Cheat Days?

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  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    Never had a cheat day or meal once. I'm doing ok
  • rutheglen
    rutheglen Posts: 24 Member
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    I have the odd cheat day. I look on this as a lifestyle choice now, and there is no way I am living on salad for the rest of my life (ok, exaggeration, but you know what I mean). If I go over one day, I exercise a bit more and eat a bit less the following day (or before, if it's planned). For example, I had pizza and beer last night, so I will do an extra hike this afternoon, and have a nice salad for lunch, while the rest of the family have something heavier. I don't make a big thing of it, and I am still losing fairly steadily, even with just a couple of kg to go :) (the hardest to lose???) Don't stress over it - meals are to be enjoyed , not to cause stress :)
  • Flyer69
    Flyer69 Posts: 100 Member
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    I know what I am going to say a lot of people will not agree with, however I found that I had the best success when I knew what was happening with my body and how food and exercise influence it.
    So I weighed myself 3 times a day.
    1) First thing in the morning
    2) After exercise
    3) Before going to bed.

    Those 3 times i was anyway in the bathroom with virtually no clothes on.
    I could see when I had a cheat day or alcohol and how it affected me, it would set me back days.
    (now this did not stop me doing it as I enjoy my food and drink-but this generally is in the weekend)

    I have now reached my target weight (lost 30kg), but doing it this way certainly helped me.
  • cincysweetheart
    cincysweetheart Posts: 892 Member
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    I do a cheat MEAL… not a cheat DAY. And it's not scheduled, but I allow myself one a week. Although, I often will go 2-3 weeks without one at all. And actually I call it a FREE meal… not a cheat meal. FREE to eat what I want, free from obsessing about calories. It does not mean I go hog wild. And I still log it anyway. I haven't found that by doing a free meal on occasion it has stalled or ruined my efforts in the least. In fact… I find that I still don't go over my calorie goal on those days. I don't think think it's something you have to do or should do… but I don't really see much harm in it either… so long as you can go right back to your plan. It's when cheat meals turn into cheat days and into cheat weeks and so on that you need to watch out for it.
  • cppeace
    cppeace Posts: 764 Member
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    I typically schedule a cheat day once a month. This helps with holidays and terrible cravings. The worst about a cheat day is it ruins atleast 3-5 days for weight because of sodium intake. For me my cheat days are like state fair food or xmas, thanksgiving, bday, a chinese buffet day ect.
    It's a personal choice and one must experiment to see what works for one self.
    Kim
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    Do I go over my calories every now and then? Yes and sometimes by quite a bit but its not a cheat day/meal its all part and parcel of a healthy lifestyle that has helped me lose a lot of weight

    Why do we insist on calling it a cheat day, who or what is it cheating? Is seems to be a term related to a short term weight loss goal rather than a long term goal of maintaining a healthy lifestyle
  • Debbi2309
    Debbi2309 Posts: 58 Member
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    I agree be much better to have cheat meals instead of cheat days, I know it would for me if I allowed myself a whole day I would most certainly undo all my hard work from the week and find it much harder to get back into my routine, suppose it all goes down to the individual and how much you have to lose and how motivated you are a cheat day may work for some for others only a cheat meal is needed, I do think it can do some good to just have at least that one meal a week or 2 as it can help with your metabolism plus it makes us feel good to have that naughty meal as a treat for how hard we worked and still be able to lose weight, makes me feel good anyway and have motivation to get back to the workouts and healthy food for the week so I can alllow myself that treat again
  • stephe1987
    stephe1987 Posts: 406 Member
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    Keep your calorie intake at 80% healthy and 20% indulgent and you won't need a cheat day. For example, if your daily goal is 1500 then 1200 should be healthy foods and the other 300 can be dessert or something else that you enjoy that would normally be a "cheat" item. This will be something you can continue even after you hit your goal weight and switch to maintenance mode. And you can eat the stuff you like as long as it fits under your calorie goal, just not as much as you would have before.

    I do let myself go over sometimes when there is a holiday or family gathering. But never by too much (a few hundred calories at most). I see posts by some people who go over by 3000, which is almost a pound of calories... definitely not a good choice especially as you get closer to your goal and your target weight loss is only 0.5 lb/week.
  • bertalansomogyi
    bertalansomogyi Posts: 5 Member
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    The whoe cheat day/meal concept is wrong! First of all, you don't have to think about it as cheating! Think this way: I want some high calorie food, thats ok, IF you excercise more. Sometimes a good evening walk is enough, or running, cycling etc. Mfp shows you the numbers, so it's not that hard to keep the goals. For me, the weekends are harder, family dinners etc, but with excercise I can ceep my net calories within limits. So, don call it cheating, don't make it a sin, a flaw, see the big picture: more burned calories, more food to eat :)
  • bluehydrangeas
    bluehydrangeas Posts: 16
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    I eat more than I "should" many days, but it evens out from other days that I eat a bit under. I don't consider it to be a cheat meal/cheat day...I was just hungrier that day so I ate more. I don't plan for it, it just happens. I don't think it boosts my metabolism or anything like that though.
  • bigevy
    bigevy Posts: 1 Member
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    I find cheat meals (not days) help me psychologically, because if I totally deprive myself of high calorie food, I'll fall completely off the wagon and just binge constantly (happened many times before). As I play rugby, I tend to have my cheat meal on a Saturday after a game and when I'm feeling all sore and stiff from the game, and just makes me feel better :).
  • fit_gal
    fit_gal Posts: 167
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    I don't have cheat days per say. I feel that just the word cheat is negative and it suggests that you're being naughty for having a certain food. It's all wrong. I have what I want when I want as long as its within the calories allowed for me. I think this is a healthier way of doing things and it keeps binges at bay.
  • fit_gal
    fit_gal Posts: 167
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    Do I go over my calories every now and then? Yes and sometimes by quite a bit but its not a cheat day/meal its all part and parcel of a healthy lifestyle that has helped me lose a lot of weight

    Why do we insist on calling it a cheat day, who or what is it cheating? Is seems to be a term related to a short term weight loss goal rather than a long term goal of maintaining a healthy lifestyle

    I agree with that completely x
  • caimay175
    caimay175 Posts: 42
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    One thing y really have to remember is if you are eating at a deficit each day of 300-500 calories, one good cheat day can wash away 1-2 days of your progress.

    This. At 1-2 cheat days a week, you're going to undo probably the whole weeks' work. On a day where I'm not watching what I eat, I can go to about 3000 calories (those little things add up!) So, if you're at a 500 calorie deficit, and you have two days eating at, say, 2500, you've cancelled out 4 days' worth of calorie deficit.

    Personally, I allow myself 3 cheat meals a month. I don't plan them, but I have little boxes I check, and when I've used one, I've used it. I could use all three in a week. I don't like to set aside time every week to do it, because to me that reinforces a bad habit, and I don't always want to splurge at the same time every week. Rather, it allows for me to go out with friends for dinner and not just be worrying about eating steamed vegetables and fish :)
  • eggcluck
    eggcluck Posts: 36 Member
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    I do not do cheat days. It is too easy to slip up especially with junk food. It is better (in my humble opinion) to include your favourite foods (junk or not) into a regular plan and avoid cheat days.

    Personally I am struggling to eat enough, I am trying to avoid rapid weight loss and do it slowly.
  • UNLESS19
    UNLESS19 Posts: 118
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    if i crave something i try to fit it within my goal and only have a cheat on special occasions or every now and then so i don't fall of the wagon. everyone is different so it's up to you :)
    You could even just have one day a week where you bump your calories to 2,000 and have a cheat every so often
    Just have a few tests and go with what works for you :)
  • MysteriousDreamer
    MysteriousDreamer Posts: 96 Member
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    I have a cheat meal once a week, so I go about 300-400 calories over. It doesn't affect my weight but I love the little splurge.

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