curious for those with cheat day..

I have a cheat day but it's not that bad....I take a break from all workouts and I relax. I don't go over my Calories, on that day I might have a can of pop or a piece of cake but thats it.

None of the above so much.
I don't really deprive myself on a daily basis so I don't really have a
reason to "cheat".

If I'm going out for a good meal, I guess that could be considered a cheat day.
BUT, unless it's a small plate kind of place, it's rare I eat an entire plate of food. Though I'll admit,
I get offended if I go to a restaurant that serves me a trough of food, huge
piles of food on a plate pizz me off (I know, I'm completely irrational). That said,
if I workout beforehad to "offset" the meal, great, if not, no big whoop.

In sum, the less heady I make this whole thing to rationalize my choices,
the better off I am. I try to make food a non-priority in my life, I don't want to have a "relationship"
with it, beyond, food is good, I like it, I eat it, that's about as far as it goes.
But, it's a totally personal thing.

Hi Red,

I like to have one day a week where i don't count calories, I wont go crazy and eat loads of fast food. I might have a dinner that i would not normally have, ie a lamb souvlaki (kebab) for dinner. I might eat a couple of choc biscuits for afternoon tea, things like that. My theory (and its just a theory - probably far from the truth) is that you count calories all week, your body gets used to it, and your metabolism gets lazy. Throw one day of different food in there that you wouldn't normally eat and it kick starts your metabolism again.

However, exercising, i like to do each day, if i miss out, so be it, not a big deal for me, and not worried if i hit or miss.

These are my thoughts :-)

Karen

I'm during weight watchers so I don't cheat with my points. A day without exercise is cheating enough for me and it's usually Sundays

I take one evening a week where I go out and eat a meal without counting calories. I definitely exercise on that day and it hasn't effected my weight loss.

i have a cheat meal, not cheat day, once a week. i usually exercise that day but if not i don't sweat it! i still maintain portion control though & i either stay within my calories because i ate so clean the rest of the day or i only go over by 100 or 200 calories. i've read several different places that having a cheat meal helps keep your metabolism guessing.

I'm working on a cheat day... I havent really cheated, I just incorporate what I eat into my calorie count. Sometimes I go over, sometimes not. I have decided though that every so often I need a fatty day where I just eat whatever.
I havent really lost much weight but my weight has shifted so I guess I'm doing okay.

A cheat day for me is a day where I eat over my cals and don't exercise enough to compensate. Usually it's only 100 calories or so.

my cheats do tend to be extreme......eat/drink whatever. I usually exercise though......It is very rare that I don't get in some physical acticvity every day and if I am really prepared I'll do a major workout (like 2hours) the day of the cheat just to help compensate for what I'm going to do!! LOL

I do have small cheats though too here and there and I don't worry about those so much.

My cheat day is Saturday. The only thing that remains the same is breakfast and that's because I never did breakfast before. After that, I eat when I'm hungry and eat until I'm satisfied...not stuffed. I've found that I can't eat as much as I used to do. I don't log anything for Saturdays, either.

Exercise, I take off Saturdays, as well. I've noticed that it really helps my Sunday workouts. I have so much more strength to put into versus at the end of the week.

It's just one day and it's worked for me. Do I advocate it for others? No, because you have to use trial and error to find what works for you. Those that are doing nothing but clean eating, great!! It's not for me, though. I am human; therefore, I'm allowed to make mistakes. I will enjoy certain foods because there's no guarantee I won't have a heart attack or stroke. There are healthy people that die of heart attacks. So, my goal is to get healthier, but not to be 100% clean. I want to live a little on the edge.

Good luck!!