Cheat Days

Personally I wouldn't have a cheat day but if there is something you are really wanting, eat it, count it and done!

For me, "cheat" days are just going down that some old street again expecting a different result. I love sweets, and in certain situations I have been known to literally make myself sick on them. I don't cheat anymore, and don't eat enough to make myself sick now, but I will have something sweet once in awhile.

Every day I plan my meals and snacks. If I know that I'm going to a big dinner on Friday night, I will eat less during the week to save up some extra calories. This is for special occasions, though, and not a frequent thing.

I agree with Nikki to eat something if you want it. Just be sure to count it.

I don't believe in cheat days, in my opinion they are a crutch for people who are unwilling to totally change their lifestyle.

What I do believe in is moderation. Exercise your butt off to earn those occasional days where you have pizza and beer for dinner. Allow yourself to have these meals, but make sure they fit into your daily calorie allowance.

Since changing my lifestyle and body composition, i've kept cheat days BUT i've changed the way I define them.

A "cheat day" happens once a week, if that, and only when i really want it - because I'm listening to what my body wants.

So, when I have a cheat day what it usually means is...that I'm eating out of my normal routine. I still do the math around caloric intake. I don't have a specific goal of eating poorly on these days but I do allow myself to indulge in some foods or behaviors that I am not normally doing. This makes it more of a "fun an crazy food day" - if that makes sense. It's all about the way we look at it. A lifestyle change is a lifestyle change is a lifestyle change.

When i was dieting and doing it all wrong (only going running, not lifting, no circuits, starving, cheating, bingeing, starving, fad finding, cutting out all carbs which is ridiculous etc) I would define a cheat day as a day to eat lots and lots of dessert and fried food. But it always felt Soooooo Bad! it's wasn't a lifestyle change. it was a yo yo of unhappiness and weight gain and waking up miserable with a food hangover the next day.

Since then I have gone through a major transformation of lifestyle and body composition. I'm the happiest I've been in a long time, maybe ever! Even in the face of adversity, I cry a little less, I feel more confident, and I get extreme relief from exercise & reliance on this healthy lifestyle. I don't have food hangovers anymore. I just feel good. And i eat so much delicious food all the time!

Here is how I define "cheat days" which usually occur on my Rest Day (Sunday) or during my menstrual cycle. (sorry guys, it's part of life)

The new version of a "Cheat Day":

- Rest Day (not working out hard, not pushing hard, no lifting heavily, a nice day of rest)
- eating out for dinner or lunch...or both! instead of cooking my own food (i enjoy cooking, it feeds me psychologically in equal measure)
- dark chocolate, 80% or higher, in a larger quantity than i might normally eat
- White Carbs: pasta, white rice, breads (i don't eat these on other days)
- a pint of non fat frozen yogurt (stonyfield) (440 calories in the entire pint!)
- more salt than i would normally eat, more fruit than i would normally eat, more of whatever I would normally be eating....it satisfies my need to "be bad" and rebel (i'm rather rebellious in nature)
- more dairy than i would normally eat, if that's what i'm craving. For example, i might add butter to something on one of these days
- i give myself permission to eat maintenance calories instead of at a deficit for weight loss


Hope this helps! For what it's worth, there's some mud in my life right now that I'm wading through, but the lifestyle change has literally made me happier and therefore better at dealing with adversity. At the end of the day I have my healthy self and the effect it has had on my mood and confidence is immeasurable.

I dont have cheat days, sounds so negative to me. Like I had done something illegal or wrong. Instead I give myself a few treats every day. I have been able to lose 110lbs or so this way. I lost most before I got on MFP> I want to be able to live this, not just do it. I have noticed in the past, when I do not live it, and just do it, damnit, it comes undone. I am changing my "normal".

I don't have cheat days so much as I have cheat meals. I eat healthy all week and if there is something I am absolutely craving, I wait til the end of the week and I have it. I make up for it by keeping the rest of my calories low(er) for the day and I make sure I exercise that day. It's worked for me so far... 17 kgs (34 lbs) down and counting!

TODAY was my first CHEAT day in MONTHS!!!!!!!!! SO we went to the coast and had a FRIED seafood platter followed by a candy bar AND a wonderful day of outlet mall shopping with my daughter

It is all a mindset, doesn't matter what you call it, a cheat day, a refeed day, etc.... Finding something that works for each and everyone of us in our own way is the most important step and if you can make it sustainable than you have accomplished your goal... I don't put foods into groups of good or bad as long as I am hitting my caloric intake and macros and micros (to an extent) then anything is fair game but I will add when I started out at 560 lbs, I had to practice complete abstinence from all trigger foods until such a time that I could reintroduce them back into my diet so in order to stay the course throughout each week I allowed myself 1 cheat meal, (and folks I use this term loosely, I could give a crap less how the word cheat may be perceived) but this meal would have to be consumed out to eat, I could have whatever I wanted off the menu and the only rule was it had to be eaten there and nothing could be brought home... This gave me something to look forward to each week while the rest of the week I stayed to a pretty strict mealplan and I also went through therapy (and still go once a month) to learn to deal with my food addictions and overtime added those trigger foods back into my life to where now I eat everything and anything I want as long as it fits within my day... So again I stress use any method that allows you success and allows you to stay on track whatever that may be.... It never hindered my weight loss... Best of Luck OP....

Maybe instead of having an entire "cheat day," you can have a "cheat meal."

I eat pretty healthy throughout the week & I try to stay away from candy, junk food, fast food, etc but usually on Sunday afternoons I want to go out to eat with my friends for lunch or dinner, so I let myself eat whatever I want without feeling guilty afterwards. Eating one "unhealthy" meal a week won't hurt you, and it helps me stay motivated during the week knowing that I can eat what I want.

Or you can eat the food you miss such as sweets & whatnot more regularly as well as long as it fits into your calories for the day. I just try to stay away from it as much as possible, because I tend to not have much self-control if I start eating it...

Obviously you don't *have* to, but if you're serious about losing
or maintaining your weight, you might want to. It's not punishment
at all. But, I suppose you might see it that way if you're not serious
about losing weight.

"Punishment" is the wrong word. But whether you do a "free day" or "cheat meal" or not, ultimately you have to be responsible for the calories you consume. Not being responsible is how each of us arrived in need of this site.

I look forward to my "free day" every week. But I plan for it all week long by cutting extra calories from my daily goal to compensate for it. So although I rest and eat whatever I want one day a week, I still continue to lose.

Is it worth it, to eat less and exercise more 6 days a week to have 1 "free day"? Everyone has to answer that question for themselves. As I said, it works for me.