What I learned from my first cheat day.
Domicinator
Posts: 261 Member
I don't do cheat days. I never understood the point. You bust your butt all week working out, measuring and weighing all your food, keeping your intake below that specific number you have set in your log, and then throw at least part of that hard work away over the weekend? I just never felt like it was worth it.
Well, I haven't given myself a break since May 1 of this year. I have definitely gone over my 1500 calorie goal a handful of times, but only by less than 100 calories each time. That changed on Sunday night. We had my inlaws over for dinner, and I decided to have a cheat night. I don't think I went over 2500 calories, but when you've only been eating 1500 a day for 4 1/2 months, 2500 is a lot of food!
But here's the thing........I learned a lot from having a cheat meal:
1. I don't need to do this every week. My body just isn't used to it right now. My guts were definitely churning the next day because 2500 calories worth of food is way more than I'm used to at the moment. When I get into maintenance I will have to up my calorie intake SLOWLY or I will probably feel sick a lot.
2. I don't hate myself afterwards or fall into a spiral of overeating and gain a bunch of weight back. I'm in the zone. I had a cheat day, I logged it, and I moved on. No biggie. I'm probably still at a deficit for the week, so I doubt it even mattered. The next day it was back to business.
3. This is the most important thing I learned. Over the last couple of weeks, I have felt myself starting to slip a little bit, at least mentally. My desire to eat has been INCREDIBLY strong. Not my hunger, mind you, just the urge to snack a lot, or finish all of whatever is left over after dinner. Even when my stomach feels totally fine, my brain just wants me to eat, eat, eat. Constantly fighting that urge makes me crabby. I snap at my family, I get irritated at stupid things, and I have no choice but to withdraw and get away from everyone, because I know I'm being insufferable. Luckily I have a wonderful wife who has been nothing but supportive during this entire process, but there have been days were I'm sure she's wanted to stab me. The cheat day helped with this. I ate a brownie and a cookie. I ate an extra cob of corn. I might have had one more beer than I originally meant to have. My brain and stomach were both satisfied at the same time, and it was a wonderful feeling. Just for one night, it was great to not have to fight either of them.
And that's what this is--a fight. It's a fight against your former habits, it's a fight against your brain trying to trick you into getting back to your old weight, and it's a fight for your life and health. It's constant. The closer I get to my goal, the harder it gets. The more weight I lose, the stronger the urge is to eat an entire pan of brownies and gain it all back. But I don't, and I'm not going to. I never want to be 250 lbs. ever again. I have 21 lbs. to go, and one cheat night isn't going to deter me. It was just a break.
Well, I haven't given myself a break since May 1 of this year. I have definitely gone over my 1500 calorie goal a handful of times, but only by less than 100 calories each time. That changed on Sunday night. We had my inlaws over for dinner, and I decided to have a cheat night. I don't think I went over 2500 calories, but when you've only been eating 1500 a day for 4 1/2 months, 2500 is a lot of food!
But here's the thing........I learned a lot from having a cheat meal:
1. I don't need to do this every week. My body just isn't used to it right now. My guts were definitely churning the next day because 2500 calories worth of food is way more than I'm used to at the moment. When I get into maintenance I will have to up my calorie intake SLOWLY or I will probably feel sick a lot.
2. I don't hate myself afterwards or fall into a spiral of overeating and gain a bunch of weight back. I'm in the zone. I had a cheat day, I logged it, and I moved on. No biggie. I'm probably still at a deficit for the week, so I doubt it even mattered. The next day it was back to business.
3. This is the most important thing I learned. Over the last couple of weeks, I have felt myself starting to slip a little bit, at least mentally. My desire to eat has been INCREDIBLY strong. Not my hunger, mind you, just the urge to snack a lot, or finish all of whatever is left over after dinner. Even when my stomach feels totally fine, my brain just wants me to eat, eat, eat. Constantly fighting that urge makes me crabby. I snap at my family, I get irritated at stupid things, and I have no choice but to withdraw and get away from everyone, because I know I'm being insufferable. Luckily I have a wonderful wife who has been nothing but supportive during this entire process, but there have been days were I'm sure she's wanted to stab me. The cheat day helped with this. I ate a brownie and a cookie. I ate an extra cob of corn. I might have had one more beer than I originally meant to have. My brain and stomach were both satisfied at the same time, and it was a wonderful feeling. Just for one night, it was great to not have to fight either of them.
And that's what this is--a fight. It's a fight against your former habits, it's a fight against your brain trying to trick you into getting back to your old weight, and it's a fight for your life and health. It's constant. The closer I get to my goal, the harder it gets. The more weight I lose, the stronger the urge is to eat an entire pan of brownies and gain it all back. But I don't, and I'm not going to. I never want to be 250 lbs. ever again. I have 21 lbs. to go, and one cheat night isn't going to deter me. It was just a break.
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Replies
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FANTASTIC post! Thank you!0
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Thanks for sharing.0
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I also hit the point where I just wanted to eat. I stuck it out until I went on vacation (so, purely for vanity) and then did a week of maintenance. I then went from 1720 calories (originally 2lb/week) to 1860 calories (originally 1.5lb/week) and I'm eating more of my exercise calories back. In ~3-4 weeks I'm going to up my calories again, probably close to 2000 calories (should be 1lb/week). It really helps with the urge to just eat stuff and in the grand scheme of things isn't going to slow down my weight loss by that much. Yes, I could have been done by early November, but early January is good enough for me. I can then go straight into a short bulking phase and work on building muscle just to turn around and cut again, hopefully in time to be in the best shape of my life for the summer.0
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awesome post! I think the mental fight is usually the most difficult! spending time on that is going to pay off for you big time!0
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It is all mental for me. I am only on day 52 of logging, and so far my *worst* day put me over 8 calories. I finally want to be thin more than i want to eat a tray of brownies. I have lost 31lbs abs i know what i am doing is working. I know social situations will come up, hello looming holidays, but i will fight the good fight, and i will live my life. I know if at thanksgiving i want a piece of apple pie, AND a piece of pumpkin pie i have not lost the battle.0
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Nice post!0
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Loveeeeee everything about your post!!
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That's great! That's what I love about the weight loss process; there is so much to learn and so much room to grow.0
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1500 seems very low for a guy though. I eat more than that and i weigh 110 lbs0
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great post. The mental aspect of it is my biggest problem. I think getting close or to your goal make one mentally laxed which causes the overeating.0
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Thx for sharin, Great post
I've been been working out & eating healthy since May and down 34 pounds now. I've had my days of cheating with liquor 
I really had to cut back on it but darn it if I want to go out and I have a couple too many drinks that I have not budgeted in I'm going to do it, I just don't do it as often now lol
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Cheating once in a blue moon isn't bad, I find that cravings don't happen to me as often as long as I have that one thing (I don't do whole meals to cheat I do one Item; eg a couple cookies or a small bag a chips) and it makes things just a little easier.0
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Thank you. I see I'm not alone!0
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Well said! I appreciate you sharing these thoughts.0
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I don't do cheat days. Yesterday, we had a bbq at home and I ate probably around 2,000 calories for the day and didn't do any walking like I normally do. Today and the rest of the week, and until Thanksgiving, probably, I'll be back to my goal calorie level and walk my normal 3-6 miles. When Thanksgiving comes, I'll probably eat a lot then too.
Yesterday wasn't a cheat day, it was just a day where I ate more than I normally do. I do this on holidays and when I'm with friends and family and always have. It took 10 years of over eating every day to put on all the weight I had and it's certainly not going back on after one big meal.
Actually, the only thing that has changed in my eating since I started losing weight is that I now know how many calories I should be eating, so that on average, normal days, I be sure to stay at or below that level. I sure will eat like a queen on days like yesterday because life is way too short to feel guilty about eating good food.0 -
great post. The mental aspect of it is my biggest problem. I think getting close or to your goal make one mentally laxed which causes the overeating.
That's exactly what it is. I'm mentally tired just simply from the effort of doing what I'm doing. I would like to get down to 175. I'm at 196 currently. After I broke the 200 lb. barrier, I dare say that I started to get a little bored with the whole process and that's when I started wanting to eat a lot more. This is purely mental now. My mind is trying to get me to say "ok, that's good enough" and then give up. But the truth of the matter is that I still have too much body fat and am still not at what's considered a healthy weight.0 -
FoodFitnessTravel wrote: »1500 seems very low for a guy though. I eat more than that and i weigh 110 lbs
I dunno. It depends on when and what you eat. I can be pretty happy on 1500 (6'3", 268lbs). I'm not hungry when I wake up, so, unless I go to the gym (I usually do), or my sister cooks, then I prefer to skip breakfast. Some days I easily make my goal (1800), and some days I find it hard to even hit 1500.
Yesterday was one of those days. I only hit near my goal because I went to the gym and did sprinting intervals (cycling). Felt like jelly after, so I took advantage of the free pizza day. That bumped me from ~1500 to ~2100 for the day. And that was even with breakfast.
I'm going to a barbecue at my parents this weekend. I'm planning on eating a bunch of smoked pork butt, and maybe a rib, and slice or two of brisket. Topped off with my homemade baked mac & cheese. So many calories, so tasty. Looking forward to it. 0 -
VykkDraygoVPR wrote: »FoodFitnessTravel wrote: »1500 seems very low for a guy though. I eat more than that and i weigh 110 lbs
I dunno. It depends on when and what you eat. I can be pretty happy on 1500 (6'3", 268lbs). I'm not hungry when I wake up, so, unless I go to the gym (I usually do), or my sister cooks, then I prefer to skip breakfast. Some days I easily make my goal (1800), and some days I find it hard to even hit 1500.
Yesterday was one of those days. I only hit near my goal because I went to the gym and did sprinting intervals (cycling). Felt like jelly after, so I took advantage of the free pizza day. That bumped me from ~1500 to ~2100 for the day. And that was even with breakfast.
I'm going to a barbecue at my parents this weekend. I'm planning on eating a bunch of smoked pork butt, and maybe a rib, and slice or two of brisket. Topped off with my homemade baked mac & cheese. So many calories, so tasty. Looking forward to it.
I'm not crazy psycho hungry on 1500 calories. I can totally get through the day as long as I do good on my budgeting. The problem for me has always been that my stomach is full--not grumbling or feeling empty or anything like that--but I still want to keep eating and eating.
What the 1500 calorie a day goal, what I've learned is that I was WAY overeating almost EVERY meal. I try to focus on eating reasonable servings and then knowing that in about 10 minutes I will feel totally fine.0 -
Exactly. The first time I lost weight, I just did it by training myself to eat until I wasn't hungry, and not to eat until I feel stuffed. My body is still used to that, so it was pretty easy to start cutting back calories again.0
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yup yup
i dont do cheat days. i also dont fret when i go over. and it happens. not usually by a LOT but this weekend kind of went to hell LOL
its all good though. ive lost 70 pounds since january. one weekend isnt going to cause any long term damage.
I make what i want to eat fit in my daily calories, so i dont really feel the need to 'cheat' . if i want pizza i eat it. same for ice cream or chocolate or anything.
learning how to function long term and not only lose weight, but how to maintain (when you get to that point) and still enjoy life and foods is, for me, the entire POINT of MFP.0 -
FoodFitnessTravel wrote: »1500 seems very low for a guy though. I eat more than that and i weigh 110 lbs
Not if you know how to manage your macros and micros. Its easy to get the proper nutrition, keep energy levels at as good level and not have any physical issues from 1500. Im always full and get all nutrition i need on 1500 calories.0 -
FoodFitnessTravel wrote: »1500 seems very low for a guy though. I eat more than that and i weigh 110 lbs
Not if you know how to manage your macros and micros. Its easy to get the proper nutrition, keep energy levels at as good level and not have any physical issues from 1500. Im always full and get all nutrition i need on 1500 calories.
I don't pay much attention to macros and micros, but I do know that my diet is higher in protein and lower in carbs. For example, my usual lunch is what I call my "mush". A cup (sometimes two cups) of plain greek yogurt, a serving of low cal granola, and a tablespoon of honey. Generally fills me up until dinner.
My wife is a vegetarian and does most of the cooking, so our dinners are usually fish, vegetables, salads, etc.
I don't usually eat breakfast because I'm usually just plain not hungry in the morning, even if I was starving when I went to bed.
Doing it that way leaves room for some morning and afternoon snacking, and I don't feel like I'm dying when I go to bed.0 -
Great post - thanks for sharing.0
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Domicinator wrote: »VykkDraygoVPR wrote: »FoodFitnessTravel wrote: »1500 seems very low for a guy though. I eat more than that and i weigh 110 lbs
I dunno. It depends on when and what you eat. I can be pretty happy on 1500 (6'3", 268lbs). I'm not hungry when I wake up, so, unless I go to the gym (I usually do), or my sister cooks, then I prefer to skip breakfast. Some days I easily make my goal (1800), and some days I find it hard to even hit 1500.
Yesterday was one of those days. I only hit near my goal because I went to the gym and did sprinting intervals (cycling). Felt like jelly after, so I took advantage of the free pizza day. That bumped me from ~1500 to ~2100 for the day. And that was even with breakfast.
I'm going to a barbecue at my parents this weekend. I'm planning on eating a bunch of smoked pork butt, and maybe a rib, and slice or two of brisket. Topped off with my homemade baked mac & cheese. So many calories, so tasty. Looking forward to it.
I'm not crazy psycho hungry on 1500 calories. I can totally get through the day as long as I do good on my budgeting. The problem for me has always been that my stomach is full--not grumbling or feeling empty or anything like that--but I still want to keep eating and eating.
What the 1500 calorie a day goal, what I've learned is that I was WAY overeating almost EVERY meal. I try to focus on eating reasonable servings and then knowing that in about 10 minutes I will feel totally fine.
What you learned is probably wrong. You are now WAY under eating almost EVERY meal, you were probably slightly over eating before. You don't eat proper portion sizes and lose 2.5lb/week. Proper portion sizes should lead to maintenance.
I'm 5'11" and 192lb. If I ate 1500/day that would be ~1300 under TDEE for me (TDEE has actually been going up since I started losing weight at 220lb). That means at 1500 calories my meals would be about 1/2 of what they should be to maintain. I gained 50lb over 5 years, or 10lb/year, or 0.027lb/day, or 95 cal/day, or ~30 calories/meal. Granted, I know that some of it came in spurts (I gained the last 10lb over 4 months by eating a donut every day). But, on average my meals were pretty dang close to what I should have been eating to maintain.
Even if I said that I was eating 200 calories/day too much (20lb/year), it is much closer (66 cal/meal) than when losing 2lb/week (-333 cal/meal, or -1000 cal/day)0 -
I came across this post just as I was beating myself up for overdoing it so bad on the Labor Day beers and desserts.
Thanks for the motivation, this is exactly what I needed to hear. Awesome job btw, keep up the good work 0 -
nordlead2005 wrote: »Domicinator wrote: »VykkDraygoVPR wrote: »FoodFitnessTravel wrote: »1500 seems very low for a guy though. I eat more than that and i weigh 110 lbs
I dunno. It depends on when and what you eat. I can be pretty happy on 1500 (6'3", 268lbs). I'm not hungry when I wake up, so, unless I go to the gym (I usually do), or my sister cooks, then I prefer to skip breakfast. Some days I easily make my goal (1800), and some days I find it hard to even hit 1500.
Yesterday was one of those days. I only hit near my goal because I went to the gym and did sprinting intervals (cycling). Felt like jelly after, so I took advantage of the free pizza day. That bumped me from ~1500 to ~2100 for the day. And that was even with breakfast.
I'm going to a barbecue at my parents this weekend. I'm planning on eating a bunch of smoked pork butt, and maybe a rib, and slice or two of brisket. Topped off with my homemade baked mac & cheese. So many calories, so tasty. Looking forward to it.
I'm not crazy psycho hungry on 1500 calories. I can totally get through the day as long as I do good on my budgeting. The problem for me has always been that my stomach is full--not grumbling or feeling empty or anything like that--but I still want to keep eating and eating.
What the 1500 calorie a day goal, what I've learned is that I was WAY overeating almost EVERY meal. I try to focus on eating reasonable servings and then knowing that in about 10 minutes I will feel totally fine.
What you learned is probably wrong. You are now WAY under eating almost EVERY meal, you were probably slightly over eating before. You don't eat proper portion sizes and lose 2.5lb/week. Proper portion sizes should lead to maintenance.
I'm 5'11" and 192lb. If I ate 1500/day that would be ~1300 under TDEE for me (TDEE has actually been going up since I started losing weight at 220lb). That means at 1500 calories my meals would be about 1/2 of what they should be to maintain. I gained 50lb over 5 years, or 10lb/year, or 0.027lb/day, or 95 cal/day, or ~30 calories/meal. Granted, I know that some of it came in spurts (I gained the last 10lb over 4 months by eating a donut every day). But, on average my meals were pretty dang close to what I should have been eating to maintain.
Even if I said that I was eating 200 calories/day too much (20lb/year), it is much closer (66 cal/meal) than when losing 2lb/week (-333 cal/meal, or -1000 cal/day)
A. I WAS overeating almost every single meal. I have never been a breakfast person, but my usual diet per day was a #9 at Jersey Mike's (with chips) for lunch, which is probably a 1500 calorie meal by itself, a HUGE dinner when I got home from work (lots of pasta, red meat, eating out, etc.) and several high calorie snackes throughout the day. (Snickers, gigantic cans of Red Bull, donuts, etc.) Now I eat a 500 or 600 calorie lunch, a 1000 calorie dinner, and if I exercise during the day (I almost always do) I have a little extra to use for snacks.
B. I have no illusion that I can permanently live on 1500 calories a day. I gave MFP my activity level, my weight, my height, etc. and it estimated that would work out to about 2 lbs. a week. For the most part, it has been right. Sometimes it's more like 1 lb a week, and sometimes I go a week to a week and a half without losing anything at all. In the end though, it pretty much averages out correctly. When I get to my goal, I will slowly up it per week until I get to maintenance.
I'm not sure what all the skepticism is about, and I don't understand why you are labeling the things that I feel I've personally learned as "wrong", but I am sure that my mind, body, and goals are completely different from yours and because of that, I'm not on the same journey as you. I feel completely fine, I'm told that I look great, and the health benefits I have seen as a result of my weight loss (healthy blood pressure, healthy heart rate, no more fatty liver, no more knee pain) have been amazing.
Say what you will, but what I'M doing for ME is working and I'm not changing it based on whatever all that calculus was that you posted above.0
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