Cheat days... what do you think?
Kellyfitness128
Posts: 194 Member
What do you all think about cheat days? Good, bad? I eat 2,000 calories a day throughout the week to lose weight (and I still feel hungry at night even with that amount) so by the time the weekend rolls around I'm craving a meal where I just let go of the self control. I think it helps me stay focused. Yesterday I had a cheat meal + drinks for dinner (about 2300 calories in food for the day and 4 alcoholic drinks), which was probably a bit too much but I feel ready to get back on track and conquer another week now. Do you think this will sabotage my progress? I'm in college and I've limited drinking to only one night per week but I refuse to give that up.. I enjoy a few beers to relax on the weekends. And I still keep the food pretty healthy even when I overeat a bit.
Do you have a cheat day? Or cheat meal? What would be an example of one?
Do you have a cheat day? Or cheat meal? What would be an example of one?
0
Replies
-
Cheat days and or meals or not special or unique. They simply change your overall calories for the week. Eating 2000 calories for 6 days and 3000 calories on your "cheat" day is exactly the same as eating 2143 calories a day. It all averages out. If you find that with your cheat day your weight loss stalls you simply must remove the cheat day, or reduce calories from the other days of the week. When you think of calories as a weekly average, the cheat day is just another day.0
-
This content has been removed.
-
This content has been removed.
-
Yes for cheat meals here!!! An example of a cheat meal for me would be all-out Mexican-food gluttony. Flour tortillas with butter dripping out of them... Chips and salsa... A Sprite to drink... A chicken quesadilla and a cheese enchilada... Ice cream for dessert. Then I get back on track and don't feel guilty about anything.0
-
It could, but maybe it won't. You might want to consider upping your protein and fats if you are still hungry on 2000 cals. If this doesn't help, then consider eating 2100 cals.
Otherwise, do a structured refeed day (hit protein min, as little fat as possible, and fill the rest up with as many carbs as possible to reach at or a bit above your maintenance calorie needs - if you're eating 2000 cals then 2500 is probably a safe maintenance estimate).
I eat flexibly, but always within my calories. I am usually not hungry unless I overdo it on carbs or too many calorie-dense foods are eaten. This is another thing to consider, you may need more volume in your diet. Even more water helps.0 -
I think the occasional unrestricted day is a great idea for many to help them with adherence to their lifestyle change
What I don't like is the term 'cheat day' because it suggests that you are doing something wrong or something you should feel guilty about and that should not be the case0 -
It's not cheating. It's overeating. And drinking.
And it counts.
I think if someone wants to do it, they should!
But if you're going to do it every week, you should probably factor it in and deduct those cals from your daily allowance on the other six days.0 -
It could, but maybe it won't. You might want to consider upping your protein and fats if you are still hungry on 2000 cals.
i agree with this. 2,000 calories is a pretty good amount of food for a day.0 -
I like the structured refeed day idea. I'm vegan and have been eating a higher than "normal" carb diet- around 70/20/10 ratios more or less for the past few months. So, lots of fruits, veggies, and starches. I've been upping my fat a bit though to bring my carb ratio more toward 50-60% in the past couple weeks just because it keeps me fuller longer. I don't think increasing fats much more than that is a healthy idea though.. I'm all about a low fat diet. I think I'm going to give the refeed idea a shot.. And just to note, I drink at least 3 L of water a day.
Thanks for the advice everyone!0 -
It could, but maybe it won't. You might want to consider upping your protein and fats if you are still hungry on 2000 cals.
i agree with this. 2,000 calories is a pretty good amount of food for a day.
According to an average day I get about 55g of fat and 56g of protein, which fits right into my recommended amounts. 2,000 is a good amount for a lightly active person, but I run 9 miles three times a week + walking to campus and back in addition to light weight lifting and walking on the days in between. So, I'm a very active person!0 -
It's not cheating. It's overeating. And drinking.
And it counts.
I think if someone wants to do it, they should!
But if you're going to do it every week, you should probably factor it in and deduct those cals from your daily allowance on the other six days.
I agree with this. I've never called it a cheat day, and I don't really do it anymore, but when I first started I found it easier to sustain if I was somewhat more strict on 6 days and then had one day where I could have a more indulgent meal, whether it be ordering pizza or a favorite restaurant or a potluck. I'd estimate calories (usually counting with any accuracy wasn't possible) and try to factor it into my weekly deficit, so that I'd just eat a bit less on other days or (more often) cover it with exercise calories from other days in part, as well as eating a bit less for other meals that day. For me having the day to look forward to helped me, and I think it can't hurt to let yourself eat some more calories on one day if that's what you like to do, but I didn't think of it as going crazy or completely ignoring the numbers that day.0 -
I'm supportive of the idea, depending on how it's executed. I have some friends who always plan one really delicious big meal on their shared cheat day - a big ol' steak, or something like that. I think this is fine, as long as you're still tracking everything and not undoing all the work you've done all week. But if your cheat day turns into a binge-a-thon full of raw cookie dough and an entire case of beers, then it's probably going to hurt you quite a bit, haha.
Going over your calories one day a week is certainly fine, but I'd try to still keep it healthy-ish and make sure you still have an understanding of what it is you're eating on that day.0 -
I only feel hungry on 14-1500 a day if I don't get enough protein, and I workout ALOT. You can look at my diary. Yesterday it suggested I eat 2132 cals but seriously I wasn't about to eat aalmost 1000 more cals the equivalent of another big meal. I wasn't hungry so there was no point in just eating. So you may want to consider upping your protein if being hungry on that many cals is making you want to binge/leaving you hungry.I do not have cheat meals, but I do fit treats into my budget. I am perpetually under budget so this hasn't been a problem.0
-
I don't believe in the word "cheat", when it comes to my eating choices. It makes it appear that I'm doing something wrong. If I want to eat something, I eat it. I DO try to fit this into my caloric allowance, but if I happened to go over its more of a log it and move on philosophy.0
-
I don't call it my cheat day. I call it a free day, if I feel like it. I pretty much eat anything I want one day a week, like Sunday football. Drinks and chips etc. I don't always take them. I do find that in the MFP state of mind I still don't lose control and get too far off. I cut back during the day and up my exercise if I know I'm going out to eat or to a party or something. Just keep track of your weight and/or measurements. If it starts to interfere with your progress, cut it out until you can afford it again. Good Luck!0
-
I call it cheat day, but when the week ends, it all balances out.0
-
For me a cheat meal would be eating out at a buffet and eating breads and desserts but I would have a salad for my main meal....0
-
It depends what is meant by it. If its all in as part of the calorie controled diet over a period, then thats up to you. For me its a bit too much of a temptation to have a regular cheat day. If it balances out then id rather have the calories spread through the week.
For people who want to let rip days without calorie counting on a weekly basis then, its just all counter productive to the rest of the diet. Its like you havent let go of the old ways of eating and want to run them both in parallel, but they undermine the changes you made.
I am coming round to the idea of a reward meal based on reaching specific targets though.
Guess I will sort it when I come to it.0 -
I don't really do cheat days I'm more in the eat what I want in moderation camp, mmm homemade french dip. And should I happen to go over one day its not that big of a deal I'm usually between 500-2000 below my weekly goal anyways.0
-
Yes for cheat meals here!!! An example of a cheat meal for me would be all-out Mexican-food gluttony. Flour tortillas with butter dripping out of them... Chips and salsa... A Sprite to drink... A chicken quesadilla and a cheese enchilada... Ice cream for dessert. Then I get back on track and don't feel guilty about anything.0
-
It could, but maybe it won't. You might want to consider upping your protein and fats if you are still hungry on 2000 cals.
i agree with this. 2,000 calories is a pretty good amount of food for a day.
According to an average day I get about 55g of fat and 56g of protein, which fits right into my recommended amounts. 2,000 is a good amount for a lightly active person, but I run 9 miles three times a week + walking to campus and back in addition to light weight lifting and walking on the days in between. So, I'm a very active person!
I am moderately active, and 2000 is my minimum deficit for 20% below my estimated TDEE (5 hours or so of structured exercise a week, most of which is weight lifting). Also a student, so also walking around. Unless you are doing a lot of endurance work (which does not seem to be the case) or you are very heavy (based on pic I assume not), then 2000 is a pretty reasonable deficit. I don't actually consider you to be "very active." I consider you to be moderately active based on what you've written.
The reason you are hungry is because you are eating way too many carbs. Carbs are not satiating. They are important, yes, but they are not satiating unless mixed with enough protein and sometimes fat. I personally need a lot of protein with carbs for satiety to kick in. Just fat doesn't help. 40-50% carbs is more than enough, at 2000 cals that'd be around 200g of carbs.
Lower your carbs, increase your protein, ditch vegan diet if needed in order to have optimal satiety and health, and if you are STILL hungry, then increase to 2100 or eat fewer calorie-dense foods.
And there is nothing wrong iwth a high-fat diet, either, health-wise.
You're also not weighing food or measuring a lot of things. So you could be a special snowflake and be under-eating compared to your log. e.g. if you say you eat 2.13 peaches, you might actually be eating 1.5 peaches' worth of calories. If much of this happens, then that can add up easily to a few hundred cals. Might want to invest in a food scale.
AND it looks like you don't eat back your exercise cals. So... if you were given 2000 cals as your goal based on non-exercise activity levels and then you don't eat back half or more of hte cals from exercise, you are undereating. Which would further explain your hunger.0 -
I try to limit my "cheating" to one meal at a time, and arrange the rest of the day so that I am not more than a few hundred calories over my daily allowance. So (for instance) today I had a Shake Shack burger and fries (960 calories) for lunch, but pared back my breakfast and lunch so that I was only about 200 calories over for the day -- an amount I can make up through careful eating in the next few days, and thus keep myself on track for the week.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 427 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions