To give yourself a cheat day or not?

Danidelion
Danidelion Posts: 70
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Is it ok to allow myself one cheat day per week or not? Even on the cheat day I want to make sure I don't go over 2500 calories, but I was just wondering if it would slow down progress significantly or if it would be too unhealthy?

Replies

  • ari_27
    ari_27 Posts: 88 Member
    Not at all, they say one cheat day even helps boost your metabolism. I mean don't go overboard, just indulge in something you reallyyy want and usually don't have and enjoy :)
  • michelle4271
    michelle4271 Posts: 194 Member
    one cheat day a week or every two weeks is supose to be good for you. supposedly helps to keep your body guessing about calories.

    good luck
  • smketchum
    smketchum Posts: 94 Member
    I allow myself a cheat meal, but not an entire day. One meal per week my family will go out for dinner and I don't worry about calories. I eat whatever I want and do it guilt-free! It helps me stay on track the rest of the week and I do stay on track. I am losing about a pound a week and have been doing this since the 3rd week of January, including the cheat meal. I do work out 4-5 times per week for a minimum of one hour each workout and I eat part of my exercise calories, but certainly not all of them.

    So, in my non-nutritionalist, non expert opinion.....a cheat meal will not hurt and actually helps me stay focused.

    Good luck!
  • ahanson6
    ahanson6 Posts: 102
    I have a splurge meal once a week, but I usually try to workout extra that day to compensate a little. I haven't had any problems so far.
  • monkeybuttsmommy
    monkeybuttsmommy Posts: 343 Member
    I usually do a cheat meal! LOL Something I really want or am craving and I dont stress on how many calories it is! If I go over my allotment I go over but NOT like I used too! I would eat carl's jr three times a day! Not ever gonna do that again as a regular habit!
  • froglegjack
    froglegjack Posts: 388 Member
    I agree with the others a cheat meal is ok :) enjoy!
  • flyshuffle
    flyshuffle Posts: 10
    I always support a cheat meal or day once every week or two. The thought process is, the best diet for you is the one you can stay with long term. Cheat days help me by allowing me to give into some cravings in moderation, while keeping the diet going at all other times.

    As always, YMMV, but I think cheat days are fine.
  • LauraDubbleya
    LauraDubbleya Posts: 79 Member
    I need a cheat day or meal at least once a week. Otherwise the wheels fall right off my wagon and roll away. If I can look forward to a certain day where I don't worry about limits, it makes the rest of the week bearable.
  • emiliabeth
    emiliabeth Posts: 40
    I've done both and found that one cheat day a week actually make me lose weight more easily. I don't go crazy, I just try and have a 'normal' day instead of a low cal one...
  • nickicaylor
    nickicaylor Posts: 27
    I allow myself one cheat meal a week and recommend to my students to do the same. it prevents binge eatting. Feel free to add me and follow my weekly blog I post for my students.
  • teamguinn
    teamguinn Posts: 3 Member
    I definately give myself a cheat day once a week. I think it helps me to be good the rest of the week. I order what I want but dont clean my plate. Not sure how it plays a part in my weight loss but I am willing for it to take a little longer to reach my goal so I can enjoy a dinner out with my family once a week. :smile:
  • losetogain89
    losetogain89 Posts: 5
    i dont cheat at all!! well, i dont go over my calories or fat or sodium or sugar. but if i know my friends and me are going out for dinner or something together, i look up the nutritional facts for their menu and get something thats within my calories and stuff. i absolutely love pf changs!!! and i love the crispy honey shrimp. so what i did is i ordered it and only ate half of it to keep it within my numbers. but i took care of my craving
  • myukniewicz
    myukniewicz Posts: 906 Member
    i have a cheat day/meal once a week. i think it is important to not completely deny yourself things you are craving. If you do that then you are just setting yourself up for failure because you are going to reach a breaking point and just give in and binge.
  • BlkStool
    BlkStool Posts: 13
    Down 51lbs since 1/1/2011 and I have been known to have cheat weekends. I generally will have one "bad" meal on Saturday and some drinks. My feeling is that in order for this to NOT feel like a diet I have to have things in moderation. I am GREAT Sunday - Friday and I allow myself to not be as strict (Okay to have chips/ snacks at a party or a larger meal or some pizza) on Saturday.

    This is not a diet, and now it does not feel like one.
  • Dtho5159
    Dtho5159 Posts: 1,054 Member
    I have one cheat meal each week. Now that doesn't mean I only eat out once a week but the other time I eat out, I make sure to fit it in my calories. If I do my cheat meal, I don't even bother logging it or trying to since more times than not its chinese buffet and I don't go with a measuring cup to measure out my food lol
  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
    ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! THIS IS JUST ABSURD. We are here to make lifestyle changes and improve our health. Cheating is not going to win the race at all. Why would you want to cheat yourself? If you change your relationship with food, you will not need to "cheat" I have not had candy, ice cream, etc in 7 months, and I truly could care less about it. I know I am eating healthy. Lots of fresh veggies, lean protein, and that is way more important to me, plus being healthy and living longer to see my kids grow and to live a long life with my husband are more important to me than a cheat day. I cheated my whole life and was digging a fast grave for myself---NOT ANYMORE!
  • abrava
    abrava Posts: 1 Member
    Yes to cheat meal =)
    It helps during the week. I use it as a little way to trick myself. Every time I have a moment of weakness during the week, I just keep telling myself: "I'll eat it on the cheat day. I'll eat it on the cheat day." then usually by the time the cheat day comes around, I might have already forgotten I was craving that food or moved on already.
  • JenniCH
    JenniCH Posts: 74
    Cheating has such a negative connotation... I don't think "cheat" days are necessary. You shouldn't deprive yourself so much that you find it necessary to have a cheat day. I have one sweet thing or not 100% healthy thing each day (usually between 100-200 cals) and then I don't find it necessary to have an entire day to eat whatever I want. I wouldn't want to deal with the unfortunate, inevitable guilt that would probably come the next day... just my opinion... I don't want to work hard at eating healthy & exercising all week to potentially undo any of it with a cheat day. Doesn't make sense to me. It's a slippery slope with a lot of people.
  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
    I go out to eat 1-2 times a week---that is not considered cheating because I demand that my food be cooked and served in a way that fits into my guidelines.....all we have to do is change our relationship with food and you will not be denying yourself anything. Food is fuel, not pleasure. I lived my whole life thinking of food as pleasure, I lived for food---NOT NO MORE!!!!
  • kristygay
    kristygay Posts: 68 Member
    I don't know about being good for my diet, but a cheat day is GREAT for my sanity! It actually helps me to do better on other days. If I want something that I know that I shouldn't have because it will put me over on my calories for the day, I tell my self that it is not cheat day and the item will still be there on the cheat day (usually by then, i've forgotten about it! lol) I don't have a cheat day once a week though. It's usually about every two weeks. I try to plan them to coincide with other events, such as Easter this Sunday. That way I don't have to worry about what I am eating when I'm eating at an event. Just still have to think about portion control.
  • ahanson6
    ahanson6 Posts: 102
    I think that food is one of the greatest pleasures in life. I love to cook. I love to eat. AND I love to be healthy. I am not going to live the rest of my life without Brie baked in phylo dough or greasy cheeseburgers or bacon. I don't use the word cheat. I call it my splurge meal or my treat meal. My splurge meal is my way of rewarding myself after hard work, and it helps me reinforce the lifestyle changes that I am trying to implement. I don't ever want to be afraid of food or hate food. I don't want to feel guilty for eating. I want to enjoy food responsibly and treating myself once a week lets me practice moderation.

    Edit: Oh and when I have a treat/splurge meal I still log everything! I still hold myself accountable for anything that I put into my body. Sometimes I'm even surprised when my treat meal isn't as bad for me as I thought it was going to be. It may be a treat, but it still counts!
  • monkeybuttsmommy
    monkeybuttsmommy Posts: 343 Member
    Being too rigid either way is dangerous for eventual outcome. MODERATION is key and EVERY health expert will tell you that. Denying any sweets, fats, salts or whatever is NOT good for long term sucess. Being afraid of food is also unhealthy and by DENYING anything will cause you to crave it more. Having a piece of cake once a week while every other day your eating healthy and excercising doesn't make you fat. Eating cake 3X's a day along with cheeseburgers, chips, soda and candy will. EXCESS is the enemy, not the type of food.
  • monkeybuttsmommy
    monkeybuttsmommy Posts: 343 Member
    I think that food is one of the greatest pleasures in life. I love to cook. I love to eat. AND I love to be healthy. I am not going to live the rest of my life without Brie baked in phylo dough or greasy cheeseburgers or bacon. I don't use the word cheat. I call it my splurge meal or my treat meal. My splurge meal is my way of rewarding myself after hard work, and it helps me reinforce the lifestyle changes that I am trying to implement. I don't ever want to be afraid of food or hate food. I don't want to feel guilty for eating. I want to enjoy food responibly and treating myself once a week lets me practice moderation.

    Exactly! Thank you!
  • ColoradoRobin
    ColoradoRobin Posts: 510 Member
    It's a treat meal (not a whole day for me), not a cheat meal. Enjoy it, but don't go crazy. Watch your net calories for the week, and if there's still a deficit, then there's no problem. This is a new way of life, not punishment or a transitory change. In order to make your new way of eating fit into your life, you have to allow for celebrations with family and friends, spaghetti dinners at your kids' school, office lunches, cravings, and Chinese buffets (I <3 dim sum).

    There are plenty of experts that recommend going over your usual calories for one day every week or so to help combat the dreaded adaptive thermogenesis (starvation mode). Our bodies have evolved to deal with days when you killed the mammoth, and days when it got away. I'm not doing paleo, but some of the principles they follow make sense from an evolutionary perspective. Enjoy your healthier living and eating, including treat days!
  • LyndseyMcKnight7
    LyndseyMcKnight7 Posts: 88
    I have lost 70 pounds over the last 12 months and have given myself a cheat day every single week. At first it was a full on cheat day, I ate whatever I wanted all day long. Now that I am a lot closer to my goal, I try to still have the things I want on that day, but stay under my maintenance calories or at least under 2500. I think you have earned it, so cheat away! It's good for your metabolism too!
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    I don't like the idea of a "cheat" day, I don't see the point of deciding to fool myself.
    It might only be words but if I decide to have a "cheat day", to me that reinforces that I'm doing something nasty and unsustainable that I don't want to do.
    But.... what works for me is to eat treats, go out to dinner, have a few alcoholic drinks, enjoy a staff lunch etc, but to count and log the calories. Ideally I try to stay under my cals but if I go over by a few hundred I don't sweat it, just make sure to not repeat it too soon.
    So, do what works for you, I definitely support eating a variety of foods and enjoying special days and celebrations, but I don't support a lifestyle you have to "cheat" on.
  • Danidelion
    Danidelion Posts: 70
    wow so many responses lol. I am definently going to take everyone's opinions into consideration, I think I like the idea of a "cheat meal" :]
  • shaunshaikh
    shaunshaikh Posts: 616 Member
    I don't "cheat" at all, I just eat and log everything. If I want something that's not perfectly healthy and clean then I log it and just make up for it somewhere else.

    I just really don't believe you should do something you're not willing to do the rest of your life. Learn how to eat ice cream without gorging on a 1,000 calorie banana split. Learn how to have a cookie without eating half the carton. Learn how to order your favorite meal at a restaurant and only eat half a portion.

    The whole cheating thing is just an unneccessary negative connotation.
  • mberi66
    mberi66 Posts: 17 Member
    I agree that cheat days/ cheat meals are perfectly fine.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories