Cheat days (calling all successful people) lol

My "cheat" meals are calculated, if I go out then I estimate. The only time I did not count was my camping weekend, because I had no cell signal...but I came home and backlogged all 3 days (and I was waaaayyy over)

I have been maintaining for a long time now, and count a couple of months every now and again.
When I do count, and when I was losing, I didn't have cheat days; rather I looked at my diary as a whole week. So long as my calories added up for the week, I didn't worry how or when they were spent ( so long as I wasn't too far under on a day, and of course making sure I was well nourished).

As far as logging meals in restaurants, be honest with what you ate, how you think it was cooked, then log from a restaurant that you know serves a similar style food. Always err on the side of over estimating.

Cheers, h.

I'm a new starter here and love the topic question. I agree this is a life style change and not a day to day diet. I wish I could have a cheat day, but problem is I'll lose the good habits and self control I'm trying to instill now. I agree w most of what's said here. Eat what you want allow your self to have what you want every now and then . But track the calories and maybe even find a better way of making that item. For instance. I love apple pie.. Love love love it. Eat an entire pie in a sitting and oh yes I have. Reasons like those r why I'm here now. But did you know a couple of cubed up raw peeled zucchini a box of low cal cake mix and a can of diet sprite mixed and baked together make for an awesome apple pie. With 1/16 the calories and ram up the protein and fiber. HEAVEN!!!! Finding recipes like those r what make life so much easier when counting calories.

Lost 100+
I don't really do cheat days. Last time i was over was mid july because I was sick and had a little more to eat and another time because i was taste testing for a wedding.

normally I exercise more if i eat more so i remain under.

They were the only two times i was over in the past like 3-4 mounts.

I guess my rule is special occassions are ok to go over. Like parties, etc im not very social so it works out.

I'm not going with "successful" for at least ten years after I'm done losing, lol. In 2025 (or 2026), I'll say I did it successfully. But I did lose more than 30 pounds.

I follow my hunger, so I eat more on days where I'm hungrier and less on days that I'm not. But I don't think of eating more food as cheating. I don't pig out. I don't eat food that isn't normally part of my diet. I just eat a little more. Some days, when I'm not as hungry, I eat a little less. I don't let the tail wag the dog, KWIM? Not a slave to the numbers, force feeding myself on Tuesday and going to bed hungry on Friday because the numbers say that's how much I should eat. For me, personally, logging and eating the calories every single day...it's just not a long-term kind of plan.

I eat healthy and to my hunger every day. The plan doesn't change, just the amount of food. No cheating.

But lots of people have cheat days and it works for them. My way isn't the way for everyone.

I stayed within my goal for the first 11 months or something.

After that, as long as I'm at a deficit for the week (or the month sometimes, honestly, but I'm maintaining), it's fine. And I log everything.

When I attempted calorie counting before, I had a whole cheat day where I didn't count. It was a big mistake. One of the best things I've learned reading these forums is to log everything, even if it's a "cheat" day or meal. I've been holding myself to that, and it really helps. If I'm going to splurge on something, I save the calories from other days, so then it's not really cheating at all

I don't believe in cheat days. Once in a while I'll not log a meal for a special occasion/work lunch etc where I can't estimate the calories. Otherwise I always log and make sure to at least hit my macros if not my calories. Overall though unless it's an event I'm obligated to go to I don't feel a need to cheat. I changed the way I thought about food and learned to fit yummy foods into my calories and macros. Sometimes in maintenance I do plan an "over" day to gain back a little or just enjoy something. But even then I always try to log it.

As for my success, just hit 1 year of maintaining a 140lb loss.

55lbs lost. I am one of those that avoid certain foods. Pizza, ice cream, candies, etc.
I set short term goals for myself, lose 10lbs for example. I also set a cheat/Reward meal for achieving that goal, papa john's pizza for example.
I don't go crazy with it, but I celebrate my successfully reaching my goal. It keeps me focused.
Then, I set the next goal/reward. Simple and effective for me.
I always count though. I want to know what goes in even on a cheat meal. It doesn't matter, but I want to know.
Good luck Op and reward yourself every now and again.

I call them cheat days, but really, there's no cheating. Calories count whether or not you count them.

For me, yesterday was a cheat day. I had bread, jelly, Starbucks, 2 cookies, wine, and baked ziti. It was my birthday celebration day, because my actual birthday is mid-week. My carbs were just ridiculously high and my calories were way high for me (I'm on a special diet from my doctor). However, I exercised quite a bit yesterday, which helped with the additional calories. I don't like the numbers I saw yesterday, so it's back to real eating.

Log the cheat days. Log them hard! Log your buffets and eating out, even if you have to take a piece of paper and a pencil and guesstimate every single item in your stirfry. Do it every time and you'll soon get to the point that you can guesstimate the meal, instead of the items, when you eat out. But log it all.

Logging the cheat days can show you how amazing you're doing the rest of the time. Those cheat day logs can also show you what you shouldn't be doing.

I agree with logging your "high days" which is what I call them. I doubt people who have been fit or maintaining weight their whole lives call a day of wonderful food a "cheat day", so why should I? The reason they maintain a healthy weight is because they understand how to eat to do so, which includes having cake or eating at a restaurant. Me, I'm still learning and the more data I have the more I can hold myself accountable and understand what is going on with my body.

I look at my calories over the course of the week so I can eat more on days I'm hungry or days when there's celebrations, which of course means more (and different) food than usual.

That means some days I'll eat 1500, others I'm at 2300, but over the course of the week I'm looking to average 1500 net calories.

I log it all. I don't ever just go all out and skip logging entirely. I want the data more than anything else, since going over could mean I'll be hanging on to some water weight and see an increase on the scale.

And like many people above have mentioned - you can't necessarily avoid foods forever. There may be some you choose not to incorporate much, if at all anymore, but odds are you will have occasion to eat cake and go out for dinner, etc etc, and now is a great time to figure out how to enjoy it.

Also - if you go to a local place, you could ask if they have nutrition information available and then you could add it to the database. Or, find a similar item in the database and overestimate (that is, maybe log as 1.2 servings), and call it good enough.

I haven't been to a buffet in years because I simply can't eat enough food in one sitting for it to be even kind of worth the money. Many buffets around here are $10+, and the food isn't always good enough and my money and calories are better spent elsewhere.

~Lyssa

My diary is open, everyday is a cheat day I fit in treats and yes i occasionally go over but I look at my weekly calories rather than daily

Soo, what I have learned from this is no cheat day. Log everything no matter what. Got it. Thanks for posting.