How far do you go on cheat days?

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  • Teele86
    Teele86 Posts: 23 Member
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    Ill be having a takeout vegetarian stirfry on Friday when I have lunch with my Nana. So ill have soup for dinner and build it into my day but wont fuss too much if im a little over.
  • glin23
    glin23 Posts: 460 Member
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    Why bother being good all week if you're going to blow it all on a binge? Makes absolutely no sense to me and smacks of disordered eating. If you have a good relationship with food then you shouldn't feel the need to "cheat" especially not an all day binge.

    Going over your calorie allowance one day is NOT blowing your entire week. You're joking, right? Do your research, talk to a physician, nutritionist.. SOMETHING! It seems as if YOU have a more unhealthy relationship with food than the OP (if you can't even splurge once in awhile.) Sad.

    I agree with you to a point. Let's put it this way. If you're shooting for 1/2 pound of weight loss per week that works out to about 1750-1800 calories. Is it possible to exceed your calorie allowance by that much in 1 day? For me it is and it's way too easy to do so. So in effect I agree with you, but then again, I guess I feel that it's a bit healthier to indulge earlier, more often and in smaller portions rather than using a cheat day.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
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    I don't do cheat days
    I eat what I want EVERYDAY
    and stay under calories and exercise it off
  • Mario_Az
    Mario_Az Posts: 1,331 Member
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    i do cheat meal not cheat day you can do a lot of damage with a cheat day :)
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
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    I don't do cheat days or cheat meals. I usually eat out on Saturday and Sunday, but I don't think of it as "cheating" because then it would mean I'm dieting, which I'm not. I'm changing my lifestyle, so for me that means I can eat out when I choose, and then fit the food into my allotment for the day. If I allow myself to "diet" and "cheat", I set myself up for failure. That doesn't mean I don't occasionally go over, but I try not to.

    I agree 1000% with this. I think diets fail because we're viewing it as a special time in our lives set apart for following a set of rules If I think, "I can't wait to be done with this diet so I can eat the things I like again", I've already failed. Further, all the language surrounding "dieting" has an overlay of moral judgement associated with it: that's why they're called "cheat" days. You're breaking the rules, so you're a sinner.

    There are times on weekends when I indulge in eating out, but even then I make better choices than I used to. I have a biweekly Saturday breakfast date with friends, but I generally make healthy choices ... and if I choose not to, I don't beat myself up over it.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
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    I got to about 7000-8000 cals in one cheat meal last week.
  • rosemaryhon
    rosemaryhon Posts: 507 Member
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    I don't do cheat days or cheat meals. I usually eat out on Saturday and Sunday, but I don't think of it as "cheating" because then it would mean I'm dieting, which I'm not. I'm changing my lifestyle, so for me that means I can eat out when I choose, and then fit the food into my allotment for the day. If I allow myself to "diet" and "cheat", I set myself up for failure. That doesn't mean I don't occasionally go over, but I try not to.


    This ^^ for me too.
  • TRMite
    TRMite Posts: 60 Member
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    an entire batch of cookies sounds like disordered eating to me too. JM suggests allowing yourself 200 calories of "cheat food" each day but work it into your calorie allowance. wouldn't you enjoy a cookie or two all week instead of 20+ all at once?

    Not to say I don't overdue it sometimes when I finally give into something I've been wanting... it's because I do this as well that I can say it's not a healthy relationship to food, at least not in that moment.
  • seabee78
    seabee78 Posts: 126 Member
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    A friend and I split a 12" works pizza and I had a beer with it. Went to DQ for a snack after. Did you know a small dipped cone is 330cals ?? Damn...
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
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    Jillian Michaels may think eating a whole batch of cookies is disordered eating, but I think giving yourself an "allowance" for "cheat food" like you're a 6-year-old is disordered eating.

    I have a calorie target, and I have macro targets. As long as I hit those or get as close to them as possible, I will eat what I want. I eat way more than 200 calories of "cheat food" every single day, and I lose weight while I do it. I'd say that's a very damn healthy relationship with food.
  • gdrmuzak
    gdrmuzak Posts: 103 Member
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    I don't cheat, I just have days where I went over...like today, about 700 over. I probably have one day a week where I'm 500-700 over my daily goal which is about break even for the day. No big deal as long I don't do it again...and again...and again..and again...etc. :-)
  • xxghost
    xxghost Posts: 4,697 Member
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    I don't do cheat days or cheat meals. I usually eat out on Saturday and Sunday, but I don't think of it as "cheating" because then it would mean I'm dieting, which I'm not. I'm changing my lifestyle, so for me that means I can eat out when I choose, and then fit the food into my allotment for the day. If I allow myself to "diet" and "cheat", I set myself up for failure. That doesn't mean I don't occasionally go over, but I try not to.

    I more or less feel/do the same!
  • linsey0689
    linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
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    I don't ever have a cheat day. Yes sometimes I go out to eat but I never 100% forgot the diet. If I go for a high calorie night out I will plan by eating better in the AM and workout. I just don't believe in every week having a cheat day just seams a little silly. Yes I eat stuff that isn't healthy but I do so and enjoy it but I feel like it was the whole day I wouldn't even enjoy it.
  • fat2fit72014
    fat2fit72014 Posts: 41
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    Today I had to eat out for dinner and late because of traffic, work training and a bunch of other reasons. Tomorrow being a holiday I am going to do my best to stay on track, but I will be logging everything. I still havent decided how I want to truely handle my cheat days/meals
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
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    I don't really do cheat days like other people do cheat days. Every few weeks I feel like I need to eat more food. When that happens, I give myself an extra 500 calories to work with. It's generally just once a month, but sometimes twice. But it's planned my deficit is 500 calories, so I'm just eating at TDEE when that happens.

    As far as a "true" cheat day goes, I just decided Sunday to start doing it. On the first day of shark week, I'm going to eat whatever I want, as much as I want. My last cycle was 77 days so I can't possibly do THAT much damage if it's only every 2.5 months. If my cycles become more regular, I'll have to make it every other cycle or something. Anyway, even though I ate whatever I wanted, when I logged it all, I was still at maintenance. It was sort of a NSV that I decided to go nuts and was still reasonable.

    ETA: For the purpose of this thread I've called it a cheat meal but I really hate that term. It's not cheating. It's eating in moderation and occasionally choosing to overindulge. And if it's at or below maintenance, then it's just taking a break from your deficit. There's no cheating and no guilt.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    Why bother being good all week if you're going to blow it all on a binge? Makes absolutely no sense to me and smacks of disordered eating. If you have a good relationship with food then you shouldn't feel the need to "cheat" especially not an all day binge.

    Going over your calorie allowance one day is NOT blowing your entire week. You're joking, right? Do your research, talk to a physician, nutritionist.. SOMETHING! It seems as if YOU have a more unhealthy relationship with food than the OP (if you can't even splurge once in awhile.) Sad.

    Going over your budget once in a while for an occasion or eating a bit over budget is much different than eating a whole batch of cookies plus other things on a "cheat" day. A pound is about 3500 calories which would be easy to exceed with that kind of a binge. There is no reason you can't budget for a special day and eat at maintenance without going crazy.
  • Danni3ll3
    Danni3ll3 Posts: 365 Member
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    I don't do cheat days or cheat meals. I usually eat out on Saturday and Sunday, but I don't think of it as "cheating" because then it would mean I'm dieting, which I'm not. I'm changing my lifestyle, so for me that means I can eat out when I choose, and then fit the food into my allotment for the day. If I allow myself to "diet" and "cheat", I set myself up for failure. That doesn't mean I don't occasionally go over, but I try not to.

    I agree. If I go over my calories for the day (which may happen one every couple of months due to some special occasion) I log them and try to eat less in the following few days to make up for the overage. This is a life change, not a "diet".
  • imamonster2000
    imamonster2000 Posts: 43 Member
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    Okay, I am still confused on the whole cheat day thing. Some people say it is great to have a cheat day where you eat a lot of whatever you want. Some people say cheat days are good in maintenance. Some people say cheat meals are better. Others say no cheat meals at all is best. What is really best???
  • SteveStedge1
    SteveStedge1 Posts: 149 Member
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    Cheat day? That makes about as much sense as having a "cheat day" in your marriage.
  • tedrickp
    tedrickp Posts: 1,229 Member
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    Cheat day? That makes about as much sense as having a "cheat day" in your marriage.

    wtf-did-u-say.gif

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