hung up on it. One a week isn't going to kill me. I'm still making progress and I still make sure I record even on the days where I don't make the goal.

Have I ducked outside for fifteen minutes extra with the jump rope if I'm over but still close, or if I want another beer? Sure. But I'm not going to obsess about it if I'm a couple hundred calories over occasionally. I'm making smarter choices and the information on this site/app are more clearly reminding me of where the dangerously high calories are, but if I can't enjoy myself, I'm probably not going to stick with it.

I eat what I want. But I know what the consequences of that are.

Also, back into size thirty four pants as of today.

Congrats! Also, this really hit the nail on the head. This was a great first forum post! Haha

Although i'm new to this, i like the idea of cheat days- as its one day set aside that no i cannot spurge but relax a little on what im eatin, i also find it makes me work harder throughout the week prior and after as im not having to count/log everything. Also (mines an appointed sunday) no one an go wrong with a traditional roast on a sunday i believe i've deserved it and it wont make me go off the hook.

Cheat days are a great way to stay motivated, but if people want to say they're terrible then it's their opinion. I'm currently cutting and have a cheat day every goal i set ( in this case 6 pounds) and was well ahead of my goal at a total loss of 9 pounds,which i'm more than pleased about. Cheat days are only there to prevent people from losing control on dieting and in my opinion they work. To also clear up the issue with they don't work long term or why waste all the hard work through the week to blow it in 1 day? 3500 calories equals one pound of fat which means you would have to be in a surplus of that to gain. The majority of weight gained over the 'cheat day' will be most likely water and not fat! Just thought i'd like to put my input in this.

I used to have this "cheat day" mindset back when I tried, failed, tried, failure... rinse. repeat. lol Once I got over the fact that I need to have exponentially more awesome days than mediocre or bad days... I found my stride. It's really a life style change and those cheat days gotta go. You just have to come to terms with the fact that some days will be better than others.... but you better have more good days. I had been doing great for months and then went to a wine party... lots of wine, cheese and chocolate. I totally blew a weeks worth of work. Now I understand that I can still have fun and do that.. but you will set yourself back ( I did that one time in 3 months of hard work) and it took me two weeks to get back to the weight I was before I indulged (that alone make me not want to do that again). In that instance I opted to enjoy and the next day... I was back to kickin' *kitten* and takin' names! But even on that day... I worked out longer in anticipation and ate a super healthy breakfast and lunch. One bad meal isn't worth throwing away an entire day.... a lesson that must be learned in order for progress!

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well, as a person who is a healthy weight, i 'cheat' whenever a feel like it. not that i ever see it as cheeting. i've always found it asy to live by 'all things in moderation'.

this week i baked & ate an entire chocolate cake. i'm not suddenly going to explode or double in weight because of it. i can't remember the last time i baked a cake and i'm not planning on doing it again anytime soon, so in the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter.

i rarely crave junk food. i rarely deny myself anything i like. i rarely eat when i'm full and i fill up fast.

i totally get how my eating philosophy would spell morbid obesity for a lot of people but, as my main food issue is forgetting to eat, their rules would spell disaster for me too. while our bodies are all very similar, our minds and motivations really are special little snowflakes.