Cheat Day Or No?

jaysanchez4 · June 2015

Is it only considered a cheat day when you go over your calories? Yesterday i ate pretty bad but i was still under my calories for the day by a few hundred. This morning i woke up a few pounds heavier which i am assuming is just water weight. I'm trying to lose weight and i eat under my calorie intake every single day.

Thanks

jessielynn4888 · June 2015

Good question! Following!

KrisiAnnH · June 2015

As far as I'm aware people tend to see cheat days as days where anything goes food/calorie wise. If you're eating 'pretty bad' but are still under your calories, you'll still lose weight. Your body cant tell the difference between 'bad' and 'good' calories, all it knows is that 100 cals is 100 cals (whether it's from a burger or a carrot).
If you had a 'bad' day yesterday, ie with lots of sodium etc, it probably is just water weight, or daily fluctuations.

Personally (and I'm only talking about myself and my own preferences here) I don't like the idea of 'cheat' days. It has too many negative connotations, like you're 'cheating' yourself, and I think it's just generally a bad way of looking at food. If it's a whole day of unrestricted eating, it's very easy to undo all your hard work for the rest of the week.

I do have treats if they'll fit within my calories (I'm on 1200 but if I'm careful and workout I can have the odd chocolate bar or sweet treat).

I do give myself a day where I eat to maintenance calories every now and again (once a fortnight or so, or if I feel like I need a break from being so restrictive). And if it's a special occasion (birthday, anniversary etc) I'll have a 'treat meal'. I'll eat sensibly for the rest of the day, try and get a short workout in, and have whatever I want for the meal out for dinner, without worrying about calories etc.

Short version; 'cheat days' can ruin all your hard work, but there's nothing wrong with a treat every now and again, either worked into your daily calories, or as a 'one off' occasionally. It's all about moderation

jaysanchez4 · June 2015

Thanks! That was great information, my cheat days never exceed the calories that i'm allowed for the day.

bpetrosky · June 2015

If you had a lot of carbs and/or sodium, it's water weight most likely. Weight fluctuates a great deal during the day as well.

Most people consider a "cheat day" or "cheat meal" having a day off from dieting, especially on very restrictive diets. If you're calorie counting, and you go over bit on a given day, it doesn't affect your long term progress much.

If you're new to weighing yourself daily, you will have to expect seeing daily fluctuations that are not significant in the long term.

jaysanchez4 · June 2015

Wow thanks, that makes more sense to me. Sometimes i'll have a beef patty here and there or even eat a mcflurry ( once in months ) but i'm always under my calories.

KrisiAnnH · June 2015

If you're still under your calories then you're not having a 'cheat day' as most people define it.(ETA which is fine! Some people have cheat or treat days, some dont!) It's worth remembering it's all down to the individual though, and it can take some degree of trial and error to figure out what works (if it's working for you now then that's great! well done

)

I second what @bpetrosky says though, expect to see daily fluctuations! dont get discouraged if the scale doesn't always show a loss, as long as the general trend is down, you're doing something right

jaysanchez4 · June 2015

Thanks, i will continue to stay below my calories and eat a lot cleaner!

bpetrosky · June 2015

jaysanchez4 wrote: »

Thanks, i will continue to stay below my calories and eat a lot cleaner!

All good. FYI, don't worry about clean vs. not clean so much. Worry more about what's sustainable for you long term.

betuel75 · June 2015

the term varies per person. For me cheating is going over my calorie allowance for the day. If i eat 1/2 dozen donuts but dont go over my calories i havent cheated.

jlebyrne · June 2015

Cheat days would be a day where you fall off a particular plan, so eating more than you would normally, eating foods that you've restricted from your diet and so on. Everyone has a different definition but that's what I would say it was. The few pounds you've "gained" will likely be water weight from sodium, if you keep on track and drink a lot of water you'll drop these few extra pounds over the next few days/week.

kshama2001 · June 2015

KrisiAnnH wrote: »

As far as I'm aware people tend to see cheat days as days where anything goes food/calorie wise. If you're eating 'pretty bad' but are still under your calories, you'll still lose weight. Your body cant tell the difference between 'bad' and 'good' calories, all it knows is that 100 cals is 100 cals (whether it's from a burger or a carrot).
If you had a 'bad' day yesterday, ie with lots of sodium etc, it probably is just water weight, or daily fluctuations.

Personally (and I'm only talking about myself and my own preferences here) I don't like the idea of 'cheat' days. It has too many negative connotations, like you're 'cheating' yourself, and I think it's just generally a bad way of looking at food. If it's a whole day of unrestricted eating, it's very easy to undo all your hard work for the rest of the week.

I do have treats if they'll fit within my calories (I'm on 1200 but if I'm careful and workout I can have the odd chocolate bar or sweet treat).

I do give myself a day where I eat to maintenance calories every now and again (once a fortnight or so, or if I feel like I need a break from being so restrictive). And if it's a special occasion (birthday, anniversary etc) I'll have a 'treat meal'. I'll eat sensibly for the rest of the day, try and get a short workout in, and have whatever I want for the meal out for dinner, without worrying about calories etc.

Short version; 'cheat days' can ruin all your hard work, but there's nothing wrong with a treat every now and again, either worked into your daily calories, or as a 'one off' occasionally. It's all about moderation

faithyang · June 2015

That's a good question...I don't think so! But I tend to keep my cheat meals within my calorie limit or incorporate it in my weekly calorie deficit!
My cheat days are my weekends and after my cheat day I never ever weigh myself as its going to be water weight from all that sodium, which will go away after a few days of snapping back to routine.

I weigh myself at the end of my weekly exercise routine as that is when I can get consistency, track my weight properly and also motivate myself.

Cheat days are actually really good for you and helps to create a sustainable lifestyle and diet where you don't feel like you're losing out or depriving yourself. Studies show that not only does food deprivation of any food groups foster food obsession and increase the likelihood of binging, blow outs and eating disorders, it also isn't very sustainable!

See the study I posted below (I know Wikipedia is not a 'source' but it briefly describes the study and links to a scientific/medical source) on how food deprivation turns a group of otherwise healthy young men on starvation diets into psychological PTSD scarred people who develop eating disordered food obsession.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment

medicaldaily.com/9010-rule-cheat-meals-actually-boost-your-metabolism-and-help-you-lose-weight-327212

jaysanchez4 · June 2015

All great and useful answers! Thank You so much! I have about 874 calories left to eat today, where i will get those calories? I guess i'll figure that out later but as long as i know now that staying under will always lead to a weight loss, i'm relieved. Last night i had a mcflurry which is why i'm so worried about it haha. I hope this water weight leaves soon though

Eliz_99 · June 2015

I don't really call it a cheat day but for me once a week (usually after my weekly weigh in) I don't calorie count and probably eat about 3000 calories! I am still losing though and if I stop losing I will be more strict! I wouldn't call it a cheat day if you've still eaten under your calorie limit. Maybe you are holding water from extra salt.

Kalikel · June 2015

Everyone has to define this for themselves. Some make no effort to make their diets healthier, believing that no diet is healthier than another, so they'll say, "No." Others think that you should never let anything but the most healthy foods cross your lip, so they'll say, "Yes."

Most are in the middle with a bunch of different definitions of what does and does not constitute a healthy diet, but who cares because all that matters are calories. If you're under the calorie goal, they'll say it's not a cheat day.

Then you have people who don't even believe it's cheating, so it's not a cheat day.

This is something that requires you to make up your own definition.

If votes are required, though, I'll vote No.

FitForL1fe · June 2015

you don't need to weigh yourself every day

you can track a weekly calorie average instead of your actual daily calories if you'd prefer

remember this is a marathon, not a sprint

300 extra calories in a single day are not going to matter in a year. but 300 extra calories every day would

Robertworkout1212 · June 2015

I need to stop my cheat "day" since it usually becomes the whole weekend, then back to work and dieting Monday through Friday....Sun morning, weight 188.8 then I am good all week and Friday morning weight is 180....then it repeats....need to stop if I want to get to 175. BTW wine/alcohol is the main culprit, followed by lots of cheese and crackers...hopefully this weekend will be different...vaya con dios!

OldAssDude · June 2015

I was invited to spend memorial day weekend in Wildwood NJ. My sister has a place there. I knew I was going to be eating a lot there, so I brought my bicycle with me. In the morning I would do a 5 mile bike ride (in the cardio zone), followed by a 3 mile fast walk (also in the cardio zone). I burned breakfast and most of lunch off before I even ate. It was like calories in the bank.

I still thought I would gain a pound or two, but turns out I lost half a pound.

faithyang · June 2015

Robertworkout1212 wrote: »

I need to stop my cheat "day" since it usually becomes the whole weekend, then back to work and dieting Monday through Friday....Sun morning, weight 188.8 then I am good all week and Friday morning weight is 180....then it repeats....need to stop if I want to get to 175. BTW wine/alcohol is the main culprit, followed by lots of cheese and crackers...hopefully this weekend will be different...vaya con dios!

LOL that sounds alot like me many days.

I've had days where my cheat day invariably starts after 5 on a friday with a food fiesta to celebrate TGIF. Once it was a massive kebab blow out - I chomped through thick pillowy Turkish bread (the carb motherlode haha) the size of say...almost an A4 size piece of paper, 2 skewers of chicken shish kebabs consisting of 4 grilled thigh cutlets, half a large chilli, onion and pepper dip soaked in oil, grilled tomatoes and chillis and a 'feel-good' salad. Then settled down the size of a three month preggers woman to "nibble" on home-made Indian milk kulfi (ice cream made from reduced full cream milk, sugar, spices and ALOT of condensed milk) the size of a whiskey glass.

That was probably...2500-3000 calories?

Then I had more big meals on Saturday where I had two meals, followed by chocolate and mint ice cream at the movies. Felt so guilty I swore I would be 'good' on Sunday - ended up with an big Indian blow out meal. Didn't eat the rest of the day because of how big it was.

It was a mixture of bliss and torture haha.

Cheat Day Or No?

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