Do you guys believe in cheat day?!
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Not really. If i choose to eat more calories one day, then I just log it and accept the consequences. I dont believe im entitled to one and recognise how it affects my calorie balance. I dont mind exercising, which gives me some back up and flexibility.0
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I also don't like the word cheat. This is not a moral issue and you create your own program. The question is how it affects you. If you can eat more than your normally allotted calories and get back on track, go for it. Personally I would do my best to count everything even if I was way over. That would keep me from being able to say I've blown it and it doesn't matter. There's a saying that the perfect is the enemy of the good. By trying to insist on perfection you can set yourself up for failure.0
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Honestly this topic comes up every day! I don't get why some ppl get so bent out of shape over a word. I call it a cheat day but, my brain and body knows it is just getting a couple hundred cals more than it does every other day. I am under no illusion that I am rewarding myself for good behavior or demonizing food the rest of the week. I alway makes room for a small treat every day but, sometimes I want that huge bowl of cheesy pasta or more than 1 pc of fried chicken. I realize this does not work for everyone. I prelog so far in advance I know what I have to dO to make up a cheat day. I log everything no matter how ugly. I don't binge and I don't over restrict through the week. I just do what works for me. I have lost 30 lbs in 3 months cheating once a week every week but, 2. This works for me!0
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I don't have a cheat day but if I want something whether I'm going out with friends or somewhere to eat,I have whatever I'm craving and am more aware of the consequences and what I will have to do to work it off.I don't ban any foods from my life because I know from previous experiences that you crash and burn so much else if you deny yourself certain foods. So every so often,I will have a little bit of what I like but won't let it ruin my weight loss.0
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Deficit0
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MissBoo2015 wrote: »If I meet up with friends and we eat out then that's my 'cheat' meal thing and I'll make sure to eat light later/earlier. I don't think restriction should be placed on a certain type of food. Like with birthday cake, have a small slice of cake it wont destroy all you hard work, one meal didn't make anyone overweight, the same way one workout doesn't make you fit and healthy. For me, a lot of it is going in there with a mind frame of making conscious decisions. If you know there's gonna be a buffet of food, make conscious choices of what goes on your plate - and how many plates you have. If you don't have any, you may end up overeating later on from restriction.
That is a great way to think about it! Thanks.
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tishtash221989 wrote: »I don't have a cheat day but if I want something whether I'm going out with friends or somewhere to eat,I have whatever I'm craving and am more aware of the consequences and what I will have to do to work it off.I don't ban any foods from my life because I know from previous experiences that you crash and burn so much else if you deny yourself certain foods. So every so often,I will have a little bit of what I like but won't let it ruin my weight loss.
Exactly! I'm that person who crashes if I don't have something I love for a while...0 -
I stopped putting a prize on food.
This, and other related comments from recent posters about the negativity of the word "cheat", resonate with me the most. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who feels they cheated on their own selves throughout their weight gain period. Basically I was 'buying my own BS', the ultimate cheat.
I like the attitude Molly (and others) has here too:MollyBradford wrote: »I don't consider myself to "cheat" and, honestly, I hate that term. Food should never make you feel guilty. If I want a treat, I fit it in my macros. If there is a special occasion, such as a birthday, I focus on enjoying myself. Building a good relationship with food is so important. I feel like if you allow yourself smaller treats often that fit your macros, you are less likely to full on binge when you don't track.
That's healthy.
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No way. Why would I be tracking if I'm going to "cheat" and deliberately screw up my accounting? Makes no sense and is self-sabotaging, IMO.
Doing a combo of the banking approach, IF, and calorie cycling - it works. Trust the math. Keep your balances together on a weekly basis, work to your goal, and execute.0 -
I overindulged this weekend with my Mom for Mother's Day weekend but I knew it was going to be an issue. So Saturday before I went to get her, I hit the gym and did an extra mile on the machine and was careful with my calories until dinner. The next day we fit in a hike after our indulgent brunch and when I weighed in this morning I was the same as I was on Friday morning so it all balanced out in the end. If you know you're going to have a day where you're just way over, add in some extra activity and that really helps! Log everything anyway (even before you eat it) so you have an idea of what you're putting into your body--sometimes just seeing those numbers is enough of a motivation to keep your portion smaller or go with something else.0
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I cheat per say. I stay within my goals but every other week I don't follow my macro/micros and I may eat 500 calories worth of ice cream but I don't go over. Never go over!0
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I definitely have meals that go way over my daily calorie allowance, but I incorporate them into my weekly. I only consider it cheating when I go way off the wagon and go over my weekly calories0
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Cheat days are very useful for some people (no matter what they call them). I suppose you could call Saturday and Sunday cheat days for me, though I don't use that term. But I do plan on consuming more calories on those days than on Mon-Fri. But the real cheat days for me are occasional very high calorie days that are just part of life. Things like reunions, family picnics, wine or beer tasting parties, etc.0
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I stopped putting a prize on food.
This, and other related comments from recent posters about the negativity of the word "cheat", resonate with me the most. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who feels they cheated on their own selves throughout their weight gain period. Basically I was 'buying my own BS', the ultimate cheat.
I like the attitude Molly (and others) has here too:MollyBradford wrote: »I don't consider myself to "cheat" and, honestly, I hate that term. Food should never make you feel guilty. If I want a treat, I fit it in my macros. If there is a special occasion, such as a birthday, I focus on enjoying myself. Building a good relationship with food is so important. I feel like if you allow yourself smaller treats often that fit your macros, you are less likely to full on binge when you don't track.
That's healthy.
all of this ^^^
food should not be a source of guilt - ever. yes, eat clean and exercise regularly; live a healthy life through these means but you should also live a little! eating one piece of cake here or there for an occasion shouldn't even be considered as "cheating" - it's called enjoying life. i eat clean on a regular basis but when i'm out for someone's birthday and i want to eat something i normally dont, i eat the hell out of it and enjoy every single bit. will that one dessert (or meal or whatever it may be) destroy everything i've done up to then? NO WAY. like one healthy meal won't make you healthy, one bad meal won't make you unhealthy. log it and move on.0 -
I don't call them cheat days, I use a special meal to celebrate a success, for a special occassion or I allow myself a yummy goody or a beer once a week. I don't want to feel deprived because that means binging. It works for me so I can keep eating well and sticking to my budget 90% of the time.0
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Nah. I pretty much leave myself a little wiggle room each day so I can have a small treat after dinner or something, pretty much everyday. Otherwise I'd go nuts and eat the whole house.0
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I don't have a planned cheat day. I do have days where I go over or we eat out at certian places, but I don't plan them. That keeps me on track and honest with myself more because I usually end up chalking that day up as a 'cheat' day and start fresh the next day. I've found if I have a dedicated cheat day, I usually end up over doing it and old habits kick in, which takes me longer to get back on track.
I'm not sure how much sense that made to others, but it works for me. ^_^;0 -
Nah. I pretty much leave myself a little wiggle room each day so I can have a small treat after dinner or something, pretty much everyday. Otherwise I'd go nuts and eat the whole house.
Sounds like a smart plan that works for you!
Ditto to @dubird.I allow myself [...] a beer once a week.
I run for beer. It's easy to have three or seven beers a week if running 50km a week.
More seriously... I have definitely reduced my beer and wine consumption since I adopted calorie counting. But I do enjoy using a small part of my running-derived calorie deficit to "pay" for a beer. It's not a "cheat", it's called planning.
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I do IIFYM/flexible dieting so I don't need a cheat day. If I want something, I'll make it fit after I've hit my micronutrients. If I go out with friends or go to a bday party or whatever, I don't consider it a cheat day, just life. 120 lbs down so far, and all my vitals are normal, so it's workin' for me.0
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