Cheat days ... yes or no?

i consider my journey to be a lifestyle change rather than a diet.....
personally, knowing what i used to put into my body, its good to have a less strict day every now and again, but for me, that doestn mean a take away, a treat for me is bread, or a bag or normal crisps

Hi, there,
Interesting question. I have decided not to "cheat." I have picked a plan that allows me to eat the way I want (lower carb, under 100G primarily from fruits/veggies and not limiting fruits or veggies) and find that I can lose weight this way and my cravings for "other" foods (cookies, candy, Italian bread, etc.) are diminished to non-existent. When I crave a "sweet" I eat fruit or a yogurt. Hence I satisfy the crave without having to "cheat."When I am done losing weight I plan to add back some grain carbs on a really slow basis until weight loss stops. Then I will know how much I can have in maintaining this weight for life. I expect I may add a cookie or a serving of bread or rice or something I really want and then maybe have a night I drink some light beers or something. But my philosophy was to pick a way of losing weight that I could live with, hence I would not have to "cheat" or feel restricted and could know exactly what to do to maintain. So, since you asked this is my philosophy/thoughts on cheats. Good luck!
Donna\\
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

I find that I need a cheat day once in awhile or I end up going on a huge eating binge sooner or later, so I would rather plan and cheat then let my emotions take over and I have no control

I agree cheat days are a necessity. I don't like to think of it as cheating...hmmm, sometimes you have to be bad to feel good:devil:

Cheat days turn into binge days for me, unfortunately. I'm trying to get out of the 'all or nothing' diet mentality so for me that means trying to think less in terms of 'being good' or 'cheating'. Well I'm trying anyway! xx

if you think it will help you stay focused on the the other days, then try it. See how it goes.

I personally don't have one, instead I save it for those unexpected nights "out" or when someone shows up and wants to go to dinner. Then I don't worry about what I eat at the restaurant, knowing how good I am all the other days!

If you count calories,you are not cheating! Eat what you want and count it...If you eat a burger and fries for lunch eat a low cal dinner such as salad and fruit. Make it work...I hate the word cheat you are not doing anything wrong, but living...


SW-172
CW-160
GW-145

My brother-in-law lost more than 60 pounds, and his approach was what a few folks have said--On plan Mon-Sat, eat whatever he wants on Sunday. I was very impressed.

There are a couple of things about this approach that concern me for ME (not advising anyone else!). First, it is a proven fact that men lose weight faster than women, so I need to be careful using him as a role model. Second, I worry that if I took this kind of approach, it would be a slipper slope for me. I think this concern is one I need to lay to rest; as several have said, this is a lifestyle change, and "white knuckling" to stay on plan isn't going to work in the long term. I have a long way to go still, so I need to focus on making the way I eat now a habit rather than a temporary phase.

As I read the responses here, it makes sense for me to 1) ease up on myself and 2) have an occasional (not weekly) day where I eat what I want to. If I go to some kind of event like a street fair, for example, I won't pull out my MFP app and calculate what I can and can't have. At home, though, I'll continue to work on getting in the habit of staying within my number.

I'm using the diet to restructure my eating so that I can live with the difference. I will burn X calories when I am in normal range so I am using the calorie reductions not to lose weight but to reach that. As I get closer the calorie limit for losing drops closer to my normal eating range.

Do I use "Cheat days" yes and no. I use a day which is eat to maintain the current weight with the option of eating 15% more that day. Do note this is with the option of eating 20% less calories a day for maintaining my current level. For some reason it seems to have kickstarted me when I was on a plateau and I haven't hit one since. I don't "cheat" eating up [which is what I call it because I am not cheating. I'm just maintaining that day] by eating a lot of junk food. That's the day that I'll have the 8 ounces of Filet Mignon or other high calorie nutritional foods or simply eat more of what I do eat. It is never on an exercise day.

I also eat back on exercise days. I may or may not reach the full calories burned but I do eat back esp if I walk out of a workout and think the fat little pug the woman is walking by the gym would look good on a stick with some Jerk rub. However I do not use these as 'cheat' days.

It must be a no exercise rest day for me to eat up. Do I eat goodies without any nutritional value? Yep. Rarely and rarely enough it is a real treat. And I only do that on exercise burn days.

Dang doctor says that this is the best condition he has ever seen me in.

I say yes and no.

Yes, because if you're eating a low amount of calories worth of food, then you'll need a day or two a week where you kind of just pig out (reasonable) so your body doesn't think it's short on energy.

No, because dieting is more than dieting, it should really just be called a lifestyle change. Are you going to cheat your lifestyle?

Just consume everything in a reasonable amount. A little indulgence never hurt anyone.

I am not on a diet so I don't 'cheat' this is a lifestyle change. I still eat the things that I want, I just eat less of them. I am only making changes that are realistic for me to stick with for the rest of my life. I don't think it's realistic to think that I will never eat my favorite things or that I won't have days where I want to go out to dinner with friends or go out drinking. If I know in advance I will be going out I try to factor things into my daily calorie goal or work out a little extra, but if something comes up and I go over my goal I don't worry to much about that either. Personally I think 'cheating' has a negative connotation and me living my life is not cheating!