Cheat day question

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tonyrush1
tonyrush1 Posts: 1 Member
I'm following Tim Ferriss' description of the law-carb eating plan which involves making sure you have a "cheat day" once per week.

Do you guys still do a cheat day of your weight loss plateaued the previous week? Or do you stay on the low-carb plan?

Replies

  • SlimBride2Be
    SlimBride2Be Posts: 315 Member
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    Most people here who go in for 'cheats' have a cheat MEAL rather than a cheat DAY. I don't like the mentality of cheating so I work it into my plan by eating less at other meals, doing more exercise and logging the meal in question.
  • SlimBride2Be
    SlimBride2Be Posts: 315 Member
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    Also a cheat for me would be up to 100g carbs. No more than that.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
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    I'm not a fan of the "cheat" thought process either. I never have carby foods and snacks and treats I have fit into my plan.
  • KarlaYP
    KarlaYP Posts: 4,439 Member
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    I have had my first "cheat" treat in almost six months. No, gelato doesnt agree with me! I dont believe i will be having any more cheats any time soon!
  • timwhoa
    timwhoa Posts: 325 Member
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    i typically do one cheat meal per week, not a whole day, just one meal or maybe a 2 hour period, it doesnt seem to slow down my weight loss, and it makes me feel good, knowing I can have that one meal , also prevents stalls for me
  • nicintime
    nicintime Posts: 381 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Karlottap wrote: »
    I have had my first "cheat" treat in almost six months. No, gelato doesnt agree with me! I dont believe i will be having any more cheats any time soon!

    Cheating is why I need to loose 100 lbs. :-/

    But there is this little place in Bonaire called Gio's that serves the best gelato in the universe.... sigh...

    Good thing I'm not going to Bonaire anytime soon!

  • tracy0919
    tracy0919 Posts: 46 Member
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    I do not do any cheat meals for several reasons: the one time I tried it, I ended up sick and achy right after I ate it into the next day; I still have a good amount of weight to lose, and I don't want to knock myself out of ketosis. If I want something that has more carbs than 20 but under 50, I log it then do some activity to balance it out - although I have only done that once or twice so far. I just don't eat it if it doesn't fit there. It is also just easier for me to abstain right now rather than go back and forth.
  • azcowgirrlup
    azcowgirrlup Posts: 204 Member
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    I have never cheated on keto. I consider it my WOL, not a weight loss diet. I can't cheat on my life.




  • pondsbb
    pondsbb Posts: 172 Member
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    I am having a hard time thinking of this as anything but a diet. As long as I have to count or track anything, I think diet.

    Even tracking my weight..I can't seem to think anything but diet.

    My bad..if I ever get to a point where it comes naturally then I can think WOL
  • annalisbeth74
    annalisbeth74 Posts: 328 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I cheated here and there on keto, telling myself that it would be pointless to avoid that stuff forever. It got harder and harder to get back into ketosis, though, and started taking me longer and longer to get that cheat water weight back off and get back on track with my weight loss. Now I "cheat" with lower carb options like the occasional glass of red wine or piece of Atkins candy.
  • Foamroller
    Foamroller Posts: 1,041 Member
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    Having a cheat meal on occasion is not bad. Especially if that is making it psychologically easier to adhere to the fat loss journey long term. However, using the "cheat" meal/day/whatever time frame, as an excuse to go black and white, thinking you already started cheating so might as well CONTINUE CHEATING...is counterproductive to fat loss. Then you're turning the cheat into your new lifestyle choice. Just my opinion. I also recommend getting FA before carb ups. YMMV.

    TL;DR If you can stop yourself after your cheat meal, little harm done if already in FA. If a cheat becomes binge-inducing...then don't.
  • nicintime
    nicintime Posts: 381 Member
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    pondsbb wrote: »
    I am having a hard time thinking of this as anything but a diet. As long as I have to count or track anything, I think diet.

    Even tracking my weight..I can't seem to think anything but diet.

    My bad..if I ever get to a point where it comes naturally then I can think WOL

    Cheat meals help some people, I think.

    But for some of us a cheat meal is just fooling ourselves.

    I am 58, and have been morbidly obese for at least a decade, and have yo yoed 50lbs more times than I care to remember.

    So, for me, if this is a diet, what does 'eating normal' look like?

    It looks like what made me morbidly obese.

    So, I MUST have a new 'normal '. It is literally life and death, and now with a bit of hope I am choosing life.

    Now, if I was 35 and wanted to loose 20lbs for the jeans or not to be embarrassed at my high school reunion it might be different, but I am WAY past that.

    I try not to think of the decades I've 'lost' to sugar, carbs, and obesity - and thinking about that past differently and thinking about my eating differently helps me live now and in my tomorrows, however more I have left.
  • ki4eld
    ki4eld Posts: 1,215 Member
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    I cheated yesterday. I hit my weight goal 11 days early, so I at 2 bites of a brownie. Full sugar, carbs, it was delish. And then I stopped. There was more brownie, but I knew that each bite put me further from my next goal and I'm only willing to take a few steps back on occasion.

    Once a month, usually a weekend day when an event is planned, I have a IDGAF (I don't give a f) day. I track what I eat, but I don't plan my food day. I just eat what I want when I want. Strangely enough, most of those days don't look terrible. I still practice "protein first" when I eat or snack, I still eat very slowly and chew each bite. I still ask, "Am I hungry or am I just thirsty?" I do all of those things without thinking about it, because I've practiced them daily for 14 months. They're second nature.

    So yeah, I cheat. Yesterday's brownie cheat still put me at only 23g net carbs. If you can cheat a little, do it. If it you can't, don't. Only you know your willpower level.
  • KenSmith108
    KenSmith108 Posts: 1,966 Member
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    To quote Country Joe and the fish: "Whoopie we're all go'na die"
    I don't cheat! I don't want to go blind, lose a limb, or get any new complication from diabetes, before my time.
  • KittensMaster
    KittensMaster Posts: 748 Member
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    I eat as I need to

    Don't really have cheat days. If I do an extreme volume of exercise I eat more as need to not be in a huge caloric deficit.

    The idea of having a way of eating that is extreme I need an escape day from the plan once a week sounds like a bad plan.
  • ShootingStar72
    ShootingStar72 Posts: 183 Member
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    I've had 2 meals in the last 2 days that were full of really really bad decisions. Both were events where food was provided- company summer pool party and a play date my son went to. I do great when at home! Need to find restraint when out with friends
  • glossbones
    glossbones Posts: 1,064 Member
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    I love this way of eating. I don't feel the need to cheat because I don't feel as though I'm denying myself anything (and because I know my impulsive reactions if I were to let the sugar hit my blood).

    Yesterday neither my husband or I could finish our breakfast because we were satisfied half way through.

    My dad likes to steal our food (bacon cooling, the keto BBQ sauce I make, slices of meat on the board). The way I see it, we are eating everyone else's cheat food. It's a good freakin' deal.
  • ceciliaslater
    ceciliaslater Posts: 457 Member
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    I have designated Saturday as my "cheat day." If I really want something, whatever it is, I will have it on Saturday. This week, that amounted to one little half-cup serving of unsweetened applesauce (really breaking out the big guns, I know).

    I feel like having that designated day helps keep me on track the rest of the week. And, chances are, that thing I was craving on Tuesday won't seem so absolutely divine come Saturday, anyway.

    I really don't feel much need to cheat at this point, as I'm never really hungry and can usually find something low-carb to munch when snack time comes a-callin'...