Is it good to have a cheat day??

I don't have a cheat day but I do occasionally have a day where maintaining a deficit is less important like our monthly meeting of the over 50s curry club at work :laugh:

I don't have cheat days because I look at this as living the rest of my life, it is not something that has a beginning and/or an end. If I want to eat something that is not "healthy" I do, I log it, and I deal with the consequences.

I don't like the term cheat day because the only person you're cheating is yourself. If I want something though, I will have it, either by planning in advance and working my day out around it, or by burning the calories to subsidise it (maybe not on that day but over the week or so)

I dont really like the term because it says I am doing something wrong and I feel as I change my lifestyle there will be days I am out with friends or on vacation that I just see something I want to eat so I do same as there are days instead of my 4 mile run I only run 2 miles or a great sunny day i run 8 miles
I prefer to think I am changing to a normal human The constantly thin people I know go out and eat or go to weddings and indulge and the day after live life as before and dont gain 5 pounds because of it
Live well thats what we are trying to do

If you are doing it right you are making healthier choices in your lifestyle so there is nothing to cheat on. Is it OK to not make the best choices for one day here and there? Sure - it just means you may not meet your goal as fast. Certainly having a day where you don't track is scary - I try to log about what I eat everyday so I know where I am - regardless of how good it is or isn't.

I eat slightly lower calories during the week, so that I can have a couple higher calorie days during the weekend or have wiggle room for going out to dinner after work. I just try to make sure that at the end of the week my average calories per day are where I want them to be. I also eat all my exercise calories. If I go on vacation or something, I don't stress about dieting, I usually gain a pound or two but just start over when I get back. For me it's a lifestyle change, and to be maintainable I have to be able to live which sometimes includes not eating perfectly healthy. My goal is to eat healthy more days than not. Everyone is different you have to find what's going to be maintainable for you over the long haul.

I agree with those above who say they are a bad thing. If you're serious about changing your lifestyle, what is the point or logic of a cheat day? I have cheat foods, ie, things that are not totally healthy and that I eat only very occasionally now, like a packet of potato crisps or some chocolate, but always within my calorie limits. I also find, and I've only been doing this for about two and a half months, that I am so much more aware of the calorie values of my food choices, I sometimes find it difficult to eat up to my limits now and again without some cheat food or maybe alcohol which bump up the calories.

Cheat days only make it more difficult to maintain the new lifestyle long term in my opinion.

NO!

Life happens. There will be parties, weddings, holidays, birthdays and dining out - none of which will meet your caloric goals if you enjoy them. This is a lifestyle change, and part of life is navigating food where you don't control it.

"Cheat Days" are for people in the Diet mentality. I'm in Change of Lifestyle mentality - i.e. occasionally there will be a meal when I eat more that usual. (Notice I said "meal" - not "day") I do my best to eat healthy - "stuffing your face" or binging is not healthy.