What/how to eat for cheat days?

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bushy_brownies
bushy_brownies Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
On my first cheat day,I ate more than I should. I don't know what's the general rule is to be more efficient on those days. Do i eat like 10%, 15% or 20% more calories than the daily calorie goal?

And what do you guys eat for your cheat day/meal? Are you leaning toward more protein or more carb?
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Replies

  • Amanda4change
    Amanda4change Posts: 620 Member
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    I've had two "cheat days" since starting 162 days ago, those were Thanksgiving and Christmas, I increased my daily calories to maintenance (plus I had exercise calories as I worked out both days, which I ended up not needing), I will do the same thing for my 16th wedding anniversary next month, and my birthday in June (maybe). In my opinion if you "need" cheat days your not doing it right. Aside from alcohol (which I took out while training for a run) you should be able to fit treats into your daily calorie allowance. If you really want something figure out how to make it fit. Heck a couple of weeks ago I had a cinnabon cinnamon roll for dinner (it was yummy) not the best choice but not a big deal because it fit in my daily calories.
  • mattnics
    mattnics Posts: 32 Member
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    I'm sure everyone does a cheat day a little differently, it's all up to you how much you really want to get off of your schedule. Like Amanda, if I have one I usually still try to stay in my calorie range and I almost always workout that same day to help make up for it. My last one was a big load of bbq chicken nachos which gave me a lot of protein for my workout and filled me up enough to make up for 2 meals, so the calories worked out alright.
  • Khukhullatus
    Khukhullatus Posts: 361 Member
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    I think a great way to do cheat days is to once a week just eat your maintenance. You get a weekly day off, but you really don't throw yourself off track by that much.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
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    If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.

    agree
  • Wiseandcurious
    Wiseandcurious Posts: 730 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.

    agree

    I kind of see what you two are saying but I don't think it's that simple.

    I can imagine for example a real dedicated foodie who would be prepared to watch what they eat all their life but have one day with higher calories weekly/monthly/whatever, all their life. If it becomes a sustainable strategy why not? If it works for them?

    FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »
    I think a great way to do cheat days is to once a week just eat your maintenance. You get a weekly day off, but you really don't throw yourself off track by that much.

    An advantage of that approach is that you know you're not"gaining" any weight through cheat days, except water, you're just losing more slowly but if that works for you, again why not?

    That's not what I do, I don't really think of them as "cheat" days but I do occasionally go up to maintenance calories for various reasons. I log it all and move on. I also exercise normally on those days and don't let it become an excuse for sliding down the slope.

    It's hard to give blanket advice for something that's after all a matter of preference. As long as you don't have your "cheat" days so often or in such an unaccountable manner that they stall/slow down your weight loss beyond what's an acceptable rate to you, or - a big or - they don't trigger disordered eating behavior, you should be fine.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    Yeah cheat days are a strange concept that some people love but most people don't support. I am an "to each his own" kind of person. Some people feel it helpful to "stick it to the man (or in this case diet)" every once in a while, for other people it just opens a flood gate or poor decisions. You will have to figure out if it works for you or not.

    The only rule for cheat days is you still have to log it! Otherwise you have no idea how it affects everthing else you have done. Its is very very common for people to complain of stalls in the weight loss which boils down to their working really hard 6 days a week, and then erasing all that work on their "cheat day" but because they do not log it they do not realize just how much damage they did.

    My advice is to just think about things. How will your plans affect your goals, and is it worth it to you? You are the only one who can decide that.
  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
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    FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »
    I think a great way to do cheat days is to once a week just eat your maintenance. You get a weekly day off, but you really don't throw yourself off track by that much.
    good1 (*) (*) (*) (*) (*) exactly my thoughts as well

  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
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    Log everything. Even if you know you'll go over for the day. You're not fooling your body by not putting it down.

    I don't get the "cheat" philosophy. I honestly think it's a total sabotage of lifelong maintenance. How about just having the attitude that you have a caloric goal, sometimes you're over, sometimes you're under? How about looking at caloric surpluses or deficits weekly rather than daily?

    I fail to see how the false concept of "free gluttony" helps anyone out. It bolsters the "good food/bad food" idea as well as the connotation that eating for your health is something so dreadful you need to escape from it. When you get to maintenance, does that mean every day is "cheat" day, since you're not "on a diet" anymore?

    Should you never indulge in calorie-dense foods you love? That's not very appealing, either. I recommend allowing yourself these treats and logging them without self-judgement. It's the best way to learn how to incorporate all foods into your lifelong diet.
  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
    edited February 2015
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    phamhm wrote: »
    On my first cheat day,I ate more than I should. I don't know what's the general rule is to be more efficient on those days. Do i eat like 10%, 15% or 20% more calories than the daily calorie goal?

    And what do you guys eat for your cheat day/meal? Are you leaning toward more protein or more carb?
    i eat anything i want on a random day just i dont go above my maintenace calories which is between 1810-2090 also i just dont schedual a day for a cheat! my days are random..i dont define it as cheat ..
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.

    agree

    Yep
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.

    ^^^
  • suruda
    suruda Posts: 1,233 Member
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    I've had meals when I've not worried about what I was eating...maybe one or two either due to an outing or being a guest elsewhere. That being said, I ate lower calories the rest of the day and tracked it all. sometimes it is worth it, sometimes not! I've had good losses the last 5 weeks of tracking and being on a plan so I think maybe occasionally shaking up your calorie intake is not a bad thing. But I know for me, a cheat day once a week would not allow me to lose at all...
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    edited February 2015
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    EWJLang wrote: »
    Log everything. Even if you know you'll go over for the day. You're not fooling your body by not putting it down.

    I don't get the "cheat" philosophy. I honestly think it's a total sabotage of lifelong maintenance. How about just having the attitude that you have a caloric goal, sometimes you're over, sometimes you're under? How about looking at caloric surpluses or deficits weekly rather than daily?

    I fail to see how the false concept of "free gluttony" helps anyone out. It bolsters the "good food/bad food" idea as well as the connotation that eating for your health is something so dreadful you need to escape from it. When you get to maintenance, does that mean every day is "cheat" day, since you're not "on a diet" anymore?

    Should you never indulge in calorie-dense foods you love? That's not very appealing, either. I recommend allowing yourself these treats and logging them without self-judgement. It's the best way to learn how to incorporate all foods into your lifelong diet.

    ^This. Combining this with the thought that nothing is ever leaving the planet, and the opportunity to have a food you love will always present itself again, making a choice to eat something you love will be without regret.

    I find this way of thinking works for keeping "cheats" moderate, as well. Little indulgences along the way as part of my regular eating plan like 150 calories of potato chips or cookies when I really want them has made the desire to "cheat" beyond my calorie goals unnecessary for me so far.

  • ackbivar
    ackbivar Posts: 2 Member
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    Hello everybody. Thought I would chime in just a little as the whole cheat day was a question I worried about when I was doing an after release challange group for Tapout XT. For anybody that says you are doing it wrong if you need a cheat day... that may work for you, but it does not make it wrong.

    Mike Karpenko gave us tips and my question to him was about diet. Even he does cheat days so to speak. According to him it helped trick your motabolism especially with hitting the same calories and macros all week. Helps boost the weight loss. I tried it and it worked for me as well. I saw better weight loss over all compared to strict weeks I did prior to. Nothing else really changed in my routine/diet.

    Honestly there are so many diets and ways to get the the end goal, I don't see how anybody can say somebody is doing something wrong as long as they are moving in the right direction. It is an age old debate that will continue as long as we are all different. IMO.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    I think the whole "cheat" meal/day thing really illustrates how bad of a relationship people have with food in general and it just reinforces that bad relationship.

    There's nothing wrong with just enjoying yourself from time to time...I don't consider that cheating.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    edited February 2015
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    bushy_brownies wrote: »
    On my first cheat day,I ate more than I should. I don't know what's the general rule is to be more efficient on those days. Do i eat like 10%, 15% or 20% more calories than the daily calorie goal?

    And what do you guys eat for your cheat day/meal? Are you leaning toward more protein or more carb?

    I'm sure it varies greatly. Some people plan a day where they just don't think about calories. Others plan one meal. Some do it weekly, others monthly, others something else. Some call it "cheat" some call it something else.

    I personally don't plan cheat days. I just don't sweat the occasional high calorie day that pops up (occasions, holidays, parties, whatever). I still don't eat myself silly on those days, I just eat more than normal. I don't have any rules for those days. Sometimes it might not even be too many calories, but it will be a really unbalanced day nutritionally.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.

    Yeah, I'm not sure I agree. But often people do it more because they want to than need to. Nothing wrong with that.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    If you feel the need to cheat, you're doing it wrong.

    This
  • JSurita2
    JSurita2 Posts: 1,304 Member
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    [quote="Honestly there are so many diets and ways to get the the end goal, I don't see how anybody can say somebody is doing something wrong as long as they are moving in the right direction. It is an age old debate that will continue as long as we are all different. IMO.[/quote]

    I agree with this 100%.

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