Are cheat days bad for your diet?

I think it really depends on how you define a "cheat meal" or a "cheat day". If you are talking about allowing yourself to go over on calories a bit that's one thing. If you are not logging at all and allowing yourself to eat crap until you feel like you'll explode that's an entirely different thing.

I have a friend who wouldn't understand why he wasn't losing weight with just one cheat day a week.....where he would stuff himself to a crazy degree eating a large meat lover's pizza followed by cake... after 2 big mac's and large fries for lunch and several candy bars. Hey, it's a cheat day so he ate whatever he wanted.

It's still basically CICO. If you eat thousands of extra calories on your cheat day you probably aren't going to like where CICO gets you.

jigglyjessica wrote: »

I had a cheat meal today since someone went to burger king :x but it fit in my calories. it just sucks that I'm a little hungry still

See, that's the thing with [most] fast foods.
They're not very filling unless you order lots of it. Lol

When I got close to my goal weight a few years ago I started using the weekends as my "cheat". First it started with Saturday all day and maybe going out for brunch Sunday and reigning it in a little for dinner. Then it turned into a gorge fest from Friday night until Sunday night. I started to gain my weight back slowly, but then due to some unforseen circumstances I couldn't work out like I had been... and it all came back and I had a really hard time getting back into the swing of things. Now I'm trying to stick to 2 cheats a week. So if I go out for dinner on Friday with friends, I'll try to eat healthy for a majority of the weekend and maybe go out for dinner Saturday or brunch Sunday. I still want to be able to go out and have a good time, but I don't want to overdo everything I've been working towards. I have always been able to lose still with the 2 cheats, but I feel like making 2 whole cheat days part of your regular routine would likely result in reversing most of the good you did over the week

I know people who swear by them, but it's not for me. My dad loved to have Sunday as his cheat day. He'd save up, and "go to town" - but felt like when he knew he could have it, it sort of took the fun out of it and he wouldn't end up having as much.

With me - I'd take that as artistic license to completely and totally binge, and trust me - it would be bad. Really bad.

My dad was fine with it, but it's not something I can handle. It's all about "know thyself" - if you like having a cheat day and can manage it, then by all means - give it a try. But go into it with "eyes wide open" and realize what, if any, limitations you might have or which way is better for you.

Bad for my diet, good for my psyche.

Yes, it's okay now and then.

On the weekends I don't log, and I'm more liberal in the quantities of food I eat. With the way I eat on weekends (family style meals w/lots of different options and many things I haven't cooked myself) accurate logging was futile, time consuming and annoying. Plus, I don't intend to go through my life logging every calorie I eat. I'm very disciplined during the week, and I've found that this works for me. I've been doing it this way for 4 months or so, have consistently lost weight, and for the most part I find it pretty easy.

They're bad for mine! I really screwed up this past week. Gained weight even though I really tried to burn off the excess. No more cheating, no more slacking.... ugh why did I do that.

Like others have said, depends on what you consider a "cheat" meal or day.

I don't use that terminology, but when I first started I had one day a week where I ate basically maintenance calories. In theory I guess it slowed me down, but I was really fat and was losing 2+ lbs a week even with that and it made it more sustainable given I was going to be on restricted calories for a long time.

After a while I raised my base calories to 1400 and also started exercising enough to rack up some large burns (I was biking long distances and training for a half marathon) so I simply used exercise calories to achieve the same thing without sacrificing my deficit for the day.

Now I am close to goal and am trying to keep a narrow deficit, so it's more like I sometimes give myself permission to go over, but try to keep it around maintenance.

For me it's about calories, not the specific foods I eat. I do try to eat mostly a healthy diet, but I think a lifestyle includes making room for a variety of foods I like from time to time, so I'm not calling any particular food a "cheat." But going over my calories occasionally is a splurge day or some such.

IMO, being able to have such days and get right back on track (and not make them too crazy) is actually an important part of the learning process, as chances are they will happen once the weight loss process is over too.

Pu_239 wrote: »

FoodFitnessTravel wrote: »

As a collage student, i tend to drink every weekend-not a glass or two of wine but more like four-five cocktails or so. Don't judge, you all know what it's like lol.
It is at least 1000 calories that i don't need, and they don't bring me any nutrients, they are downright bad for me. But it's life and i have a lot of fun.
Usually on saturdays i have cheat days. Never ever set me back where i would eat pizza, chocolate, although i still have treats every day just within my calories. Actually it always pushes my weight loss a little as i'm always lighter on Monday than on Friday morning haha.

Go ahead, enjoy life, think of this as a long term lifestyle. You're gonna drink and eat yummy meals, as long as you are healthy most of the time, it's all good It's not a race, getting fit is a long process that's never going to finish if you're serious about it. Even when you get to your GW you won't be like "good now i can eat all i want and lay on couch all day" It's even harder to control yourself when you're maintaining.

My point was, go ahead.

When i drink i just mix some vodka with some crystal light. A lot fewer calories.

Good idea!

spzjlb wrote: »

In my opinion, if long term weight loss - and then maintaining that goal weight - is your objective, then it is just not going to work if you cheat and pretend that you are just relaxing. It is a lifestyle. We should try to be relaxed all the time, but fit it all into our limits.

^^
This.

I am here because I want to permanently and sustainably change my relationship with food and exercise.

I don't expect to always stay within my self imposed calorie budget. And I don't feel particularly guilty when I, occasionally, do not--though I do feel pissed off it the food quality wasn't worth it!

But to deliberately decide that "there is no calorie budget today"? "I'll do whatever", because it is an "official cheat day"?

How would that help me to permanently and sustainably learn not to operate like I used to when I would eat four dinner plates during Sunday brunch and have trouble walking out of the restaurant?