Cheat Meals/Days: Are they worth it?

I think you answered your own question. If you could lose weight having cheat days then go for it. Otherwise, you are blowing your calorie deficiency and will not lose or continue to gain. I eat as I wish and fit it into my calories limits. Even if you go over, still log and track everything. It also wouldn't hurt to buy a food scale.

Personal preference I'm sure. I don't do them. I think for me it would be similar and lead to bad habits. The one time I did overdo it, I felt miserable afterwards, (physically) so not worth it.

Well, I must say that I screwed up.... kind of. My husband and I had a planned anniversary get away to a place that's known for good food. It was for 2 days and nights. I planned on splurging but carefully. I watched my portions and we walked and walked and walked and I even went swimming. Still, I gained 4 pounds back in those 2 days. I cant believe how fast I gained it back. I must be super susceptible to gaining weight. So, I guess I will be digging my heals back in hard. BTW....our weekend was so fun and I think it was sort of worth it. 20 years with my husband is worth a pound or two

I don't do "cheat days". They are too tempting to fall off of the wagon for good and I struggle to get back on. I feel better sticking to my plan. That being said, do what's working for you, and if it isn't working then change it up.

I think it depends on how you define cheat meal or cheat day. I sometimes let myself eat up to my TDEE. My diary goal is set to my sedentary TDEE at 1902 calories, but with exercise I actually burn around 2500 cals per day. I try to stick with my 1902 goal because that should give me about a pound lost per week but every once in a while I need a mental health day where I dont have to watch my intake as closely. Technically if I dont consume more than I burn I am still winning. My choices tend to mean that I am eating more salt and sugar so my scale takes a hit for a few days but its only water retention. No cause for panic.

Knowing your data will help. How much can you eat before you start to store it as fat? Cheat up to that amount and it should be fine.

Well, I must say that I screwed up.... kind of. My husband and I had a planned anniversary get away to a place that's known for good food. It was for 2 days and nights. I planned on splurging but carefully. I watched my portions and we walked and walked and walked and I even went swimming. Still, I gained 4 pounds back in those 2 days. I cant believe how fast I gained it back. I must be super susceptible to gaining weight. So, I guess I will be digging my heals back in hard. BTW....our weekend was so fun and I think it was sort of worth it. 20 years with my husband is worth a pound or two

Don't get so down on yourself. You did not gain 4 pounds of fat in two days of breaking your diet. The changes in volume and activity level have most likely forced your body to retain more water. Although fat loss is linear over time, weight loss is highly erratic, especially over small amounts of time. Yes, you should get back on your healthy regiment right away, but don't think that you have to make up for a couple days of leisure.

As far as the main topic goes, a cheat meal can be good for your sanity but obviously it has its pitfalls. I recommend planning out the meals you are going to eat afterwards before you cheat. If you have those meals set aside already, you are more likely to stick to the diet and quickly get back on track.

But this also brings up a bigger problem. Strict dieting is good for weight loss over short periods of time or when you've lost control of your weight and need to get back on top of it. But most people should concentrate on eating healthier and working out more, but still creating a diet that allows them to enjoy the foods they love. Becoming a healthier person will only work long term if you create a sustainable pattern. If you feel like your diet is torturing you, then you are far more likely to rebound and put the weight back on. Don't be so concerned with the pace of weight loss. Worry more about overall progress. Move in the right direction and teach yourself better habits. Don't feel bad about eating delicious foods because those foods should already be built into your lifestyle.

Well, I must say that I screwed up.... kind of. My husband and I had a planned anniversary get away to a place that's known for good food. It was for 2 days and nights. I planned on splurging but carefully. I watched my portions and we walked and walked and walked and I even went swimming. Still, I gained 4 pounds back in those 2 days. I cant believe how fast I gained it back. I must be super susceptible to gaining weight. So, I guess I will be digging my heals back in hard. BTW....our weekend was so fun and I think it was sort of worth it. 20 years with my husband is worth a pound or two

You can't put on four Lbs of fat in two days....

I guess it all boils down to whatever works for you. Weekends used to be my cheat days--I ate more than my daily calorie limit, not logged what I ate, and sometimes took a break from working out--yet I still lost tons of weight. The downside was that Mondays always turned out to be a rough day in terms of going back to the swing of things. It's either you make it or you break it.

Now I went from cheat days to cheat meals once a week. What I do is that I save more or less 200 calories per day so I can "collect" at least 1,000 calories for a cheat meal every Sunday. I use MFP's mobile version to see my average weekly summary to see how much I saved from my daily deficit, and eat some of them on Sundays (or all if we're going out).

Cheat days/meals work for me just to take a break from limiting my calorie intake. I once had a relapse from having an extremely strict diet, so now I sort of have a little weekly reward for myself.

You're the only one who can answer that question. One cheat meal is not going to derail you, if you don't let it. It will slow things down, but it can be worth it for special occasions. If you're going to use it as an excuse to eat poorly for days though... don't.

My daily calorie goal is 1,500. The week before last, I had a cheat meal and it triggered bad habits. I went two days in a row eating bad, then I did well the 3rd day. But the 4th & 5th day, I did horrible.

This weekend I took one day off on Sunday and I exercised well mostly all week long and I didn't eat those calories back.

My point is that I feel terrible. I feel like all my hard work goes down the drain. Should I avoid cheat days/meals altogether? Should I just work it into my calorie goal? I know alot of people take those days off but maybe it's not for me?!

Yeah, this is definitely an individual thing but I think most of us can relate! I am currently in the middle of a bad streak, but honestly, I'm happy with my progress so far and the muscle I have built. I am not going absolutely crazy anymore because I can usually fit some pretty whacky stuff into my macros for the day instead of restricting myself until I lose all willpower and go crazy! I usually try to stick to a "cheat meal" instead of a whole day, and if feasible I try to load up on protein earlier in the day to make sure I get enough in because let's face it, most of us are gonna binge on sugary and fatty foods, not chicken breast, tuna and whey my wife's birthday was last week and mine is tomorrow so we are using our free meal coupons at the local restaurants, can't pass up free gains!