What are your "cheat days" like?

momtastic2014
momtastic2014 Posts: 99
in Food and Nutrition
How often do you cheat?
How many more calories do you eat compared to your regular days?
Do you work out on those days?

Replies

  • loriq41
    loriq41 Posts: 479 Member
    I try to work out to lessen it and I really only have a cheat meal..usually dinner. That way I can really watch it all day to lessen the blow. I had a cheat meal last friday and wow, was it a cheat..I consumed AT LEAST 3000 cals (this is not normal though)..went to Outback Steakhouse...enough said...ha ha.
  • tegalicious
    tegalicious Posts: 629
    Well I wouldn't really call it a cheat day but I didn't run a deficit on Christmas. Nope. Me and those delicious 8000 calories had a great holiday :).
  • 2bassets
    2bassets Posts: 193 Member
    Well I wouldn't really call it a cheat day but I didn't run a deficit on Christmas. Nope. Me and those delicious 8000 calories had a great holiday :).

    HA! Great one!
  • 2bassets
    2bassets Posts: 193 Member
    I usually have 2 cheat days. Lunch on Saturdays and Lunch on Sundays, but I still watch and try not to over do it. Weekends are the hardest!
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 671 Member
    Regret fueled by guilt topped with anxiety and bloat.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    non-existent...

    I've been here for around 15 months and I still can't figure out why people do this or what exactly it means. Why not just eat at a more reasonable and sustainable deficit and fit the things you enjoy into your calorie goal rather than going off on some cheat day or binge or whatever?

    I swear this is one of the reasons that "it just doesn't work" for so many people. They go all deprivation diet and can't take it any more so they go nuts and eat all the foods and have nothing to show for anything.

    When I was losing I occasionally had a day where I ate to maintenance...that was all...maintenance isn't cheating and I do not believe in "good" or "bad" foods. I believe in getting proper nutrition and hitting your calorie and macro goals...it's really easy. While I was losing I regularly drank beer, ate desert, enjoyed delicious carbs like past, potatoes, bread, etc.

    I just think people set themselves up for disaster with unrealistically huge calorie deficits and trying to cut out everything that is awesome in the world of food and then they have to "cheat"

    I've been maintaining now for almost 8 months and I will occasionally overindulge...holidays, birthday, random BBQ, etc...I don't consider those "cheating"...and they don't represent my day to day so in the grand scheme of my life, they are pretty much meaningless. I just think people get far to into this minutia and it drowns them...
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I do not go over my calories, so I guess it's not a true-blue cheat day (?)

    But for me it would be something like...

    donut or two for breakfast with coffee

    regular (enormous) portion of curry or pad Thai at lunch and maybe boba tea

    veggies & salmon for dinner (pretty normal), but followed by a mini Blizzard at DQ


    Essentially - a much more indulgent, FAR less healthy day of eating than normal. Going into the red on sugar, fat, and sometimes sodium.

    Those days come around 2 or 3 times a month. They do tend to include heavier exercise for me than normal though, too. A bout of hiking, bike rides, and usually LOTS of walking. I tend to eat about 1700-1900 calories versus my usual 1300-1400 and definitely not the same type of food.
  • daniellabella986
    daniellabella986 Posts: 325 Member
    I usually go once a week, but only at one meal. Like for dinner it'll be a burger or a serious dessert I've been wanting. Sometimes I'll have it on Sundays when we get my favorite crumb cake from the bakery here...and I may or may not devour ¾ of it lol

    Let's stop calling it "cheat" day/meal...it's such a negative connotation! We should all be considering it treating instead. I dunno, could just be me but I think it makes it more rewarding and less like you're being bad for cheating.
  • alexander_airey93
    alexander_airey93 Posts: 19
    So far, I dont think i've ever had any cheat days! Got to stick with it. I do have some chocolate but its still within my calorie range!
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    It usually involves Little Ceasars deep dish pizza & beer. And NFL. And no gym. So more often in the winter.
    In the summer my cheat days are when we go camping. No workout and I eat hot dogs.
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
    non-existent...

    I've been here for around 15 months and I still can't figure out why people do this or what exactly it means. Why not just eat at a more reasonable and sustainable deficit and fit the things you enjoy into your calorie goal rather than going off on some cheat day or binge or whatever?

    I swear this is one of the reasons that "it just doesn't work" for so many people. They go all deprivation diet and can't take it any more so they go nuts and eat all the foods and have nothing to show for anything.

    When I was losing I occasionally had a day where I ate to maintenance...that was all...maintenance isn't cheating and I do not believe in "good" or "bad" foods. I believe in getting proper nutrition and hitting your calorie and macro goals...it's really easy. While I was losing I regularly drank beer, ate desert, enjoyed delicious carbs like past, potatoes, bread, etc.

    I just think people set themselves up for disaster with unrealistically huge calorie deficits and trying to cut out everything that is awesome in the world of food and then they have to "cheat"

    I've been maintaining now for almost 8 months and I will occasionally overindulge...holidays, birthday, random BBQ, etc...I don't consider those "cheating"...and they don't represent my day to day so in the grand scheme of my life, they are pretty much meaningless. I just think people get far to into this minutia and it drowns them...

    This times a million! Everything in moderation! Once I learned and accepted that, I was finally able to lose weight and keep it off.

    And now I am going to go eat a cupcake.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I define cheat days by going over my TDEE. Typically some kind of dessert is involved :laugh: . Typically it's not planned (the only ones I planned were Thanksgiving and Christmas). If I planned it, I'd actually try to fit it in my calories, lol. My worst day so far has been 2800, so it could be worse. And I still exercise as usual.

    I should add, because I have to, that I'm going to seriously avoid those in the near future, they totally messed up my losing streak the last couple months. I'll limit it to special occasions only...
  • Cahillj
    Cahillj Posts: 3 Member
    Friday night is pizza night. If I didn't have my pizza, I would probably go insane. I exercise those days just to make sure I minimize the impact, somewhat. I do T25 and P90X for my exercise, so those days I normally burn about 300-400 calories with each workout. The key is to not turn a cheat day into a cheat week. That's where you get really far off track.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
    Monday through Friday I stick to my eating plan. On Saturday and/or Sunday if there is something that I've been craving I will have it. Usually this just involves sushi or maybe some wine. I've noticed that when the weekends come I generally don't have the urge to go too crazy. I still workout on Saturday and Sunday too. This works for me but everyone is different.
  • marko320
    marko320 Posts: 84 Member
    On my cheat days I usually schedule some customer visits that I don't intend to keep. She usually makes up a reason to leave the office, like taking a half day to take her kid to the orthodontist. We try and meet at a neutral territory like a motel that isn't near either of our houses. If we plan it right, we can squeeze 4 hours of time together in between lunch and dinner. After parking our cars away from the main street, we pay cash for the room so nobody will ever see a suspicious charge. One of us usually brings a bottle of red...
  • grillnchill
    grillnchill Posts: 772 Member
    I don't do cheat days, for me it would be more like a "treat meal" or "treat food." I enjoy eating clean but occasionally I crave more carbs/sugar/wine, etc so I just have it and make sure I exercise and not sit on my culo.
  • sillyvalentine
    sillyvalentine Posts: 460 Member
    Non existent. Maybe when I get closer to my goal I will feel that I deserve one, but not yet.
  • jgetzler
    jgetzler Posts: 23
    I "cheat" on Friday night and Saturday night. I like to have a few beers on Friday and Sat night and then like to snack after. Mostly I still come in right around what my daily goal is, sometimes I go over a little but I also make it up during the week by eating fewer calories.
  • cassy_runs
    cassy_runs Posts: 94
    My cheat days usually happen on Sundays. I'm way down in the south, so usually my Sundays consists of going to church, meeting my friends for lunch, sitting at a coffee shop for a large portion of the afternoon just catching up, and eventually going out for dinner and margaritas. At lunch, I tend to eat pretty light because I know I want that margarita later, lol. I might have a dish that has more veggies than anything and a grilled lean meat or seafood. I drink a soy latte at the coffee shop and then spend the rest of the time getting water refills. At dinner, we usually end up eating at a Mexican restaurant and I order whatever tickles my fancy regardless of contents. Unless I eat like a zillion chips and salsa, I still don't tend to go over my calorie goals, especially if I got in a run that morning before church. ;)
  • Murph1908
    Murph1908 Posts: 125 Member
    I 'cheat' on Saturdays. My exercise during the week puts me well below my goal calories on a couple of days. I don't eat back the extra calories for big workouts, so I am about 1000 to 1500 under budget by Saturday night.

    So I enjoy a nice night out with the wife on Saturday. I get the big beer and don't stress about my desert. I'll go up to 300 over my daily goal as a treat.

    For the guy who said he thinks this is why it doesn't work for people, I disagree. I think this helps make it work for me. If I deprived myself for too long, I'd be more likely to quit. Having one day a week to forget about it a little and enjoy it keeps me going through the next week.

    But it's funny. To stay at that 300 overage, I'll go out and walk or do something active. Before MFP, my cheats would be worse.
  • Dugleik
    Dugleik Posts: 125
    I don't do cheat days. I work things I want into my diet and don't stress as long as my calories are beneath maintenance. That said when I visit my grandmother I eat whatever she puts in front of me without stressing about how many calories it is.
  • ritan7471
    ritan7471 Posts: 99 Member
    I hear that. At my husband's grandmother's house, if she offers it, you eat it. And it's always good.

    Other than that, I do have cheat evening on Fridays, where I indulge in a special treat and dessert. But for the whole rest of the day I eat normally and within my calories. This is also because my husband is not on MFP or any set diet plan, but he's all for eating healthy as long as he can eat whatever he wants on Friday night.
  • Mr_Starr
    Mr_Starr Posts: 139 Member
    I do not do cheat days. I log everything and count all calories.

    With that said... there are some days I go over my goal. For example today I went 300 calories over my goal. But it is ok and I do not feel guilty about it. This weekend I had planned on having a couple of microbrews and a nice desert, so I ate under my goal for the week and this weekend I upped my cardio so I was way under my goal. But then when the time came I just was not interested. I never did get around to drinking those microbrews, though tonight I finally did have that delicious dessert I planned for.


    If i did not track those extra calories I would soon be reversing my progress. An extra 400 calories per week would translate to gaining 6 lbs for the year. And year after year it adds up. So best for me to log and track those "extra calories" so I can adjust my meals and cardio to make up for it.
  • Seabee74
    Seabee74 Posts: 314
    Amen Mr Wolfman and Mr Starr !!!
  • amwoidyla
    amwoidyla Posts: 257 Member
    Mine are something extra special I've been craving. Like a burger, pizza, or chinese. Sunday during the playoffs I wanted pizza (lots of it) and also wanted beer. I made a cauli crust pizza with my favorite toppings and ate the whole dang thing, plus 2 craft beers. So while it totally fit into my cals and macros, the amount of food I was able to eat that day is what made it a cheat for me.
  • Shuuma
    Shuuma Posts: 465 Member
    Cheat day petrifies me because I will start and not stop. For now, I stick to the plan and enjoy things by fitting them into my day. For me, food is a living thing that I have a relationship with. I am working to detach myself from that mentality slowly, but surely. So, keeping my "treats" as other things is where I'm all in. When I hit ONEderland, I'm getting a tattoo! To me, that's worth sticking to my daily calories and workouts.

    To clarify: I totally would love to do the "cheat day" thing, but I can't be trusted just yet. It's still too early in my lifestyle change! Kudos to the folks that can!

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