Cheat days getting out of control...

DivietoDiSosta
DivietoDiSosta Posts: 14 Member
in Motivation and Support
I have been in the habit of giving myself one "cheat day" every week or two weeks - usually a Saturday - where I can eat up to maintenance (about 2100 for me). These have helped keep me motivated because I have something to look forward to at week's end. But as I lose more weight and get closer to my goal, I have found my cheat days getting more and more out of control, to the point where I am eating far more than my maintenance calories, and sometimes I lose control and do the same on Sunday as well.

This past weekend, I ate 4000 calories on Saturday and 3500 on Sunday. I feel a little sick when I eat that much, but not overfull. It's like my body is staging a rebellion against the continued weight loss and trying to force me back up.

Has anyone experienced this? Any advice for getting past it? Should I throw out the cheat days altogether?

Thanks -
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Replies

  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    I wouldn't do cheat DAYS, maybe one meal or something but a lot if damage can be done in one day or weekend.
  • GnosisGnosis
    GnosisGnosis Posts: 148
    It's not your body so much as it's your mind. We live in an age of excess, and while we are lucky for that, there are detriments to it as well. The mind is a thing that enjoys order, and it will attempt to continue a paradigm that it's used to - In this case, eating an unhealthy amount of food. The good news is that Paradigms can be changed with enough effort, discipline, and knowledge. The bad news is that it takes a long time. Also, you are continuing the pattern of excess by having cheat days, and making it harder to change the pattern. The mind goes, "Ahhh, here we are. We're back where we need to be. Eating a ridiculous amount of food."

    Remember that the biggest enemy we have is not external.
  • SuzyLy
    SuzyLy Posts: 133 Member
    I don't have cheat days, per se. I am drilling it into my head that this is a permanent change in my eating habits, and there are definitely days I am over my allowance. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat everything I want, in the amounts I once did without gaining weight back. I've been at a plateau now for about four months, and although I've probably evened out on good days and "over" days, my weight has not moved, which to me is amazing. I will have "cheat" days without planning on it, I'm sure, so I don't plan on them.
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    When I do cheat days, I try not to think of them as an "eat whatever I want because I won't get another day like this for a week" day. I just see it as a day when I can go about my business with a relaxed mindset and not stress about the caloric content of everything I consume. Oddly, I often end up not even going too far over my calories on some of my cheat days.
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    Another thing I learned about cheat days is to keep practicing portion control. I enjoy making dishes such as lasagnas, casseroles and other creations that are difficult to make in small quantities. I know that I will keep eating it throughout the week if it stays in my fridge, so after I eat my share, I give the rest to family, bachelors and seniors in the neighborhood who don't cook much and homeless people.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    So stop having "cheat" days. Eat a balanced diet all of the time and maintain a more reasonable weight loss deficit that doesn't leave you binging at the end of the week.
  • cuinboston2014
    cuinboston2014 Posts: 848 Member
    When I do cheat days, I try not to think of them as an "eat whatever I want because I won't get another day like this for a week" day. I just see it as a day when I can go about my business with a relaxed mindset and not stress about the caloric content of everything I consume. Oddly, I often end up not even going too far over my calories on some of my cheat days.

    This! When you don't think about it as somethign to look forward to but a day to relax and not worry about it you will not think about food all day. And then you will realize you aren't hungry when you think you normally would be becaues you aren't thinking about it. You will realize your body is actually changing but it's not a change process you are thinking about.
  • missdibs1
    missdibs1 Posts: 1,092 Member
    4000 calories in one day what did you eat ? a 2 pound block of cheese (?) (it happens) 10 Ben and Jerry's?
  • maQmIgh
    maQmIgh Posts: 236 Member
    I found, when I was having cheat days, I would be craving junk for the rest of the week... There is nothing more depressing that craving foods that you know you are gonna deny yourself :sad:
    I plan my food the night before to make sure I stick to my goals (sometimes I eat less healthy foods and more junk, but I make sure its under my calories)... On the days that I wish to treat myself, I plan for it... Exercise first then eat the deficit afterwards.
  • cuinboston2014
    cuinboston2014 Posts: 848 Member
    4000 calories in one day what did you eat ? a 2 pound block of cheese (?) (it happens) 10 Ben and Jerry's?

    I'm not sure what the intake all was but if you drink you can EASILY pack in the calories. You can also pack in the calories through mindless snacking, coffee drinks, or just picking all high calorie meals. It's actually really easy to do. On Saturday I had a normal breakfast and lunch but went out to a nice steakhouse and even with the petite steak cut, combining the bigger dinner with all my drinks for the night I was over 3000.... and I still wanted to eat Taco Bell (which I skipped... booo!)
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,035 Member
    bump cuz I'm the same
  • DivietoDiSosta
    DivietoDiSosta Posts: 14 Member
    4000 calories in one day what did you eat ? a 2 pound block of cheese (?) (it happens) 10 Ben and Jerry's?

    It was an all day sort of thing... Heavy breakfast, mid-morning snack, heavy lunch, lots of snacking all afternoon, then late dinner and drinks... I'm not sure I could manage 4000 calories in one sitting!
  • DivietoDiSosta
    DivietoDiSosta Posts: 14 Member
    I'm not sure what the intake all was but if you drink you can EASILY pack in the calories. You can also pack in the calories through mindless snacking, coffee drinks, or just picking all high calorie meals. It's actually really easy to do. On Saturday I had a normal breakfast and lunch but went out to a nice steakhouse and even with the petite steak cut, combining the bigger dinner with all my drinks for the night I was over 3000.... and I still wanted to eat Taco Bell (which I skipped... booo!)

    Good job skipping the Taco Bell! At that point, I would have given up and eaten everything because the day was a wash already.

    Not the healthiest mindset, I know...
  • cuinboston2014
    cuinboston2014 Posts: 848 Member
    I'm not sure what the intake all was but if you drink you can EASILY pack in the calories. You can also pack in the calories through mindless snacking, coffee drinks, or just picking all high calorie meals. It's actually really easy to do. On Saturday I had a normal breakfast and lunch but went out to a nice steakhouse and even with the petite steak cut, combining the bigger dinner with all my drinks for the night I was over 3000.... and I still wanted to eat Taco Bell (which I skipped... booo!)

    Good job skipping the Taco Bell! At that point, I would have given up and eaten everything because the day was a wash already.

    Not the healthiest mindset, I know...

    LOL well I partly just skipped it because it would have required going outside in the cold again. I can tell you I felt good about the decision on Sunday morning! I never tracked my calories on bad days before - at least not in a few years. Had I eaten Taco Bell I'm sure I would've been in far worse caloric shape. I guess Wisconsin is good for keeping me away from taco bell :( lol
  • ash8184
    ash8184 Posts: 701 Member
    When I do cheat days, I try not to think of them as an "eat whatever I want because I won't get another day like this for a week" day. I just see it as a day when I can go about my business with a relaxed mindset and not stress about the caloric content of everything I consume. Oddly, I often end up not even going too far over my calories on some of my cheat days.

    This! When you don't think about it as somethign to look forward to but a day to relax and not worry about it you will not think about food all day. And then you will realize you aren't hungry when you think you normally would be becaues you aren't thinking about it. You will realize your body is actually changing but it's not a change process you are thinking about.

    THIS. One cheat day could turn in to 2... and 3... but you don't want to be miserable either. Maybe you can have a cheat item... or, something I will do is if I'm really craving something, I go without it for a day or 2 and see if I'm still craving it. If I am, I'll have a little bit and that's usually enough to satiate! Be careful, but don't be unhappy about your food choices.
  • DivietoDiSosta
    DivietoDiSosta Posts: 14 Member
    I found, when I was having cheat days, I would be craving junk for the rest of the week... There is nothing more depressing that craving foods that you know you are gonna deny yourself :sad:
    I plan my food the night before to make sure I stick to my goals (sometimes I eat less healthy foods and more junk, but I make sure its under my calories)... On the days that I wish to treat myself, I plan for it... Exercise first then eat the deficit afterwards.

    That approach might work better for me. I'm very much a planner, so having no plan I tend to get out of control. Did you give up cheat days altogether?

    I have also found that after cheat days where I overeat, I end up experiencing the "three day dieting hump" all over again around the middle of the week, something that wasn't happening when I maintained a deficit every day for about 3 months at the beginning of the diet.
  • MzLaLa29
    MzLaLa29 Posts: 258 Member
    I don't have a cheat DAY regularly, but I will plan a controlled binge. For example, last wknd I knew we were going out for my SIL's bday. So I looked up the menu for the restaurant we were going to, logged my meal in the morning and then made sure I had worked the cals off during the day. I can still have what I want w/o busting my waistline. Even still, I do go overboard with that...
  • rachael726
    rachael726 Posts: 202 Member
    I had the same problem..except mine was for like 2 weeks!! I am determined more than ever to eat healhy today. I think I lost sight of what my goals are. I packed all of my food for today. Part of the problem was not having money. I didn't have anything healthy in my house and had to wait to get paid to go grocery shopping. My body is mad at me and I feel super sluggish. Today is the day to get my booty back on track. At this moment, I am eating a chobani yogurt as a snack. It's kind of gross though, but I'm forcing it down. LOL-- Honey blended..they lied. :ohwell:
  • links_slayer
    links_slayer Posts: 1,151 Member
    4000 calories in one day what did you eat ? a 2 pound block of cheese (?) (it happens) 10 Ben and Jerry's?

    I can pound 4000 calories without blinking an eye. You don't have to eat a lot of food to eat a lot of calories.
  • viglet
    viglet Posts: 299 Member
    Check out my diary for this past weekend.... I literally was posting about my issues with binging (that's what I consider these cheat days for myself).

    I think I have to just stop it. I mean eating junk isn't horrible, but eating a lot of junk is what gets me. I ate EIGHT cookies last night... 8 GOSH DAMN COOKIES!! Who does that?!?!?!?!

    If you need a person who is struggling with being a "weekend warrior" (working hard during the week to repair the damage from the weekend) add me....
  • tarabole
    tarabole Posts: 166 Member
    Sugar causes me to feel like I want to eat everything when I am trying to lose weight. If I go off of sugar for a 5 days I stop craving. Perhaps having one cheat meal, versus cheat day would be a better option and staying away from sugar/refined carbs. So have a nice steak or some cheese for your cheat if that's something you enjoy versus having a piece of cake to avoid messing with your blood sugar levels. I would also try to do some damage control, if you go way out of control and comsume more than a few hundred calories above maintence, then skip your next cheat meal and add some extra exercise for the week. Then try the cheat meal again and see if you can do better. Good luck :)

    ETA: if you go out for dinner for your cheat meal and don't bring leftovers home that can help too. If you buy ice cream and intend to eat part or buy cookies and intend to eat some, then its harder to stop, versus letting yourself have a special meal.
  • ksy1969
    ksy1969 Posts: 700 Member
    I have been having this same issue, only for the last couple months. It is on and off. There always seems to be something going on at some point during the week that ruins me for the rest of it. I have always been of the mindset that if I have one bad meal then the rest of the day is shot so might as well eat what I want versus what I need. When that happens I suddenly start asking myself, "what have you been craving", and then I go get it.

    As of this Saturday I decided to change that. I am going to have off meals, but that doesn't mean the rest of the meals that day have to be off. It also doesn't mean that the rest of the week has to be off either. Heck, I even got to have a Medium Oreo Mint Cookie Blizzard on Saturday and it was still within my calories. I just made sure, in my head, I knew that was a treat and I need to keep focused with the rest of my meals. It worked. There were no mad dashes to the fridge or cupboard that evening because I already ate a Blizzard so might as well eat what ever I want because the day is messed up now.

    the bottom line, I need to learn how to incorporate these off days and these foods that are triggers into my diet or I will end up back over 300lbs again. I cannot have that. I know if I go there again, I will die there. :sad:
  • Smallc10
    Smallc10 Posts: 615 Member
    I don't have cheat days really. I allow myself small 'treats' occasionally and that keeps me happy. When we go out to eat with friends I will order a soda - this is once a week max and then when we have a major day of laundry or chores I will let myself go out for ice cream with my fiance and get a small shake. I want to make this something I can keep up forever and in order to do that I have to have some leniency with what I eat so I don't feel deprived all the time and then have a giant cheat day that sets me back physically and mentally.
  • celtbell3
    celtbell3 Posts: 738 Member
    You might want to just reorganize what you are allowing yourself. Start logging (I write my daily calories in/out in a little book but this site is good too) everything you eat and everything you physically do that gets the heart pumping. Then you can 'reorganize' what is acceptable to you for you.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    You already know the answer to your own question OP.
  • Sassyallday
    Sassyallday Posts: 136 Member
    Having a "cheat day" is just rewarding yourself for not overeating by overeating.

    Why not just plan for an enjoyable dining experience within your calorie limits? It's so much better to have something delicious without days of guilt and panicked overexercising and undereating afterward!
  • missdibs1
    missdibs1 Posts: 1,092 Member
    @elliot thank you (for the eye candy)
  • sm1zzle
    sm1zzle Posts: 920 Member
    I wouldn't do cheat DAYS, maybe one meal or something but a lot if damage can be done in one day or weekend.

    this is the best advice.
  • Saraisamom
    Saraisamom Posts: 26 Member
    I make rewards for sticking to my calorie goals non-food related. This helps me by encouraging to change my reward system away from food. If I'm going out to eat with my family or having pizza night. I don't deny myself and still maintain my calorie goals by eating less of the bad food and working out more.
  • astrophysically_fit
    astrophysically_fit Posts: 11 Member
    I've read somewhere that eating sweets and treats actually makes you crave them more often. I'm not saying you should cut them out entirely but just save it for special occasion, or just every once in a while.

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