"Cheat Day"

ok, here is my second thought on this, based off what I have read here, and what people have emailed me with as questions.

Here are the varieties of cheat days, fellow MFPs add on if I missed one

Version#1 Eating up to your maintenance calories. Good choices or not.

Version#2 Eating slighly over your maintenace calories, Good choices or not (remember, 500 cals x5 a month= .71lbs gained or could have lost...

Version#3 Eating significantly in excess of your maintenance calories, such that you wipe out a week or two or more of progress. In this particular case, this can be compounded if poor choices are included, particularly high glycemic selections, since insulin spikes from high GIs combined with excess calories WILL facilitate fat storage.

A member asked me if it was ok to reward themselves with a box of hohos and "some" cookies with milk. My response? I guess, if you'll be happy with what the mirror tells you when you stand in front of it naked...

HMMM, it just came to me, why do very few people binge on steak, or grilled chicken, or fish or eggs (I know some do, but very few comparatively) but damn, watch those sweets and sugary drinks-- Refined sugar, insulin spikes, excess fast calories, repeat--

IMPORTANT: I am not judgmental. Eat what you want and be happy with what you look like, have good esteem and self image and screw everyone else, really. I know people who are like this. But people, please don't make behavioral choices and then abuse yourself, castigate yourself, feel like crap, go through guilt trips, avoid the mirror or swimsuits, etc. That is insanity. Don't do it to yourself.

My hubby and I have one meal a week that we call our cheat meal. It can be us going to one of our favorite restaurants, a family gathering or time with friends. We still log everything we eat and we don't go crazy. If we have pizza, we often share a small. If we go to mexican, we bring half home. The main thing for us is trying not to go hog wild and logging it.

I don't consider what I do to be a "cheat" day. I think of it as living normal. :laugh:

Say I have a party to go to. A bridal shower, or a family bbq. Lots of yummy foods are going to be available to me. I want to be able to pick and nibble on whatever I want, without making a tally of "I had three grapes, two strawberries, a brownie, a kabob, some chicken breast, a small glass of wine, four baby carrots, maybe a teaspoon of ranch dip with those..." It'd be crazy! I'm there to enjoy myself, not be a menace to the party hosts asking how many carbs are in their homemade bbq sauce. I just don't log on days like those. They happen maybe once a month.

Now that I'm nearly at my goal, I'm experimenting with eating for a half pound loss during the week, and free-styling the weekends. No logging. Just eating what I feel like eating. I probably don't eat any more than I do during the week, but I do admit I go over the sodium because I do like to either go out, or enjoy a pizza or something similarly high in sodium at home, on the weekends. My weigh in day is Saturday morning. My sodium "binge" is gone by then.

I do have a cheat day, and personally i think its the only way im ever going to lose the amount of weight i need to. I cheat on saturdays, and I eat anything i want to. It helps me not cheat during the week, because I always know that Saturday is coming and whatever craving I may be having, I just eat it that day and its all done. Doing it this way I don't feel deprived, I have something to look forward to, and im still following my diet plan 6 out ot 7 days. But this is just my opinion and what works for me. Good luck figuring it out!

If you are true to your scale and mirror, and are making progress, then continue. Just don't allow yourself to rationalize if it ever stops working. AND, most importantly, STILL document it. You NEED to be able to refer back when you are trying to interpret a stall later on down the road. MEMORY NEVER tells the truth in this regard. Rock on.

I don't call it a 'cheat day' but saturdays are our 'treat' days breakfast and lunch r normal then dinner is usually something not as healthy followed by a treat of my choice - i have found this has helped me not crave it all week i still have a loss every week.

I might have cheat meals. I try not to have a whole day off. For instance, I had Dominos for lunch today but I will still be under my calories because I will eat a salad or something light for dinner.

Oh, yes, I'm a "sweet every day" person, too--usually, my Builder's Bar in the morning handles that, but if not, I opt for no sugar added Fudgesicles, and I plan for the calories and sugar/carbs accordingly. Like I said before, I'm sure the "cheat day" think works for some, and I'm glad--we've all got to find what works for us. But for me, it's not possible--if I want to splurge, I have to make plans for it, and switch things around so my blood sugar doesn't go nuts.

Kris