How many cheat days are "ok"

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bmarq21
bmarq21 Posts: 45
in Food and Nutrition
So i've been pretty good about staying under my calorie limit but I do indulge in cheat days quite a bit lol. How many cheat days would you consider to be ok? And how far over your calorie limit is it ok to go
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Replies

  • leanandmean2012
    leanandmean2012 Posts: 179 Member
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    One cheat meal once a week. Cheat days can take awhile to recover from
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
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    i cheat once a month or so.

    like, my birthday is july 8.

    i plan on eating. a lot.
  • JoniRiaya
    JoniRiaya Posts: 79
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    I only allow a cheat day when I have something special coming up. For example- I celebrated my birthday on Saturday and knew I was going to go WAY over with food and drinks. But since I knew it was coming I was able to plan for it and eat a little less and exercise a little more during the week before. So -even though I went like 1000 calories over for that day my average for the week was still under. Some could probably do this every week - personally it works for me to only indulge for special occasions. :)
  • Suziq2you
    Suziq2you Posts: 396 Member
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    I usually have 2-3 a month.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    I have one a week. Hasn't halted my progress at all. Quite the opposite.
  • bmarq21
    bmarq21 Posts: 45
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    Yeah I had a graduation party this weekend and i'm sure I went WAYYYY over my calorie limit but I still have a ton of food that I dont want to go to waste so I'm debating how much of it I should eat
  • tiffany5839
    tiffany5839 Posts: 104 Member
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    a day or two is not so bad. It comes off pretty quick for me. it's when I go into a day 3 or 4 that makes it bad!
  • JoniRiaya
    JoniRiaya Posts: 79
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    OP- congratulations on graduating!! Maybe you could invite friends over to share in eating the left overs so it doesn't go to waste but you don't have to eat it all :)
  • MoganHorse
    MoganHorse Posts: 41 Member
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    I do one a week, but not an insane one! It's that times your cheat day turns into a cheat week that you run into trouble!! OH, and Ik this sounds corny, but just remember extra food is wasted in the trash or in your body! You chose! Best of luck and congrats!
  • sweetpea129
    sweetpea129 Posts: 755 Member
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    I do a cheat meal about twice a month. I dont go over too much, maybe about 400 cals.
  • bungeebuddy
    bungeebuddy Posts: 1 Member
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    I usually have 2 a month, or for special occasions.
  • skinnynikki2013
    skinnynikki2013 Posts: 10
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    I would love to have 1 a week but that isn't really a good thing for me because I take them extremely overboard. For myself, 1 or 2 a mnth if I prepare myself for it first.
  • HJO1403
    HJO1403 Posts: 188 Member
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    I give myself 6 days a month which can be cheat days..

    Even if I eat healthily but go out and have alcohol that's one of my days.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    As few as possible, IMO. Yeah, I have them... but only on days when I'm starving anyway and staying in my calories is just really hard... and I make sure to make them count, and spend the calories on things I REALLY want. And I still try to limit the damage (typically fail though). They are usually not planned (except special occasions), and happen when I feel that I need them.

    Bottom line is that they will slow down your weight loss. For people who eat too little all week, they are probably beneficial, but for people who use MFP as they should (not a huge deficit, eating back exercise calories), they will slow down your progress. It's better to just eat what you like within your calories, but yeah, overall, I believe one day of eating 3500 calories is better than eating 250 calories over your TDEE for a week.

    ETA: ******* zombie threads.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    I don't consider my one day per week when I eat 2000-2500 calories a 'cheat' day but I do enjoy having those extra calories :)
    I think using the word cheat isn't a good word to use, especially if it made us feel guilty. I refuse to feel guilty about enjoying my food :-D
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    Necro2.jpg
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
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    I try to only do it on special occasions, or if I plan to go out to eat with a friend, which is rare. Like tonight, I'm going for sushi with my sister, which we only do every few weeks, and I have a friend's birthday gathering at a bar, so I will probably go over, but I'm not going to starve myself all day in preparation. I will make sure that I work out, though.
  • HerbertNenenger
    HerbertNenenger Posts: 453 Member
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    Everyone's completely different. Best thing would be to experiment and find out ! First week, do it once, then check the scale ! If you're still losing quite a bit, go for two cheats and see what happens.
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
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    Necro2.jpg

    And Jesus wept.

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