Are Cheat Days Really Okay?

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    I never really felt the need...I maintained a reasonable calorie deficit that didn't leave me hangry all the time or feeling in any way deprived. I occasionally ate to maintenance, but that's about it, and I don't consider maintenance "cheating"...to me, "cheating" suggest over eating and generally doing so with junky foods.

    I'd suggest that if you need a cheat day, you may need to re-evaluate your calorie deficit as well as your dietary lifestyle...more than likely, neither are in order.
  • onwarddownward
    onwarddownward Posts: 1,683 Member
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    I am finding myself in the mindset, which I think is purging by exercise. Purging by vomiting is not something I can do (although, after a bad food decision, the thought comes to mind frequently :sick: ), but if I go over the mental number of calories in my head, I head off to work back down to it, even if I have really worked hard exercising earlier in the day. My mental number is somewhere around 1450 or so.

    For me, the worst thing about cheating is getting that taste in my mouth, that fatty addictive taste. It's screws with my brain. I can't have just a little and stop. I am an addict.

    I smoked for twenty years. I quit 15 years ago. If I had a cig today, I would be right back at it. It's a mental thing with me.
  • chatogal
    chatogal Posts: 436 Member
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    Let's say you're eating at 500 calories under your TDEE every day.

    but one day you feel the need to eat something extra. Perhaps you met a friend and go out to eat.

    well, if you eat those 500 calories that day, then you're STILL only eating at TDEE. You won't put *any* weight on, but equally you won't lose any that day.

    Cheat is a bad term, I'd call it a FREE day. All you did was pause for the cause!

    I agree :-)
    I eat under my calories during the week so that I can "enjoy" my weekend, this is what I always used to do before I got fat...I got fat cuz I stopped caring and then turned EVERY day into a "weekend day" ....not advisable...nope
  • stratmantl69
    stratmantl69 Posts: 53
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    Even when the wife and I have a "cheat day" (usually Sunday and never more than once a week), we typically wind up eating within our calorie range. A little over, meh. No big deal. Even when we go out for a dinner, we still wind up checking the calories. Or if we go over we look at each other and go, "Ugh, I feel like I ate too much". That tells me that its a lifestyle change that's sticking; its working because now its become habit and part of one's daily routine...............

    But yeah, "cheat day" is negative-sounding. Maybe we'll start using the "free day" term. Either way it doesn't impact us negatively because we compensate and stay the course the other six days. The amount of food you would have to eat in ONE day to offset all the gains you made for the previous SIX days would put you in a coma...................
  • wareagle8706
    wareagle8706 Posts: 1,090 Member
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    You really think a cheat day is going to undo everything you've worked for.......? Like, you lose 10 lbs in a month's time, have a cheat day and gain the 10 lbs right back? ;)

    No but it could possibly undo an entire week. Think about it. If you successfully burned 3500 calories in one week and then ate fast food breakfast, lunch, and dinner and had a dessert all in one day you've undone all your hard work for that week. Why would you want to do that?

    You'd have to eat an ADDITIONAL 3,500 calories in one day, on top of your regular calories to gain that extra lbs... I don't find that very likely. Even if it is JUST 3,500 calories a day, I don't find that a cheat day, that is more along the lines of a binge day...

    Yes, thank you, I understand how math works. My point is it's entirely possible to undo a lot of the work you have accomplished. And it is WAY more likely than you think for someone to do something like that. What about a very overweight person attempting to lose weight but is used to binging out and eating 5,000+ calories a day? A cheat day for them would be able to undo an entire week easily. I think you need to expand your mind to the entire population; just because you couldn't eat that much in one day doesn't mean someone else can't. People take the word "cheat" and run with it, they use it as a binge day because they aren't responsible with it. That's why it's more wise to have cheat meals rather than a full day.
  • RandomMiranda
    RandomMiranda Posts: 298
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    My husband and I go out to eat on Fridays and we don't avoid pasta or mexican if that's what sounds good. I know in advance that this treat is coming, so I budget my calories the rest of the week, log the meal and am usually still under for the week, even if over for the day. If I thought I could never eat enchiladas or alfredo again I would be very discouraged.
  • JamiElaine05
    JamiElaine05 Posts: 9 Member
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    Wow! I didn't expect to get this many responses, and I greatly enjoy some of the sarcasm. I feel I am doing well so far, and I haven't really felt all that deprived. However, I see where a lot of people are coming from.

    It isn't that I believe one day will necessarily undo everything; I just know I am prone to overindulge. Therefore, I avoid the temptations involved with such a situation. Honestly, if I were to have a cheat day, it would be due to a desire to relax with some drinks.

    For all those who say there cheat day is a weekend ritual, do you choose this because it is harder to maintain control when you are home all day?
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,862 Member
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    I often hear about people having cheat days. How often are these okay? What exactly does that mean?

    I have heard people say they have cheat days a lot over the years of yo-yo dieting, but I guess I wonder how a cheat day doesn't kind of undo everything a person has been working toward. Anyone have opinions on this?
    I don't but some people swear by them.
  • sleilani69
    sleilani69 Posts: 10
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    Really???
  • sleilani69
    sleilani69 Posts: 10
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    This is something you need to discuss with your husband, not a bunch of strangers on MFP.

    Really??? Why is that?
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    For all those who say there cheat day is a weekend ritual, do you choose this because it is harder to maintain control when you are home all day?

    I think most people leave the weekend as days they can go over, is so they can go out with friends and other such activities.
  • lisamarie1780
    lisamarie1780 Posts: 432 Member
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    It's nothing to do with individual days of so called good or bad foods. Your lifestyle is what defines how healthy you are and whether you gain, lose or maintain your weight and your lifestyle is something that is practiced over time.. You can enjoy the odd indulgence as part of a healthy lifestyle. If you are eating a good diet and exercising regularly then a so called cheat day once a week is not going to undo anything.
    I exercise 5 or 6 times a week, I am strict with my food mon-fri but sat and sun if I want a beer or a dessert or even a pizza then there is no-one gonna stop me! I am still losing weight. I think the problem is when people cheat everyday and end up just cheating themselves
  • NewMnky1
    NewMnky1 Posts: 264
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    I don't believe in cheat days, cheat days imply that you are doing something wrong when you know you shouldn't and I feel like that is setting up a person for failure.

    There are days when I eat foods that aren't particually healthy but we are all going to do that from time to time. I make a concious decision to eat whatever it is and log it no matter what.

    The natural instinct when you tell yourself that you can't have something is that you want it even more and then go overboard. If you allow yourself to eat in moderation or have those not so healhty foods from time to time then you should be fine.

    You have to remember these changes in your eating aren't temporary, they are the new normal and you need to be able to live your life and be happy and not be ruled by good vs. bad food.
  • zombiemomjo
    zombiemomjo Posts: 546 Member
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    I find that cheat days do undo all of my work, because the stuff I choose to splurge on is usually so high in sodium that I do gain weight. Cheat MEAL has better results for me, but I still don't do it often. I've done it more often lately because I've been stuck for about 6 months, so I try to shock my system a little. Yeah, still not helping. :) So, in short, the calories aren't always what you need to account for on the cheat days, but sodium and other things can cause unwanted results. Just what I have found in my own experimentation.
  • par57
    par57 Posts: 74
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    This is something you need to discuss with your husband, not a bunch of strangers on MFP.


    WHY?
  • SleeplessinBerlin
    SleeplessinBerlin Posts: 513 Member
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    A cheat day/ a refeed can replenish your muscle glycogen - which you may need if you do high intensity exercise, like weight lifting. Especially if your diet is a low carb one.

    A perfect refeed should be rich in carbs but low in fat.
  • Lind5ay90
    Lind5ay90 Posts: 376 Member
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    I think "cheat meals" are better than an entire day. With the summer coming, we already have tons of family cookouts and barbeques to attend. I fully plan on having fun and eating a slice of cake and a burger...but breakfast before I go will be healthy. Know what I mean? If you have a weekly deficit of 3,500 calories, you'd have to eat over 3,500 in your one cheat day to undo a WEEKS worth of progress....not a month. You would have to have several cheat days in a row to really start to see an impact.
    I think cheat meals keep you sane.
  • stratmantl69
    stratmantl69 Posts: 53
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    This is something you need to discuss with your husband, not a bunch of strangers on MFP.


    WHY?

    Either the person was trying to be funny or they didn't understand the concept of a cheat day on a weight loss site...............
  • tonytoo
    tonytoo Posts: 307
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    This is something you need to discuss with your husband, not a bunch of strangers on MFP.

    I got it. Sorry about the slow folks.
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
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    I have no idea what I would eat on a cheat day or for a cheat meal. My tastes have changed drastically. Right now, my favorite treat is grapefruit with Splenda on it. One day I got a medium popcorn at the movie theatre and it took me most the day to eat that and I worked it into my calorie goal for the day, I was real high on carbs that day, but not too bad. When I really want something sort of bad I will get a Lindt chocolate bar, each square is around 50 calories and I can have one or two without killing a chance at staying within my calorie goal, it will put me over on sugar though, but so does grapefruit. I don't do dairy anymore so I would have a hard time bingeing on ice cream, it's really hard finding a massive container of dairy free ice cream and I don't have buckets of money to buy several pints. So anyway, with all of my dietary quirks it's really hard to imagine eating massive amounts of food that would go over even what my maintenance level would be.

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