Just curious how many members have cheat days??
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My cheat meals usually consist of a Chinese buffet or a Mexican meal usually on the weekends.0
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I have done cheat meals and at that point in my weight loss, I continued to lose. I really struggled with it being a cheat day or even a binge day in terms of the calories consumed. As I'm in the home stretch right now and my weight loss has slowed, I do not have cheat meals. I am weighing incorporating a more moderate "cheat meal" about once a month once I reach maintenance.0
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I think it depends on your mindset and your personal goals. For me... This is my real life. I'm not doing this to lose X amount of weight and then I'll be able to eat or do X again. I'm doing this to be healthier. Which means whatever I do today... i have to be able to do when I've reached my goal BMI. That means I don't have cheat days. I DO NOT deprive myself of anything. If I want cheese... I eat cheese within my calories. If I want butter, bread or cake... I have it. I just make choices and fit it into my expectations. I keep myself accountable. But I do have days or meals where it's impossible to even guess at my calories. Like a couple of weeks ago I went to a BBQ. I ate beforehand so that i wouldn't be hungry. I did take bites of some really yummy dishes, but kept myself in check. I logged every other meal/snack I ate for the day and just knew there were some bites I had no way to count. Or like this weekend I'm going camping. No internet connection and I've got to decide do i want to measure every bite or not. I still haven't decided. A little afraid to not be accountable with no measuring, etc.... but at the same time... camping is a hard place to be too strict. So each person has to decide what it is they are doing, why they are doing it and what will work for them. Some need to deprive themselves and give themselves a goal to reach for. I however don't want to feel like why can he/she eat ice cream and I can't. Instead I'd rather know I can... just need to be accountable for it and fit it into my expectation. Then I won't binge.
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When I was in high school one of the teachers went on a very restrictive diet. Every Friday he had a no-holds-barred cheat day. Stuffed his face all.day.long with some of the least healthy food you ever did see. And it was disgusting to watch as he chowed down and lectured us. Yes, he let us bring food to eat on that day too, but can I just say it killed my appetite to watch him eat?
He lost a lot of weight that year. Wondering if he kept it off or not.
Anyway, I did use "cheat weekends" to help my transition, in which I ate on the weekend the way I used to eat all the time. Gradually, I've changed up my weekend so I'm now at a point where I may go slightly over on my calories, but I am pretty physically active all weekend too, and even if I'm overeating it's much healthier food than I used to eat daily.
Today's my birthday. I guarantee I will have cake and ice cream tonight. I did an extra hour of Zumba last night, and I don't want frosting on my cake, but even if I had frosting and no Zumba I'd still allow the indulgence. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and I plan to have a lifestyle I can maintain once I quit losing weight.0 -
I eat 2 Pop-Tarts for breakfast (400 Cal). Then gauge the rest of the day. I love my Pop-Tarts I guess that would be a partial cheat day.....but it fits my calories 0
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i do one cheat meal, about once a week. I set a weekly goal for myself.. once I hit the goal and sit there a day, I let myself cheat. The rest of the week I eat clean and macro specific.0
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EVERY DAY IS A CHEAT DAY!! lol I cheat on my fat by eating healthy! lol Ok really I have about 2 meals I cheat a week
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The definition of cheat days varies for many!
For me it's eating something unprocessed. Lately, I've been having a cheat day every day then by my definition. A few Ritz crackers here and there. But I NEVER go over my macros. After seeing another user state that she does IIFYM and she has a flat tummy (which I so badly want and never have been able to have ;P) I thought oh. why not try that? So I eat one 'unclean' food a day, and I haven't gained last I checked. In fact, I'm still losing. So who knows? My waist however? Hasn't gone down a lot. I'll have to do weights for that however.
When I DO get back to clean eating (when I don't eat totally clean I feel ashamed and frustrated with myself -.-) I will only have one cheat meal a week or even every two weeks. That's basically a cone or snack wrap from Mickey D's or a taco from Taco Bell, etc. You get what I mean. But I'll always be under maintenance.0 -
cheat *days* became too much of a setback so I stopped having them. Instead I just try to fit a cheat food in my caloric goal. In the event that I crave something so bad and don't have enough calories for it, I just eat it and call it a cheat meal. But more often than not I create enough room through exercise so that it doesn't put me over my calories.0
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Since I normally lose everything I've worked for during the week in my weekends, I try to have a small "cheat" twice a week. By this I mean I have 2T of those yummy dark chocolate covered pomegranate balls, a fat free chocolate pudding or a trail mix I make with pretzels, almonds and crasians. If I am dying for more I have some froyo or skinny cow. They are still healthy(ish) and wont break me, and it keeps me on track. 0
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I don't have cheat days, but if I get cravings, I know it's better to indulge small now or else I'll just indulge bigger later. It also doesn't hurt that my weight might actually not be that big of a problem.0
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That happens to me as well, I cheat with one really unhealthy thing and all I want is more more more. That's why I set up little treats that taste like they are cheating, but they definitely aren't going to throw me off my game by any means.0
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Today's my birthday. I guarantee I will have cake and ice cream tonight. I did an extra hour of Zumba last night, and I don't want frosting on my cake, but even if I had frosting and no Zumba I'd still allow the indulgence. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and I plan to have a lifestyle I can maintain once I quit losing weight.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
OP: I started to treat my calories like money..(didn't intend to)...at the end of the week if i've been under a certain amount of cals and I REALLY want something i might an indulgent meal or treat on a day, but i try not to go over too much. I'm apparently frugal because I like to try to be under and if i want something i just workout harder...so no cheat days just work hard to "save up" for a splurge. I just want to make sure i can afford to spend the calories0 -
I've never had a cheat day ( hate that term), don't see any need or reason for it.0
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I would think that if you want a treat, HAVE one. But in my opinion, I think that you should track everything that goes in your mouth, especially if you're feeling like you may fall off the wagon if you have a treat. Tracking has been my favourite and I think most helpful thing thus far in my journey. If I don't track when I'm having a treat, who am I hiding that from? It'll show up sooner or later, but in the form of a fat butt, thighs, tummy, etc.0
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I don't really have cheat days. If I want a "treat" I will try to keep it within my calorie goal for the day. I also dont restrict food. If I want something, I eat it, but now if I want chocolate, I will eat a piece of it, not the entire king size bar. If I want pizza, I will eat 1 piece, not the whole large pizza. Funny story though, I had alot of extra calories left one night so I got some Jack's Chicken Fingers. I ate two of them and was miserable the rest of the night!!!! I had not had anything fried in over 2 months. My body told me, " NO NO NO NO! I DO NOT WANT THAT!"0
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When I first started out....I saw a need for a cheat day...I mean a day where I just went absolutely BANANAS (Saturdays)!!!! If I wanted fast food, I would eat it. Chocolate I would eat it. Fried foods, alcohol, you name it!!!! And then like someone else on here said....I logged it in....saw that what I ate that day amounted to almost 4,000 calories!!!! it just didn't sit well with me....then, to given my financial situation (about to be laid off effective tomorrow), I saw that indulging like that was not that economical either.
Bottom line...if there is something I want and it fits into my calorie goal, I will eat it. I find that the cravings are becoming fewer and farther in between. I don't bring the processed stuff in my house. If I want to treat myself, I will get one serving of something and eat it because for me personally, if I have it in the house it is going to be calling my name....and if I want something on a late night....it's not like I am going to wake my 3 year old son up in the middle of the night so I can leave the house and go get some snacks lol But it is important to LOG EVERYTHING!!!! It keeps you humble and you always know what you are putting in your body.0 -
I never understand what people mean by "cheat" day. I don't have any food restrictions...I sometimes go over calories, usually only to maintenance. I rarely consume a surplus of calories, but it happens every once in awhile. No biggie...I kick *kitten* on my nutrition and I rock my fitness. If anything, my muscles are jumping for joy if I have a few extra calories.
I've pretty much lived by this since the beginning and down 35-40 Lbs and counting.0 -
Don't intentionally cheat, even a bad food fits into my diary when possible. But, alcohol...sometimes a couple of drinks too many and its out the window and the evening and next day need to be cheat days. However I still log everything I eat on a cheat day0
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I'll have a cheat meal BUT I make sure it's under my daily calories. For example, me and my boyfriend usually eat at his work on Saturday and they have an amazing grilled chicken and pesto pizza that is 672 calories for one personal pizza. I'll eat a low calorie breakfast and eat half the pizza for lunch (a low cal snack during the day) and the other half for dinner! My 'cheat' days are also the days I'm off from work, so I exercise more then usual 0
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Cheating on your diet is like *kitten*...it feels good at first but in the end you're only f*cking yourself...0
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Well, it's kind of hard to fit a buffet into your macros unless you bring a scale to the restaurant. I'm in favor of cheat meals/refeeds when trying to cut weight. I've had a few cheat days days where I just visit more than one restaurant, eat boxes of donuts and ice cream. I usually gain 15-20 pounds and then my weight goes back to normal in a couple of days. Most people can't get away with that, so I usually recommend people to have a meal with an appetizer, can't do much damage with that.I never understand what people mean by "cheat" day. I don't have any food restrictions...I sometimes go over calories, usually only to maintenance. I rarely consume a surplus of calories, but it happens every once in awhile. No biggie...I kick *kitten* on my nutrition and I rock my fitness. If anything, my muscles are jumping for joy if I have a few extra calories.
I've pretty much lived by this since the beginning and down 35-40 Lbs and counting.0 -
Today's my birthday. I guarantee I will have cake and ice cream tonight. I did an extra hour of Zumba last night, and I don't want frosting on my cake, but even if I had frosting and no Zumba I'd still allow the indulgence. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and I plan to have a lifestyle I can maintain once I quit losing weight.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
OP: I started to treat my calories like money..(didn't intend to)...at the end of the week if i've been under a certain amount of cals and I REALLY want something i might an indulgent meal or treat on a day, but i try not to go over too much. I'm apparently frugal because I like to try to be under and if i want something i just workout harder...so no cheat days just work hard to "save up" for a splurge. I just want to make sure i can afford to spend the calories
Thank you!
And what you describe sounds a lot like what I've adapted into: work very hard to be under during a week to save up the space for my splurge.0 -
I'll typically have a cheat day when I start feeling a little weak. A full day of just eating what I want seems to give me a boost to get back at it strong. This usually happens maybe 1-2 times a month so it never hurts my progress.0
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The weekends are usually my cheat days, but sometimes I don't use them. Depends on what I am doing and where I am at.0
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I don't really have "cheat" days, but I will drink alcohol on the weekend and drink back my exercise calories on that day. Your body needs that little shock every once in while so it doesn't get used to what you are doing0
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I've had a few "cheat meals," but even on those days I've managed to remain on track and not go over on calories.0
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Cheat days tend to be Thursdays and Saturdays when I work at Max Brenner. I loooove the dark chocolate fondue!!!
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I just this week decided that I probably do need a cheat day, otherwise I'm just not motivated enough to actually stay under the rest of the week. I feel like maybe a cheat day (which will be on weekly date night with the hubs) will help me from feeling deprived and will be a more sustainable lifestyle.
bingo
It's all about a sustainable lifestyle. Can you go through the rest of your life NEVER having a piece of birthday cake again? Or pizza? Eat as healthy as you can 80-90% of the time, and the other 10-20%...be human. You will still reach your goals and stay there. Promise!0 -
I don't have cheat days or meals. I work everything into my day or week and indulge when I feel the need. Everything in moderation.
THIS ^^^^0
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