The cheat day question!

I eat chicken fish or turkey most days, but last Sunday I REALLY wanted a rib eye steak. So I had one. I didnt consider it cheating cause I know I gotta live, and I aint gonna make it to my grave without the occasional steak, dish of ice cream or candy bar. I listed it in my food diary. That truly helps keep me on track. I went over my allotment by 200 calories. Do I regret it? Heck NO! :laugh:

Cheat days don't work well for me if I'm working a specific plan. They just seem to get me off track and make me want to go back to old habits. Hamburgers and fries are my nemesis. If I eat them on Sunday afternoon, I want them again Monday night. That's just me. So, as an alternative I can make an 6 ounce patty (90/10) and baked some sweet potato chips. I will skip the bun and condiments. I get my fix without the guilt and without further cravings. Hope this helps.

I used to have cheat days, but I realized that I would eat myself sick and get an immense food baby LOL Sometimes I would gag too and it was just too uncomfortable. Hence, if I want a treat, I now fit it into my day and I'm happy

I don't have a "cheat day", although I should probably incorporate one into my eating and exercise regimen.

My day off is kinda a cheat day. But I still log everything. I suppose the only way it's a cheat day is I put less pressure on my food choices and staying under my goal. If I go over by a hundred or so, eh, no biggie.

I cycle my calories so that I allow more on the weekends and eat less throughout the week. Then, I can have a little bit more of something I like. I still try to include healthy foods through. And, I still have sweets and things during the week, just not as much.

I eat "bad" stuff everyday. LOL.

I just aim not to eat as much of the sweety goodness like I used to. I have a limit. Most days I am under my calories or close to it so I figure that is just fine. I am eating plenty of veggies and good proteins most of the time and Im losing weight.

I dont really call it a cheat tho. I give myself between 2-300 calories a day of junky stuff. I usually use it up on chocolate and it works for me.

My only advice is to make your cheat day a "healthy cheat day." The days of eating crap are over, a person must embrace their new found healthy life.

I don't do cheat days as such - I go over sometimes but it's not a planned cheat day and I still log everything.

But 'the days of eating crap' do not have to be over - some 'crap' in moderation can still be part of a healthy life.

Cheat days don't work for me.

I either calculate something sweet in every (second) day and am fine.

This. I've been on here a few times in the past, and I can link my falling off the wagon to cheat meals or cheat days. Its too hard for me to let go than go back to recording food. I allow myself a low cal ice cream sandwich or a couple pieces of dark chocolate and log them. I have a wedding I am going to in the end of May and I am saving up for 1 cheat meal, and I plan on trying to record it anyway.

I do a cheat day, whenever i want to take one, usually ends up being roughly 1 a month. I find they are an excellent reminder of how awesome i feel when im eating well and working out and how ****ty i feel after eating a load of crap, usually leads to an increased accuracy of my logging along with higher levels of motivation for the next 2 weeks, leading to an increase in my weight loss over the period immediately after having a cheat day.

If you can do 1 day without it turning into a couple days a week a month e.t.c then i don't see why you shouldnt, on the days that i don't wanna be worrying about calories like special occasions i just don't... lost a load of weight doing it this way and will continue to lose more until im happy with where im at.

I agree with having a cheat meal (not a cheat day). its good especially if you have a severe caloric deficit because your metabolism will slow down if you don't eat one day at least once a week at or slightly above your maintenance. usually I try to eat as healthy as I can while working toward my goal, but you also need to live too. Sometimes theres no resisting pizza or other takeout. but its in the everyday decisions that really make a difference, eat clean the rest of the days a cheat meal once a week will not hurt.

I have normally 2 cheat meals a week where I dont count and I dont count my vodka or bourbon and still lose at 1700 calories, but I do a lot of running and cycling, so works for me :-)

I have cheat weekends, Friday to Sunday. I love chocolate. Especially those new Dairymilk bars. So I have one of those once a week.
I make sure to get to the gym as much as possible especially on cheat days. I also find that when I do go to the gym on cheat days, I am less likey to make a lot of bad food decisions.

I have done cheat weekends ever since I started my healthy ways. There was a point when I was gaining or not losing as much because the amount of exercise I was doing just not enough to burn off the bad food.

My strategy is.. eat extremely well during the week and exercise as much as possible. Continue to exercise on your cheat days, don't go too overboard with your cheat meals and you're all good.

Well I've only been at this for 24 days, but I decided to have a "Yummy Meal" every week - I log it as a yummy meal and ball park the calories (last week was a pound of wings and fries and ice cream lol). I most definitely will NOT deprive myself of those super high cal delicious foods because that's not a realistic goal for me for the rest of my life. That's how I feel now, but maybe in a few months I'll not want those foods......but I doubt it lol.

Does anyone here have an actual cheat day? Or big cheat meal? And if so, have you had negative effects from this? Or does it help sanity and not impact really at all? I'm just curious on everyone's opinion because I feel as if a cheat/reward day isn't bad at all.

Personally I just take responsibility for my own diet decisions, recognising that some days I'll go over goal, some days I'll be under. My fitness objectives and weight loss goals aren't going to be affected by a single day, as long as I'm on a trend of being around goal.

Cheat as a term is semantic nonsense, who is being cheated?