Cheat Days?

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Whiskeytub
Whiskeytub Posts: 96 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I am nearing the end of my weight loss and trying to get ready for maintenance. During the calorie deficit, I've had a cheat day every week where I eat whatever I want (within reason) and don't worry about logging and it's really helped me mentally to not feel deprived or overly obsessive (which is hard to do when you're methodically recording everything you put in your body). From my reading it seems like cheat days also have a helpful boosting affect on the weight loss process. I love them.

My question is, once I get to the point where calories in = calories out, the need for a cheat day goes away, right? So if I want to have a no-log day, should I just set my daily calorie goal to about 50-100 calories less during the week and hope it evens itself out? Are cheat days a thing of the past?
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Replies

  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
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    Congrats on making it to maintenance. I have been on MFP for 20 months and can't wait to get there too. My thoughts on that - I'm going to continue doing what I was doing, but up my cals close to my TDEE a little at a time. When I reach the point where I am maintaining my weight I will stay there.

    I think that if what you are doing is successful, just adjust your calories. Even in maintenance it's about calories in/calories out. Just on a higher level. If you've worked in a cheat meal while losing, you can still have one in maintenance. I'm hoping that's just the way normal people eat anyway.

    Good luck.
  • lizzyclatworthy
    lizzyclatworthy Posts: 296 Member
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    I don't so much have a cheat day as a 'work my *kitten* off at the gym and really enjoy eating those calories back' day (yeah Lizzy, like last nights takeaway wasn't a 'cheat' lol) but I would say if you have found something that works for you then stick with it, alter it if it stops working.
    My trainer has a cheat day.
    Congratulations on reaching maintenance btw :drinker:
  • lisab64mfp
    lisab64mfp Posts: 89 Member
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    If it worked for you during your weight loss journey - then I say keep it. I'd make sure and keep an eye on your weight -- just in case you need to adjust your deficit higher. I maintain an average daily deficit (I look at my daily numbers but worry more about my weekly averages) of between 150-250 to maintain but I attribute that to less than diligent tracking now that I'm at maintenance (almost 3 years).
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    I do not really do cheat days..

    I make room for whatever it is that I want in my day and then have it and either maintain my deficit or eat at maintenance for that day ….
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    Cheat days aren't for me....they kind of make me think of the old me who had shame about food (cheat...negative word) and binged.

    Instead I factor in all of my favourite foods, and do big workouts that get fuelled by great nosh!

    Of course some days I go off the grid in the evening, but is kind of know when they're about to happen so balance it out somewhere else. I really don't go overboard anymore either, maybe one or two drinks more than planned, half a dessert, more nibbles, a delicious main course, seconds....

    You learn about yourself and what you need to be happy and successful, I'm closer to that than I've ever been.
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    I find that you have to be careful about having 'cheat days' when you're in maintenance, because energy you don't use is now going to be stored as fat as you have no calorie deficit in the bank.

    What I do if there is something coming up where I will really need extra calories would be to:
    a) Save up a few hundred uneaten calories through the week to use for that occassion, or (my favourite..)
    b) Work my butt off burning the calories to have that evening, it's a real motivator and a just reward for the effort.

    Generally though, and as someone mentioned - I generally just work with what I've got. I'm so used to maintenance now that binging on food/drink just doesn't appeal so much any more. :flowerforyou:
  • TonyStark30
    TonyStark30 Posts: 497 Member
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    with the Amount of Calories MFP gives you to maintain i doubt you would NEED to eat at a Deficit all week to have one bad day, just earn exercise Cals and not have a bad day every week! Its hard to eat clean and even Make it up to Maintenance Cals, so you could eat a 'bad' treat everyday if you wanted to, so the desire to eat all things bad at once wont even be there.
  • kluvit
    kluvit Posts: 435 Member
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    My recommendation is that in maintenance, you continue the habits that made you successful during weight loss. For me, I incorporate the foods I love into my budget on a daily basis, or eat at a deficit during the week to help "pay" for a splurge on the weekend, so on a weekly basis, I stay within my calorie budget. Because I never really deprived myself of the things I really wanted, but instead figured out a way to manage them in, I haven't felt the need for a "cheat day," but it you've been successful with your 6/1 plan during weightloss, you're likely to be successful continuing it.
  • 4ever420
    4ever420 Posts: 4,088 Member
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    I'm very similar to you, I have a cheat day once a week and I'm nearing maintenance myself. I actually have been thinking about this quite a bit and I think I'm going to try eating at .5 lb/week deficit 6 days out of the week and still have my cheat day as normal. I guess I'll just see how that goes and adjust accordingly. Good luck!






    Edit: Spelling
  • supermumincanada
    supermumincanada Posts: 59 Member
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    Am at maintenance, I, also had cheat days throughout my weight loss, I sort of wondered the same thing at your stage. I sort of still have them, but just differently, if I eat too much one day, I will cut back the next few days to compensate, or will exercise more or will just wait till have banked some extra calories. I love my swim days cause I get to eat what I want, so yes you can still have them just factor them in .
  • alyssa3941
    alyssa3941 Posts: 2
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    Cheat Days, in my opinion are 100% okay! Once you reach that goal weight, YOU DESERVE IT! Go ahead eat a brownie, cake, ice cream or what ever it is you want, just don't over do it. Everything is okay as long it is in moderation, you need to be disciplined when it comes to "cheating" on your diet. When I got weighted the other day, and realized I weighed 113, you know what I did? I had brownies and ice cream. :)
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    I do not really do cheat days..

    I make room for whatever it is that I want in my day and then have it and either maintain my deficit or eat at maintenance for that day ….

    Me too, although I am flexible about 'days' but not about weeks.

    One of the best features of the app is that under Nutrition, if you choose 'weekly', it gives you a bar chart of your net calories for every day AND a weekly average AND a line saying what your goal is. So you can glance at it and see which days you were under/over and whether you are under your net for the week. When I go over one day (I did last Thursday), I keep watching to make sure my average for the week is under my goal. Easy check.

    I WISH MFP had this nice graph with the weekly average online and that it also had those great pie charts with the macro breakdown online. I find them more useful than anything other than the logging features.

    And why aren't the forums on the app?
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I do not really do cheat days..

    I make room for whatever it is that I want in my day and then have it and either maintain my deficit or eat at maintenance for that day ….

    Can't do that if already eating at maintenance though. Some things just won't fit, and if you go over too much, you'll gain.

    Keep a small deficit - 200 calories or something during the week. That way you can afford to go over more on week ends.
  • TonyStark30
    TonyStark30 Posts: 497 Member
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    anyTHING fits at maintenance. Just not everything at the same time lol
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Lies. You can't fit those 1600 calories desserts from restaurants unless you don't mind starving the rest of the day :p
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    Lies. You can't fit those 1600 calories desserts from restaurants unless you don't mind starving the rest of the day :p

    Too true! I almost died the first time I entered Cheesecake Factory carrot cake and saw it was a whole day's worth of calories.

    Hence fitting it into the week, not the day. Hence splitting deserts with a friend (or three). I can't even eat them any more.
  • TonyStark30
    TonyStark30 Posts: 497 Member
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    Still fits! Exercise Calories on top of that and you can eat normally for the rest of the day!
  • fitfemlove
    fitfemlove Posts: 11
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    http://fitfemlove.wordpress.com
  • 3proud
    3proud Posts: 21 Member
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    I usually eat at a 500 cal deficit on Monday and Tuesday....maybe a few hundred on Wednesday to make up for the weekend. I still record so I know how much I went over (ballpark usually) and keep an eye on the scale. After the weekend I go up a couple of pounds but by Thursday, I am back to my weight and sometimes below. I tend to go over 300-500 Friday, saturday, AND sunday.
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
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    I look at my overall week and balance calories that way. There is no "cheat" day because it's not cheating on anything...it IS my plan.

    M-F I log my food just as precisely as I did while losing weight. I keep a deficit running.

    Weekends I eat what I please. I don't log, but I don't binge either. I eat above maintenance. This lets me go out to eat without having to try to calculate calories (something I HATE since we very seldom go to restaurants with printed nutrition info), enjoy a couple beers, have some girl scout cookies, and break my tie to my phone logging it all. This also lets me feel like a normal person. Not that there's anything abnormal about logging, but it just gets to me after awhile - I've been on MFP every single day since June of 2011 and that's a LOT of logging. Sometimes I'll log my breakfast and lunch but nothing thereafter.

    Note: I still exercise on weekends. They're usually my most active time of the week - last weekend I went snowshoeing, on a long walk, and cross country skied 4 separate times. I burned about 3300 calories each day and probably ate 3500-4000.

    I've been proceeding through 18 months of weight maintenance this way and have stayed, nearly without exception, within a 5 pound range around my goal weight. While losing weight, I took 2-3 days off a month from logging. Worked for me then, works now.

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