How Do "Cheat Days" Work?
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kiela64
Posts: 1,447 Member
I've read some people find that "cheat days" help them stay on track for the week. I have been having some difficulty lately with that. Once I've "failed" I seem to spiral a little bit for a number of days, which I suspect may have destroyed any progress I might have made in the past few weeks. I'd like to try to get out of that mentality to actually continue to move forwards, and thought this might be worth a shot.
I'm wondering how you plan for cheat days and how you make sure you have an overall weekly deficit? Do you have an "upper limit" for that day, or a weekly total calorie goal? Is there another calculation that you use other than just the MFP one? just how do you use a "cheat day" effectively?
Thanks!
I'm wondering how you plan for cheat days and how you make sure you have an overall weekly deficit? Do you have an "upper limit" for that day, or a weekly total calorie goal? Is there another calculation that you use other than just the MFP one? just how do you use a "cheat day" effectively?
Thanks!
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Replies
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I think that for most people, they try to limit to a "cheat meal" just to control it a bit better. I find that logging everything, even a cheat day or meal, helps my brain recognize what I'm doing and eventually learn to limit the "cheats" to where it's just part of my day to eat what I want within reason.
In my opinion, the logging everything is what makes it stick. Cheat meals and days are OK if that's what you like, moderation is another way to feel like you're not depriving yourself. Just make sure you're not undoing all your week's work in one day or else you're being counter productive.0 -
Look at the maths.
If you have created a 3500 calorie deficit over the week, then have a "cheat day" and consume 3500 calories over maintenance you have wiped out your deficit.
It's nothing to do with trend driven terms such as "cheat day", it's all to do with the amount of calories consumed, and how it effects your calorie deficit. Your body doesn't understand "cheating". It understands a calorie deficit.
The simple hard and fast fact is that if you do not create a calorie deficit, you will not drop weight/body fat.
Maybe if you are struggling staying on track you need to cut your deficit, spend some time at maintenance, or look at the make-up of your dietary intake.0 -
I know I'm going to eat bigger meals on the weekends and so spend more time exercising on those days to earn the extra calories. This works better for me than the concept of cheating.0
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I cut a little on my daily deficit in order to eat a little more on certain days. If you have a blow out cheat day every week and it negates your deficit-you're not going to lose.0
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I cut a little on my daily deficit in order to eat a little more on certain days. If you have a blow out cheat day every week and it negates your deficit-you're not going to lose.Look at the maths.
If you have created a 3500 calorie deficit over the week, then have a "cheat day" and consume 3500 calories over maintenance you have wiped out your deficit.
It's nothing to do with trend driven terms such as "cheat day", it's all to do with the amount of calories consumed, and how it effects your calorie deficit. Your body doesn't understand "cheating". It understands a calorie deficit.
The simple hard and fast fact is that if you do not create a calorie deficit, you will not drop weight/body fat.
Maybe if you are struggling staying on track you need to cut your deficit, spend some time at maintenance, or look at the make-up of your dietary intake.
I know that if you eat the deficit you won't lose...that's why I'm asking how to do it correctly...to continue to have a significant deficit with one day being higher....
I don't really know how to figure out where "maintenance" is, actually. MFP says it's 1970cal (which seems high), but I've also seen it at 1800 or 1600 (or 2100 but I doubt it) depending on the calculator. I'm thinking of upping my daily calories for a while to see if that helps. I was looking into the "cheat day" or "cheat meal" idea because some people are saying it works for them.0 -
Gotcha. If you want to have a bigger day-try looking at your weekly calories instead of daily. As long as you even out for the week it's good. My goal is around 2000. So some days I eat 1800,1700, 1900-whatever. Then on Saturday (or just a super hungry day) I have extra calories to play with! It helped me a lot.
That being said-if you are struggling taking a break could definitely help. Have you been losing before this? You can look at your average loss vs calories eaten and calculate your maintenance. I took a week at maintenance (lady time) and it REALLY helped me get back on track.0 -
shadowofender wrote: »I think that for most people, they try to limit to a "cheat meal" just to control it a bit better. I find that logging everything, even a cheat day or meal, helps my brain recognize what I'm doing and eventually learn to limit the "cheats" to where it's just part of my day to eat what I want within reason.
In my opinion, the logging everything is what makes it stick. Cheat meals and days are OK if that's what you like, moderation is another way to feel like you're not depriving yourself. Just make sure you're not undoing all your week's work in one day or else you're being counter productive.
Yes, I definitely plan on logging everything. I don't want days that undo everything, like has happened. That's what I'm trying to fixkshama2001 wrote: »I know I'm going to eat bigger meals on the weekends and so spend more time exercising on those days to earn the extra calories. This works better for me than the concept of cheating.
Sadly that isn't exactly a viable option.
I do tend to eat less when I work out, so I am saving those calories for later. But I can't quite believe that an hour of swimming at my (terrible, inefficient) level really burns ~400cal. And that nears my exhaustion point. With my knee injury, 30min of walking every other day is probably all I can manage (I keep overdoing it and then having to rest. It's very frustrating, I'm working on it).
My exercise is limited otherwise I'd gladly do the same. I really love the feeling of a good workout. 0 -
Check out carb nite 0
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I cut a little on my daily deficit in order to eat a little more on certain days. If you have a blow out cheat day every week and it negates your deficit-you're not going to lose.Look at the maths.
If you have created a 3500 calorie deficit over the week, then have a "cheat day" and consume 3500 calories over maintenance you have wiped out your deficit.
It's nothing to do with trend driven terms such as "cheat day", it's all to do with the amount of calories consumed, and how it effects your calorie deficit. Your body doesn't understand "cheating". It understands a calorie deficit.
The simple hard and fast fact is that if you do not create a calorie deficit, you will not drop weight/body fat.
Maybe if you are struggling staying on track you need to cut your deficit, spend some time at maintenance, or look at the make-up of your dietary intake.
I know that if you eat the deficit you won't lose...that's why I'm asking how to do it correctly...to continue to have a significant deficit with one day being higher....
I don't really know how to figure out where "maintenance" is, actually. MFP says it's 1970cal (which seems high), but I've also seen it at 1800 or 1600 (or 2100 but I doubt it) depending on the calculator. I'm thinking of upping my daily calories for a while to see if that helps. I was looking into the "cheat day" or "cheat meal" idea because some people are saying it works for them.
Do you know what your daily deficit is? You can use that to determine how much you want to eat on your more "relaxed" days without wiping out your deficit. If you're trying to lose a pound a week, for example, your weekly deficit should add up to 3,500. If you eat all 3,500 of those calories on a "cheat day," you will have erased your deficit. If you eat 1,750 extra calories, you will have cut your deficit in half . . . and so on.
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I lost 100 pounds over 2 years with a weekly cheat day.
At 12:01 midnight, KATIE BAR THE DOOR!
Anything goes...
And I maintained my results while making earnest efforts toward fat loss.
As I progressed in this journey, my cheat days became less and less of a food binge. I finally stopped, because a cheat day inhibited my new goals of maintaining weight and reducing body fat.
I no longer have a cheat day, but I don't think I would have been able to lose weight without one.
Others seem to be much better at moderation.
Hope this helped... 0 -
Gotcha. If you want to have a bigger day-try looking at your weekly calories instead of daily. As long as you even out for the week it's good. My goal is around 2000. So some days I eat 1800,1700, 1900-whatever. Then on Saturday (or just a super hungry day) I have extra calories to play with! It helped me a lot.
That being said-if you are struggling taking a break could definitely help. Have you been losing before this? You can look at your average loss vs calories eaten and calculate your maintenance. I took a week at maintenance (lady time) and it REALLY helped me get back on track.
I have never lost before this - and I actually doubt I've lost anything yet, my last weigh-in I'd gained back 2lbs of the 6 I supposedly "lost" though I have a real difficulty reading these manual scales because the little bar is constantly moving! I can get a general sense of what I weigh, but down to the pound, not so much.
my gym has a scale like this: (and I'm sure I totally make the same face this guy is when I'm on it lol)
Though that sounds like a fantastic plan. I white-knuckled my consumption through my "lady time" and then the weekend it was over...nope. I logged everything as best I could, but it was a bit of a nightmare. I might want to plan better for that week, since it's also a week I can't go swimming. Maybe upping calories to ~1600 or something would be a good idea. Thanks!!0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »
Do you know what your daily deficit is? You can use that to determine how much you want to eat on your more "relaxed" days without wiping out your deficit. If you're trying to lose a pound a week, for example, your weekly deficit should add up to 3,500. If you eat all 3,500 of those calories on a "cheat day," you will have erased your deficit. If you eat 1,750 extra calories, you will have cut your deficit in half . . . and so on.
My daily deficit at 1300cal/day was ~1.3lbs/week (aiming for 1lb/week and a margin of error). I ate ~1500 cal extra each day Sunday & Monday. So yep, deficit gone.
So like if I ate 1200/day except for say sunday where I ate 1300 + the "extra" 600 "saved" = 1900. ok cool. sounds like it might be worth a shot thanks! 0 -
Pinnacle_IAO wrote: »I lost 100 pounds over 2 years with a weekly cheat day.
At 12:01 midnight, KATIE BAR THE DOOR!
Anything goes...
And I maintained my results while making earnest efforts toward fat loss.
As I progressed in this journey, my cheat days became less and less of a food binge. I finally stopped, because a cheat day inhibited my new goals of maintaining weight and reducing body fat.
I no longer have a cheat day, but I don't think I would have been able to lose weight without one.
Others seem to be much better at moderation.
Hope this helped...
Cool Yeah, I'm really very much a beginner and guessing that my "normal" consumption was increasing steadily for the past few years, and I've always gained weight each year, so I'm very much used to eating too much. I think it's hard to not feel weird about a sudden change into not only not eating too much, but eating at a deficit. I'm trying to learn and do my best, but there's definitely a learning curve for me. 0 -
"I don't understand why I'm not losing weight ... " -- Cheat Day advocate
HINT: They (mostly) don't work.
If you feel the need to have to cheat, you are doing it *very* wrong.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »
Do you know what your daily deficit is? You can use that to determine how much you want to eat on your more "relaxed" days without wiping out your deficit. If you're trying to lose a pound a week, for example, your weekly deficit should add up to 3,500. If you eat all 3,500 of those calories on a "cheat day," you will have erased your deficit. If you eat 1,750 extra calories, you will have cut your deficit in half . . . and so on.
My daily deficit at 1300cal/day was ~1.3lbs/week (aiming for 1lb/week and a margin of error). I ate ~1500 cal extra each day Sunday & Monday. So yep, deficit gone.
So like if I ate 1200/day except for say sunday where I ate 1300 + the "extra" 600 "saved" = 1900. ok cool. sounds like it might be worth a shot thanks!
This is how I mostly did it when I was losing weight (I am now maintaining). You don't really miss 100 calories a day (well, I didn't), but it allowed me to be more flexible on Friday when my husband and I go out to eat.0 -
SergeantSausage wrote: »"I don't understand why I'm not losing weight ... " -- Cheat Day advocate
HINT: They (mostly) don't work.
If you feel the need to have to cheat, you are doing it *very* wrong.
I understand that an unmoderated/not logged cheat day is a recipe for disaster. I'm not being an idiot about this. If it turns out it doesn't work, I would try something else. It seems to sometimes work for some people. I'm doing research. I'm checking to see what would make it work or not work.
Maybe I am doing everything *very* wrong. I would love to be able to go for a jog every day, or an hour long walk every day. My body currently can't do that. It sucks. If I lose weight, it might be able to. I am trying. I have screwed up, and I'm looking for strategies to not spiral out of control every few weeks. I'm planning on therapy, I'm seeing a dietician, I'm going to physio. I'm watching my intake, and logging even when I've screwed up so I know exactly how badly I have screwed up. I don't know what I'm doing yet. That's why I'm asking questions.
What would you suggest?0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »
Do you know what your daily deficit is? You can use that to determine how much you want to eat on your more "relaxed" days without wiping out your deficit. If you're trying to lose a pound a week, for example, your weekly deficit should add up to 3,500. If you eat all 3,500 of those calories on a "cheat day," you will have erased your deficit. If you eat 1,750 extra calories, you will have cut your deficit in half . . . and so on.
My daily deficit at 1300cal/day was ~1.3lbs/week (aiming for 1lb/week and a margin of error). I ate ~1500 cal extra each day Sunday & Monday. So yep, deficit gone.
So like if I ate 1200/day except for say sunday where I ate 1300 + the "extra" 600 "saved" = 1900. ok cool. sounds like it might be worth a shot thanks!
This is how I mostly did it when I was losing weight (I am now maintaining). You don't really miss 100 calories a day (well, I didn't), but it allowed me to be more flexible on Friday when my husband and I go out to eat.
Awesome, thank you I think I will try that for a few weeks and see how it goes. 0 -
I keep a weekly spreadsheet to track how many calories I am above or below goal. This is from a few weeks ago; I "spent" more on Saturday, but saved enough the rest of the week to make up for it. This keeps it real. I'm not likely to go much over 500 calories above my goal on the weekend because I don't want to save more than about 100 each week day. You have to decide how many calories you are willing to "save" in order to indulge.
Saturday -488
Sunday 158
Monday 55
Tuesday 71
Wednesday 71
Thursday 70
Friday 90
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Here's how I see it, and how it seems to work for me.
At your current weight you have a TDEE. My average TDEE is 2150-ish right now. Except for, like, major holidays (July 4 barbeque where I ate about 3100, for instance) in weightloss mode, I try my darndest to make sure I don't eat above TDEE on any one given day. So if I eat at -500 each day, but at TDEE on Saturday, then I know my deficit for the week is still 3000 calories. Well within weightloss zone. I could do -600 on the other days and still eat at 2150 on Saturday for an overall balance of -3600 for the week.
HOWEVER, if I make a "cheat" meal that brings that daily total above maintenance/TDEE -- EVEN IF MY WEEKLY TOTAL IS STILL SHOWING A NEGATIVE BALANCE OVERALL -- then I probably won't lose weight that week. Having "cheat" days over TDEE seems to make my personal weightloss even less linear than it normally is (though the trend and overall rate doesn't significantly change).0 -
I would suggest that you get a Fitbit and that will not only help to motivate you to be more active it will also let you know exactly how many calories you are burning per day. Just make sure that you are logging everything you eat even on those really bad days where you fall off the wagon. Then you will start getting useful data that you can use to correct problems that are stalling your weight loss goal. For example I tend to go over on calories by 500 per day on the weekends. My goal is to lose 2 pounds a week so I need to have 1000 calorie per day deficit. I typically burn 2500 per day with exercise. So as I started watching my trend I noticed that I would consume 2000 calories on Sat and Sun. So for the other five days I need to stay at 1300 calories if I want to maintain my two pound per week goal.
So basically find out what you typically burn. Track how many calories you typically consume on the average day and them also how much you typically go over on your cheat days and then adjust accordingly. Eat less on your normal days so you can splurge a day or two a week. But remember you can't really surge too much. It's more like a meal...it can't really be a whole day. 500 extra calories doesn't actually go that far if you're going out to eat. You still have to be mindful of portion sizes.0
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