So, how far do you go on a cheat day?

IDK, I don't really have "cheat days". There are days that I don't eat as well as I should, or I may go over, but they are balanced out by all the other days that I was under my calorie goal. If you wake up starving, have a glass of water first thing.

I agree. And too if I wake hungry, I eat breakfast, than look forward to lunch and snacks and dinner

I don't have specific cheat days I eat what I want most of the time as long as it fits within my goals if i go over then I go over.

I don't really have them. I found that I could undo a weeks' worth of good intentions and hard work in doing so.

I have special occasions where I don't even track instead. I went to an outdoor market last month, and ate deep fried food on sticks. No tracking. No guilt. Just back to oatmeal and fruit the next day for breakfast. I don't often eat out, so I don't have to worry about if I want an appetizer or wine or a dessert as part of a splurge.

I find that striving for consistency 90% of the time, and letting life take care of the other 10% is the way to go for me. I have a bar of dark chocolate with ginger and orange in the cupboard. A square of that (25 cals) is plenty enough if I am craving something sweet at the end of the day, and that's about as 'treaty' as I get for most of the time.

We tend to claim exercise calories for everything such as walking the dog and mowing the lawn. This will add up to an extra 600 cals for the day which covers my three pieces of toast and Nutella spread or a Snickers in the evening.

I rarely cheat but if I do this its a simple snack OR meal NOT the whole day!! I have worked to hard to turn back now.

I had a quatro formaggi pizza on my cheat day and still feel bad about it ><

I logged my free days for several weeks so that I'd know how many calories I consume. It's a LOT. My estimate is 1,800 calories over my TDEE. Sounds crazy but it's so easy to do - and in understanding that you understand why obesity is such a problem and why I gained all the weight in the first place.

So... if I'm going to do that, I have to account for those calories the rest of the week. So I subtract 300 calories off my goal the other 6 days to allow for the free day. Ultimately you begin to question whether it's worth it... so I see wisdom in those who suggest a free meal (maybe with a really good dessert!) instead of a free day. Then maybe you could limit your calories that day to 1,000 over TDEE and only have about 170 calories per day to deal with the other 6 days.

Still, I enjoy the break and not having to log on my free day. I'm very dedicated and intense the rest of the week so the free day is like my relief valve to keep me on track. Plus I feel so lousy after the free day that I can't wait to get back on my program the next day.

Giving in when I have to works for me. The goal of this is creating long-term sustainable habits, so if you have a morning where you just want to eat everything - I'd say, eat what you need to feel satisfied.

I just had a cheat day - my husband threw us a surprise wedding shower!!! - and of couse I ate what I wanted, didn't count calories, and it was fine, it actually triggered the scale going down. Not sure why - I'd been perfect the week before, should have had even more loss than my goal, but the scale didn't show it until I had a cheat day. Go figure. Something to do with hormones maybe? That said, after building good habits on MFP I didn't even want to eat/drink on my cheat day like I probably would have before MFP - I only had 3 drinks at my own wedding reception, and no snacks outside of dinner/cake (to me that sounds like not much, for 7 hours and a party), but it was absolutely all I wanted/needed to have a serrrriously good time. I love how not drinking shoots your tolerance through the floor.

Now, if your cheat day is really emotional eating, not your stomach's hunger, that's another thing. Or if you're legit starving, but it happens more than once every week or two, you might need a better strategy on what calories you're eating - eat more protein, eat cleaner, drink more water in general, etc.

Hope it helps!

I logged my free days for several weeks so that I'd know how many calories I consume. It's a LOT. My estimate is 1,800 calories over my TDEE. Sounds crazy but it's so easy to do - and in understanding that you understand why obesity is such a problem and why I gained all the weight in the first place.

So... if I'm going to do that, I have to account for those calories the rest of the week. So I subtract 300 calories off my goal the other 6 days to allow for the free day. Ultimately you begin to question whether it's worth it... so I see wisdom in those who suggest a free meal (maybe with a really good dessert!) instead of a free day. Then maybe you could limit your calories that day to 1,000 over TDEE and only have about 170 calories per day to deal with the other 6 days.

Still, I enjoy the break and not having to log on my free day. I'm very dedicated and intense the rest of the week so the free day is like my relief valve to keep me on track. Plus I feel so lousy after the free day that I can't wait to get back on my program the next day.

I feel lousy even when its not a free day and I stayed within my cal limits if I had a bunch of junk that day It never feels worth it when I'm having migraines, feeling sluggish and lazy, and just yuck

I've worked to hard to cheat on myself - I've also read a lot of posts where people feel guilty afterwards. I just feel happy when I win. I don't cheat on myself or feel guilty about it. Win - win !:happy:

I don't have a cheat day. If I want to eat something, I eat it in a reasonable amount and work it into my daily intake. I usually burn 600-800 calories daily so it's not difficult to fit in a trwat if the other 90% of my daily calories are clean. If it's a light burn day or I just want to eat more, I add a 30 minute walk which is good for another 300 calories.

If I were to have a "cheat" day, I would eat at maintenance level but not go over - my body is slow at giving up weight to begin with. I want the scale to keep going down more than I want to overeat. If I want a treat, looking it up in MFP before eating it helps me determine how much to eat.

My cheat days are on the weekends but I do double the amount of cardio so I wont feel horrible. Very dearly do I go over.

I usually just go for a treat/free meal instead of a cheat day, and I try to eat close to maintenance/TDEE on those days. But I also do two free meals a week instead of a single cheat day. I think it keeps me sane to know that I have a free meal to look forward to.

Figure your weightloss for the week, multiply by 3500 if you go over that number you're going to gain weight.

Generally on a 'cheat' day if I'm doing them I don't eat more than double my normal daily intake, typically this is enough that I'm nearly stuffed and sick feeling.

You sound like you've done lots of diets before and I'm going to guess they haven't worked or you wouldn't be here.

Why don't you just follow the directions for the MFP site and see if they work for you? Let them calculate your calories. Eat that every day and eat back your exercise calories. Keep at it. No cheat days.

Yes, there will be days you go over (or under). But go for a stable, healthy diet. Take it off. Keep it off.