Please define "Cheat days"

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Biddygirl77
Biddygirl77 Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am pretty new to this caloric deficit way of eating, which is SO liberating! Anyway, I have been seeing posters mention cheat days. Does that mean you are eating beyond your calorie goal? Eating something within your calorie goal but not necessarily good for you (like chips, for instance), not logging?? I would love to know. Thanks!

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  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
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    There will be differing opinions. For me it's eating over my calorie goal because that the only thing I deny myself - quantity. Eating a small amount of chips or chocolate or whatever isn't cheating to me because I regularly eat things like that already. Cheating is when moderation is exceeded.
  • nikkihk
    nikkihk Posts: 487 Member
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    I am pretty new to this caloric deficit way of eating, which is SO liberating! Anyway, I have been seeing posters mention cheat days. Does that mean you are eating beyond your calorie goal? Eating something within your calorie goal but not necessarily good for you (like chips, for instance), not logging?? I would love to know. Thanks!

    Well calories are calories... as long as you watch your caloric intake? You technically can eat anything you want. I mean I'm sure there are health benefits to eating some thing vs. others? And you might want to balance out what you eat with fats/proteins/carbs... but other then that, "cheat day" is really just a silly invention for the carrots/celery folks to eat donuts. Just have the damn donut and fit it into your meal plan.

    =D
  • rayfu75
    rayfu75 Posts: 209 Member
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    When I was eating strictly paleo a "cheat day" was having grains or anything that wasn't "paleo" . I've started to just track my macros since October when i joined here. Now a "cheat day" is eating over my daily calories / macros. I enjoy pizza and baked goods so I don't consider them "cheat foods" as long as I am within my macros/ calories for the day. My daily goal is to have fruits and veggies to be the bulk of my menu (not always easy to do if I don't meal prep) but having a serving of some chips or a cookie once a week or every other day is no longer "off limits" Hope that helps.
  • tnsumner
    tnsumner Posts: 283 Member
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    When I started this whole journey, I did not allow myself a cheat day for 2 weeks. It's too easy to slip back into old habits if you get a cheat day after 4 successful days or so. My cheat day is usually on Saturday. I have a beer, maybe some pizza, or a sandwich/burger. After you do this a while, you'll notice you don't want fast food. Other "fun" foods will make you sick... Chinese, fast food, hot dogs, etc. Everyone is different though.
  • Losingthedamnweight
    Losingthedamnweight Posts: 535 Member
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    For me a cheat day is when I take a break from counting altogether. It's like a vacation day. I don't have to go overboard and eat everything in sight, but it's like a holiday. I can even plan my cheat day to land on certain special events like the fair or birthdays so then I don't feel like I'm depriving myself.

    My first official cheat day this week sucked though. I didn't want it at all and I was more excited about losing weight than stuffing my face. It's getting to a point in my diet where I don't really crave junk food in high amounts anymore. Especially since I can work that into my calories, it almost makes a cheat day pointless. This Monday was my special day and I just felt...like I forced myself to eat a bunch of crap i didn't want to because it happened to be my cheat day. By the end, I felt sick as a dog. Just bloated and disgusting. Next time I'm only having a cheat day if I actually want it. This Monday was just ridiculous
  • bheathfit
    bheathfit Posts: 451 Member
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    It's your cheat day, so it's your rules...

    My cheat day typically involves half of a bottle of intoxicating liquid. I log everything that I intake while conscious, so I see that I just had a 5000-7000 calorie day. I personally attempt to meet my protein goal regardless. The more cheat days, the more it affects your long term goals.

    Your cheat day doesn't need to involve waking up in a strange place, in nothing but your work boots and cowboy hat... Some girls don't like cheat days like mine... but some girls do... :wink:
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    cheat days are very subjective...

    I don't do cheat days I don't feel the need...I eat what I want everyday and stay within my goals of 1600-1700.

    If I want a bacon cheese burger and a ff with gravy I eat it...
  • ea_osborne
    ea_osborne Posts: 5 Member
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    For me a cheat day is when I take a break from counting altogether. It's like a vacation day. I don't have to go overboard and eat everything in sight, but it's like a holiday. I can even plan my cheat day to land on certain special events like the fair or birthdays so then I don't feel like I'm depriving myself.

    My first official cheat day this week sucked though. I didn't want it at all and I was more excited about losing weight than stuffing my face. It's getting to a point in my diet where I don't really crave junk food in high amounts anymore. Especially since I can work that into my calories, it almost makes a cheat day pointless. This Monday was my special day and I just felt...like I forced myself to eat a bunch of crap i didn't want to because it happened to be my cheat day. By the end, I felt sick as a dog. Just bloated and disgusting. Next time I'm only having a cheat day if I actually want it. This Monday was just ridiculous

    That's exactly what I do. It's such a pain to be constantly weighing, measuring, and counting everything I eat. On my "cheat" days, I try not to go nuts, but indulge a little more and take a break from all the obnoxious food tracking. It really helps to take a short break from it all for a day and is necessary to do (for me) in order have the discipline to stay on track during the week.
  • Jkn921
    Jkn921 Posts: 309 Member
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    My 'cheat day' usually still keeps me in my calorie deficit but a slightly lower one. However today as I am trying to up my calories for one-two days (going to devour 1800-2000 calories).
  • YorriaRaine
    YorriaRaine Posts: 370 Member
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    "Cheat Day" for me will be days I go over my calorie deficit for the day. I don't really plan for them to be that often, special occasions and the like.

    However, I was reading some post and allot of people don't have cheat days but instead have "cheat meals," meaning, they went out to eat that day or had something they don't feel like logging. Most of the time they eat really healthy all the other meals they had that day. Some people say they give themselves room in their deficit throughout the week for those days they go out to eat and such.

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