Should I have a "cheat day"?

Everyone follows different rules. I fit the foods I love into my calories so I don't feel the need for a cheat day. Some will go for it, others only for one meal so they don't go overboard.

I think consistency is key. To give you an example, if you have a bowl of cereal for breakfast every day for a week, your body will expect a bowl of cereal at breakfast o'clock and get grumpy if you don't have one. If you have a cheat day and have a massive fry up, the next day your body will remember that delicious blow out meal and you'll feel hungry when you're only having a bowl of cereal...

If you can, plan the blow outs. This a lifestyle change, not a faddy diet. You can't hide away from celebration dinners and the like forever. You can however try to eat a bit less in the days before and after so your calorie intake for the week isn't massively over what it should be.

Try to find an exercise you like - I started with walking. It's simple and it's free. If you exercise, you can calculate the calories burned from that (if walking or running, you can use a smartphone and an app, if something else, you can get a digital wrist band like FitBit or Jawbone) and add that onto your allowance. Basically, the more you move, the more you can eat - that's not cheating, that's about finding balance. And because you're refuelling - you burned more energy so you needed more energy - it doesn't knock off your balance the next day. If you eat normally, your body doesn't crave lots of extra food the way it would have done if you hadn't done that exercise.

But if you do have a day where you go overboard and eat and eat and pretty much slob out, the key thing is to not let that derail your efforts. Try to start afresh the next day and pick yourself up. You will fall off the wagon from time to time - happens to all of us. The important thing is not to let yourself get caught in a downward spiral of overeating - if you slip up, just start again. Eventually you'll find yourself slipping less often.

No cheat days for me - an occasional cheat meal instead.

How about instead of a cheat day or meal instead give yourself a reward meal and set a goal. That way it is a positive incentive and not a negative way to cheat on your food plan

i eat what i want as long as it fits my daily goals. i think for (most) people... cheat 'days' can turn into cheat weekends, weeks, months and years.....

been there done that. LOL

I originally planned cheat days into my journey and realized I did not need them. I do have a splurge meal on occasion but plan it so I stay within my goal for the day by either eating less calories one of the other meals or exercising more.

gothchiq wrote: »

I would say don't do it. It's easy to wipe out your entire calorie deficit for the week by overindulging for a day. Not worth it.

This.

Sure, if you track it, log it, and make sure it's not so much that you've canceled your deficit from the rest of the week. I tend to save an extra couple hundred calories each day so I can have a bunch of booze or some fast food on Saturday, but I also make sure I weigh/measure it all and log it accurately so I can keep my weekly deficit.

If by "cheat day" you mean an unlogged free-for-all, then I'd say no. Too easy to eat the entire deficit you worked all week to create, too easy to slip into unawareness and complacency. Plan, track, log, make it work.

Cheat days are how I got here in the first place.

Over the past 4 years, I was eating quite well during the week, and I'd even lose a little weight during the week, and then ate a whole lot more on the weekends and would gain back what I lost ... sometimes plus some. It took me 4 years to gain 15 kg that way.

Now ...

1) I eat good food within my calorie limits so I don't need to cheat. By good, I not only mean low cal and yet nutritious, I also mean food with lots of variety and flavour.

2) I exercise a lot. When I cycle 90 km, like I did Saturday, I have lots of extra calories to play with. Yesterday, I had a cauliflower & cheese pie + a large apricot custard tart for lunch. Then I had a chocolate ice cream bar from the nearby convenience store after the ride ... good recovery food. I also had quite a large dinner and a bit of chocolate for desert. But I worked for it all, and it was all within my calorie limit.

No cheating involved.

I don't call it a cheat meal/day. I try to consistently eat nutritiously and stay under my goal and plan a day when I'm gonna go for that burger and fries or pizza or whatever higher-calorie deliciousness I want and make it fit. I can easily get nearly 1000 calories of food for one meal (which is most of my allowance before exercise) so I plan for it, saving up calories throughout the week if needed, and then I can enjoy my treat I don't necessarily do this every week, either. It might be every other week.

I try to keep my weekly average a little bit below my goal, even if a certain day is higher than it's "supposed" to be.

~Lyssa

cindyangotti wrote: »

Don't cheat. Just plan it and log it. If you go over your calorie goal work it off with cardio exercise.

What she said.

In moderation, maybe a meal. But you eventually have to work it off. In time, when your metabolism kicks in, then a cheat day is okay so long as you stick to the exercise and drink a little extra water the next day to flush out what you can. Truly depends on what you do to work it off. I know guys that run 8 to 10 miles a day and eat what ever they want when ever they want. If you don't do that, then use moderation and caution.

dzhuff wrote: »

I'm new to dieting. Is a cheat day a good way to not be so strict on yourself, or is it undermining the whole process?

I personally think cheat days are a terrible idea. I have gained and lost the same 30 pounds for a decade now (I'm almost 30) and it's because I fell into that diet mentality. Once you hit maintenance and are accustomed to cheat days you'll continue to do it only it will start packing on the pounds. It's much better to incorporate the foods you love day to day, even if that means eating at a smaller deficit and losing slower so you can. Stop thinking of this whole thing as a diet. It'll keep you on track and you won't feel deprived and like you're dieting. Or, like someone else mentioned, exercise a crap load so you can eat a crap load cheat free. I went on a 12 mile hike with a 2200 foot elevation gain yesterday and my fitbit gave me 1500 calories on top of my regular calories. We went to Cheesecake Factory when we got home, no cheats neccesary. I still logged everything and paid attention so I didn't gorge myself.

I have been using MFP for a month now and I don't feel like I need a cheat day. I can eat anything as long as I fit it into my calories. It is Awesome!

Dependinf on what you had in mind for a cheat day you could always figure your caleries for that meal and subtract a few caleries thruout thr week that way you dont go over the limit for thr week