Who are Cheat Days For?

i have cheat days so i dont feel deprived and then binge. it's also nice to have a break now and then and i usually have even more motivation after, and do better.

I do have cheat days but they are more for others then myself. It is hard on my family to be restrictive all the time. if they want to go out to eat they don't like me stressing about it. yes it does slow me down some but I'm still learning how to incorporate my life style change to a sustainable level for the long term. This is more then a diet so for me i have to figure out how to balance eating and working out so that the need for a cheat day isn't needed because my habits have changed enough that a single day is not going to mess me up in the long run.

i "cheated" through my weight loss, but not often. it gave me extra motivation to work harder.

"will work out for food"

I dont have cheat days, I have free days. A day labeled as cheat makes me feel like I am doing something wrong. A day labeled as free means that I have worked solidly for a bit and I need time off. I have a job that goes from 830 am to 500 pm Monday through Friday....Saturday is not a cheat day, I should be allowed to relax.

SOOO...I have free days. They have toned themselves down as I have gotten better at all of this. I find that a free day is pretty good for me since I undercut my calories for the majority of the week.

Once a week I choose one meal to "cheat". I do not cheat all day, just for one meal. I find that I save some calories every day during the week and that helps me not feel too bad. When I cheat I still record everything I eat. I then eat even better and exercise more after I cheat to try and make up for cheating.

I have a cheat meal on the day I weigh in but it is only the 1 meal and not an entire day's worth of meals, so I have my regular breakfast and lunch but then my evening meal I don't count - I don't tend to go mad but I might make something that is not low fat e.g. tomorrow we are having lasagne - the only low cal part of that is the cheese in the cheese sauce. Mind you I have found that even on cheat days now I eat a much, much smaller portion than I would have done in the past. It has not so far affected my weekly weight loss, if it started to be a problem with that I would rethink it!

I think a better approach would be a "cheat meal" or a "cheat snack" than an all out cheat day. For me - when i would allow cheat days - i would stay under my calories all week long and exercise my butt off, and then allow a cheat day (and i can seriously pack in some food) and because i'd eat so much that in one single day i'd eat back more calories than i had burned all week and undo an entire week's worth of work. And then the next few day's i'd feel SO guilty it was so hard to get back on track. And needless to say - i'd make NO progress and all that work went down the drain. So I am no longer allowing cheat days because i know i can't handle them responsibly. I will allow just mini cheats like a really good meal once every two weeks, or a nice small treat here or there. But not an all day binge! Some people can have a cheat day and do just fine because they just eat a little more than they normally would - but for me - it became a contest of how much i could cram in my face in one day. LOL. So i guess it is somewhat individualized from person to person. Can you handle a cheat day in moderation? Will you just have a few treats and get right back on track the very next day? Or will it negatively affect you longer than when the day is over? You have to do what works for you.

I don't give myself unhealthy allowances. It has always lead me in the wrong direction. Now that I'm living healthier I'm into healthy homemade treats. I'm searching the web for receipes and making myself a cookbook. If I ever have the urge in the future I will be able to refer to my book. I haven't had any so far. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I have the very occasional cheat day--mainly to keep my sanity.

Studies show that an OCCASIONAL cheat day like once a week or every other week is actually good for your weight loss. It causes your body to work harder to get rid of the extra calories and in turn causes your metabolism to increase!!! It also helps your mood and from being deprived from foods. Most weight loss plans like weight watchers, jenny craig and others give you extra points of free foods so you can have those cheat days. It becomes an issue when you want to keep cheating and you lose self control. I actually had a cheat day recently last week and i woke up the next morning starving.. that is how I knew it worked. It's okay with self control and not all the time.

It's not really set in stone, it's whatever works for you. Originally, I would allow myself one cheat day a week but found that I usually ended up cramming myself with as much stuff as possible just because. I was completely screwing myself up with this. I switched to eating maintenance calories on the weekends and combining it with a good workout those days as well. That way I can usually eat at least 1,000 calories OVER my normal daily amount (depending on the workout). I can still enjoy the treats I like, but I'm still losing.

I don't cheat, because I don't/didn't cut anything from my diet (apart from alcohol, which is very limited)......I just watch portions
and certainly do not go past my daily calories allowance, working out enables me to have a very happy medium . Always eat health/wholesome/freshly prepared foods, but I will certainly not/have not cut food groups out.....agree with the gentleman who said this is a life change and will I never be able to have a couple of slices of pizza if that's what I want one night with salad, or say an icecream in the summer...NO, is my answer, because I will not be able to maintain that strictness and will probably eventually pile the weight back on!!! so my whole outlook is no I don't cheat...I eat all but in moderation and still losing the weight!

Some people can handle a cheat day without falling off the wagon for good, but people like myself would have a very difficult time getting back on program.

I don't have cheat days. They just don't work for me.

If I want the food I will exercise the calories off first.

Kinda bingo. . .if i overeat at work, I go home and bust my butt to get the calories off I don't deny myself anything I want, I just eat it in moderation

I think this may be the most debated topic on MFP. And I have been all over the map about it myself. But here's where I (currently... lol...) stand on it. I don't believe in cheat DAYS, but a cheat MEAL once or twice per week is actually good for you. Mentally speaking, It keeps you from feeling deprived... and if you find yourself craving something like crazy all week, there is your chance to have it. But eat it slowly, drink lots of water with it, and you'll be surprised how much less you'll need to eat of it. Physically speaking, throwing your metabolism a curve ball every now and then is not a bad idea. The most important thing as you work on your weight loss is keeping a healthy attitude about it and balancing your physical and mental needs. You are changing your life... and that's amazing! But you also have to take care of your heart and head too.