How do you feel about cheat days?

I guess I don't understand the rationale for "cheat days." To me, the ultimate goal of weightloss should be to assume a lifestyle where you are comfortable in the diet, exercise pattern, and, well, lifestyle that you choose, and don't have this dichotomy in your brain of "cheat day" and "other days." Which, to me, would set me up for thinking "cheat days are GREAT!" and non-cheat days are the hell you must endure until you can have your cheat day.

Well stated, I agree with all of this.

I guess I don't understand the rationale for "cheat days." To me, the ultimate goal of weightloss should be to assume a lifestyle where you are comfortable in the diet, exercise pattern, and, well, lifestyle that you choose, and don't have this dichotomy in your brain of "cheat day" and "other days." Which, to me, would set me up for thinking "cheat days are GREAT!" and non-cheat days are the hell you must endure until you can have your cheat day.

I decided I'd rather set myself up for long-term success by establishing a lifestyle where every day is a day you're happy to be in because you have a system you can live with and enjoy all the time--and be proud of, and confident in. Rather than this day where I give myself the latitude to overeat, and then feel like I'm restricting myself the other days. I don't consider any of my days restrictive--or indulgent (which makes me feel guilty and self-loathing knocks on my door)--they are just how I've set up my life. If I stick to it 90% of the time, barring vacations and special occasions, I'm ok with that.

So if you must do a cheat day, have at it, but I hope that the other days in your week you're just as happy!

This.

I am trying to establish something I can maintain indefinitely. I fit my favorite foods into my plan, so no need for cheat days. My attitude is that if I'm not going to give something up forever, I'd better figure out how to make it fit into my goals.

I'm a terrible binger and i have a love of all things unhealthy! It has ruined my diet efforts so many times in the past!

Now, i accept the fact that i will probably have a few biscuits at work during the day, just because i love them and i am the one in charge of keeping the biscuit tin filled (lol), so i count them into my daily calorie allowance.

Weekends are always the hardest for me as the lack of routine means that it is all too easy to give in to my cravings, especially because i'm more likely to be surrounded by food at these times. Because i know this, i'm a bit more relaxed over the weekend, but i try and make sure i'm out of the house and as active as possible. Usually i can still be controleld and not consume a damaging amount, but then i get those days (usually a hungover Sunday) where i'll lie around the house all day, eating crap and ordering a huge takeaway in the evening.

I tried having a once a week treat day, but i find that my binge cravings are so unpredictable that i would much rather wait until they hit and decide then whether i'm going to indulge rather than have a set day. Yes, i do usually gain, but usually just a little which drops off if i'm straight back onto restrictive eating the next day.

Anyway, i'm rambling; my advice is to listen to your body and see if you can recognize for any patterns or anything that may trigger you off and work around those. When you feel a binge coming on, drink plenty of water (although, i prefer caffeine-not as healthy, but i'm a bit of an addict). Or do some exercise, even if it's just some crunches, as it can release chemicals which surpress your appetite, (and i'm afraid i have no scientific evidence to back that up, but it's something i've heard and i know that for me personally, exercise always helps eliminate the cravings. If i still want to eat after that, then i'm genuinely hungry). Also, planning your meals for the day ahead, but leave a couple of hundred calories free just in case a craving catches you by surprise!

I know how difficult, and depressing it can be to get stuck in that cycle-i'm determined i'm going to break it, and i'm sure you can too

I enjoy what I like in moderation....just fit it into my day.

THANK YOU!! I agree whole heartedly. I've tried so many things in my life to lose weight. I was even power lifting for several years going to the gym but I never emphasized cardio enough and not even that worked because of not having a set lifestyle and more importantly not eating right/consistently. Im only doing light stuff now like stretching dumbells abs and im on my feet cooking during the day. For me, my daily caloric expenditure is 2300kcal....so I set my daily intake to be 1800 cal/ day. I hit it or below most of the time(99 percent of the time) but some days that I dont I log EVERYTHING all the time, it only takes a few minutes. I recommend reading sugarbusters. Ive cut almost all my unneccessary simple carbs out completely. I dont eat refined sugars white flours or white rice. I do eat alot of egg whites ( if I feel like eating whole egg I eat it) and fish like salmon tuna or tilapia. In another month I think I will be up to slowly reintroducing myself back into the gym. If you havent already try getting rid of sodas. For me I cutit out by half then in about a month I did it again and by three months it was gone. I dont drink them anymore. I do have a gatorade every once in a while but water is best for me ( I jazz it up a little with lemon wedges too).

Basically find a routine stick to it and log it. Repeat repeat repeat. Noone is perfect just get back on it. Ive found that by logging I hold myself more accountable and I can see whats going on. Thanks MFP!

I also stick to my rule, no fried food and no candy. That may be impossible for some, but its a good thing to stick by. Those 2 foods are just empty calories.

Now that is not always true. At least for fried food, anyway. The fried catfish and okra at Parramore's Too the other night were full of flavor. {I gave the hushpuppies to my wife} And I did enough exercise that by bedtime the numbers were not red.

Yea, I like having a cheat day. But I never go over 1800 calories and I make sure that I get a monster sesh in the gym first thing in the morning. But I tend to just do it once a month, to fit in with the hormonys that make mac'n' cheese on a hotdog with a bag of chocolate chaser such a hard thing to resist.

Then otherwise I'll have a cheat meal once a week, usually a Saturday, but I will fit the rest of my day around it so that I will only go over my deficit by a tiny amount. For example, if we're eating out, I'll plan ahead what I want and log it then keep the rest of my daily intake to an absolute minimum. Plus a work-out.

Whenever I've tried to loose weight in the past and allowed myself 'cheat' days I failed. If you're addicted to unhealthy eating then
I wouldn't allow any cheat days until you've gotten into the habit of eating healthy. I've been on this journey so far for a few months. And have two days where I did go out of my calorie limits, Easter Sunday and the day after. I was able to get right back into eating healthy but wouldn't encourage going off the wagon until you're comfortable where you're at.

I dont recommend an entire cheat day that could undue all of your hard work for the week. a cheat meal wouldnt be so bad. And I would still only eat to Maintenance which for me is about 1850 or so

I don't really do cheat days in the sense of setting aside a day when I purposefully eat whatever. There have been a few days in my 160 odd days of tracking that I have gone over but no premeditated cheat days. I think they just have too much potential to undo the work already done. If I were to take one I would only do it one every month or two. A weekly cheat is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. I have seen friends take cheat days during the very first week of counting, not a good way to start.

^^^^^This is the same as my opinion.