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    exercise to cheat?

    Posts: 16 Member
    edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
    Hi guys, I've just come over from slimming world, because it wasn't working for me. My question is...If I eat within my calorie range 6 days a week and exercise 5 days a week, without using the exercise calories at all. Do you think I'd be able to cheat on a Saturday night and still have a loss without it undoing all my good work on the previous 6 days? I weigh in on a Saturday morning?

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    • Posts: 224 Member
      Why don't you just eat back the exercise calories?
    • Posts: 17,562 Member
      It's fine. Many people follow their weekly calories rather than daily in case they want to indulge once or twice.
    • Posts: 15,151 Member
      malibu927 wrote: »
      It's fine. Many people follow their weekly calories rather than daily in case they want to indulge once or twice.

      This
    • Posts: 2,742 Member
      I save up calories all the time to splurge and still manage to lose a pound a week.
    • Posts: 19,251 Member
      malibu927 wrote: »
      It's fine. Many people follow their weekly calories rather than daily in case they want to indulge once or twice.

      This. And notice the wording.
    • Posts: 860 Member
      edited May 2015
      As long as you still count your cheat meals and you aren't going over your calorie goals for the week, yes. You should be fine. I personally use my exercise calories to have a small "cheat" everyday, so I don't feel the need to have a big cheat day. If it works better for you to save it up until the end of the week and you still stick to your calorie goals for the week, you would still total out to the same number of calories overall so you would still lose.
    • Posts: 2,430 Member
      That's how I drink wine on the weekends!
    • Posts: 16 Member
      Thanks everyone, it's usually just for a bottle of wine or two on a Saturday so I shouldn't be going over my exercise calories for the week.
    • Posts: 8,626 Member
      i exercise to EAT .... not to CHEAT (nothing is off limits for me)
    • Posts: 25,902 Member
      One of the reasons I exercise every day is to give myself some extra calories to use for extra food.

      I keep my net calories under 1250, but there are days when I'm eating 1400 cal, or 1600 cal or more. :) Because I have exercised enough to do that.

      It's not cheating, it's strategic planning. And I'm working for it.
    • Posts: 3,082 Member
      How much is a cheat?

      If you saved up a deficit of 3000 during the week then at 4k over on Saturday you going to go backwards.

    • Posts: 44 Member
      Merkavar wrote: »
      How much is a cheat?

      If you saved up a deficit of 3000 during the week then at 4k over on Saturday you going to go backwards.
      Good question, it depends on what you consider a "cheat". If I have an event where I know I may eat a bit more, or have a drink or two, I consider that day a "maintenance day" and eat what would be maintenance for me. This would usually mean maybe 500 or so additional calories above my weight loss plan, rather than the 500 calorie deficit. As long as you're not going overboard, then you can certainly work it into your weekly plan.

    • Posts: 5,646 Member
      If you're saving calories, or earning extra calories through exercise, so you can have extra sometimes it is not cheating. God I detest that word. Such negative connotations, like you're doing something 'naughty'.
    • Posts: 41 Member
      I agree, its not cheating. Cheating implies you are doing something for nothing and you certainly are working for those extra drinkies.

      I do this (I call it banking cals) but only for special occasions. Exercise is not exact on how many calories you have burnt so you might be considerably over estimating your exercise and end up not losing anything
    • Posts: 185 Member
      I do that as well. But I rarely eat over maintenance when I try to use my banked calories (I'm like Scrooge with calories). Exeption: when I had a few drinks too many at the club and my brain is on autopilot..THEN I will have fries + falafel or something similar for breakfast B) but this is a rather rare occation..I usually try to manage to go home without a stop at the turkish diner ;)

      OP: If you manage to bank some cals: use them for something like wine and enjoy it :)...I mean...you earned this bottle!
    • Posts: 17,456 Member
      It's not cheating

      It's monitoring your calorie defecit across the week, and it's how I lost and maintain my weight

      I'm not the same 'hungry' each day .. and some days I fancy going out to eat

      Use the report on the app - weekly - it gives you how many calories you ate each day, average across the week and how many you have left to hit your defecit across the week and you can set it to a rolling 7 days

      My one rule is not borrowing from the future though
    • Posts: 45 Member
      it's usually just for a bottle of wine or two on a Saturday
      Not for nothing but that sounds like it might be ok on your diet and not so good for you in general.
    • Posts: 659 Member
      rabbitjb wrote: »
      It's not cheating

      It's monitoring your calorie defecit across the week, and it's how I lost and maintain my weight

      I'm not the same 'hungry' each day .. and some days I fancy going out to eat

      Use the report on the app - weekly - it gives you how many calories you ate each day, average across the week and how many you have left to hit your defecit across the week and you can set it to a rolling 7 days

      My one rule is not borrowing from the future though

      All of this. Make sure you log your cheat too and be honest about what your cheating with; I tend to not eat back some of my exercise calories so I can have a bit of a splurge at the weekends, as that is my 'down time' and I know I am prone to consuming more during those two days. However, there have been a couple of times where I haven't really kept track of it, then finally added everything up and realized I had gone way over for the week-it is surprising how quickly it can all add up!
    • Posts: 2,493 Member
      Remain at a weekly deficit.

      That really is all there is to it.

      How you go about creating that deficit is up to you.
    • Posts: 16 Member
      Thanks a lot for your responses guys. I will probably use a maximum of 1000 over my daily allowance, so should have earned more than enough to cover it and still be in deficit. I'm going to look now at the weekly report and see if I cam figure it out
    • Posts: 17,562 Member
      yogeshvaraom wrote: »
      it's usually just for a bottle of wine or two on a Saturday
      Not for nothing but that sounds like it might be ok on your diet and not so good for you in general.

      So because she wants to enjoy something like that one night a week it's not good? I'd understand if someone drank a couple bottles every night, but there's nothing wrong with this. And I don't even drink.
    • Posts: 1,200 Member
      Nony_Mouse wrote: »
      If you're saving calories, or earning extra calories through exercise, so you can have extra sometimes it is not cheating. God I detest that word. Such negative connotations, like you're doing something 'naughty'.

      I prefer "treat" to "cheat" for that very reason.
    • Posts: 206 Member
      Food and I have an open relationship...so I wouldn't call it cheating exactly (haha). I eat within reason each day and if an opportunity presents itself in which I want to indulge a little, I do.
    • Posts: 13,454 Member
      rabbitjb wrote: »
      It's not cheating

      It's monitoring your calorie defecit across the week, and it's how I lost and maintain my weight

      I'm not the same 'hungry' each day .. and some days I fancy going out to eat

      Use the report on the app - weekly - it gives you how many calories you ate each day, average across the week and how many you have left to hit your defecit across the week and you can set it to a rolling 7 days

      My one rule is not borrowing from the future though

      I fully agree with all this but just a word of caution, depending which version of the app you are using, the weekly calculations are all messed up right now on ios6.1 so the math doesn't add up corrextly. It's really frustrating since I use this to balance my calories over the week, so I'm having to mentally add my deficits to see where I'm at on the weekend.

      Also OP another vote for striking the word "cheat" from your vocabulary. Figure out a way to fit in the food, or the wine, that you love every day or on a weekly basis. Plan for it and it's not cheating.
    • Posts: 1,418 Member
      Neversettle78 wrote: »
      Food and I have an open relationship...so I wouldn't call it cheating exactly (haha). I eat within reason each day and if an opportunity presents itself in which I want to indulge a little, I do.

      Love this :D
    • Posts: 1,544 Member
      yogeshvaraom wrote: »
      it's usually just for a bottle of wine or two on a Saturday
      Not for nothing but that sounds like it might be ok on your diet and not so good for you in general.

      Wine is good for ya! *cheers*
    • Posts: 17,456 Member
      edited May 2015
      Kruggeri wrote: »
      show previous quotes

      I fully agree with all this but just a word of caution, depending which version of the app you are using, the weekly calculations are all messed up right now on ios6.1 so the math doesn't add up corrextly. It's really frustrating since I use this to balance my calories over the week, so I'm having to mentally add my deficits to see where I'm at on the weekend.

      Also OP another vote for striking the word "cheat" from your vocabulary. Figure out a way to fit in the food, or the wine, that you love every day or on a weekly basis. Plan for it and it's not cheating.


      @kruggeri this I did not know - thank you for that

      I haven't upgraded and refuse to so mine is still OK I think

      I'm at a loss to understand why the PC version does not include the average figure and the total amount under stated goal
    • Posts: 13,454 Member
      rabbitjb wrote: »
      show previous quotes


      @kruggeri this I did not know - thank you for that

      I haven't upgraded and refuse to so mine is still OK I think

      I'm at a loss to understand why the PC version does not include the average figure and the total amount under stated goal

      It's totally ridiculous how badly they messed up the app with the latest release. I mean, simple math is not working. Not even close. And it's not like it is adding wrongly the same way every day. Some days it will say I'm 500 under my weekly deficit and the next day it will say I'm 800 over. So frustrating...

    • Posts: 1,938 Member
      Saving up calories for a fun night out is not a "cheat" any more than saving your Starbucks money for a new pair of shoes is theft.
    • Posts: 45 Member
      Here is a board discussion on another site discussing drinking a bottle or two of wine in a night. Obviously opinions differ...
      but it is something to consider....http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/956932-to-think-that-two-bottles-of-wine-per-person-is
    This discussion has been closed.

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