Cheat day?

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  • rbfdac
    rbfdac Posts: 1,057 Member
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    I "cheat" every Saturday. I try not to go WAY over my TDEE, but if I do, it's no biggie. I still have enough of a deficit during the week with diet and exercise that I still lose 2 pounds a week.
  • FrankWhite27330
    FrankWhite27330 Posts: 316 Member
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    Had a hi calorie weekend. Gained 5 lbs

  • Nathy_F
    Nathy_F Posts: 40 Member
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    I feel the same way, I know if I start eating any junk food or fry on the weekend , there is non stopping :( , mentally it will mess me up. so no failure days / cheat days for me o:)
    echmainfit619 wrote: »
    "Cheat day" is too cute a word for it. Why not call it what it really is, a failure day.

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    echmainfit619 wrote: »
    "Cheat day" is too cute a word for it. Why not call it what it really is, a failure day.

    lol. kinda funny.
  • b0urb0
    b0urb0 Posts: 10 Member
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    ariana_eatsandlifts wrote: »
    A cheat day to me means going a whole day without logging. I've personally stopped doing this because I can undo my weekly deficit in that one day.
    ^^^
    This. I do badly on cheat day. But of course to some it's what they need to keep going and that is fine. You gotta know yourself to know if it's for you or not. I will sometimes cheat, but planning a cheat day is calling for disaster for me. I cheat from time to time and it works best that way for me, and it often is on 1 meal instead of the whole day.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    echmainfit619 wrote: »
    It is if you go way over your calories for the day. That's what most people mean when they have a cheat day.

    Nah. I went way over my calories (I think around 1,000) on Labor Day because we cooked out and had lots of good food. It wasn't a failure at all! The potato salad was excellent. I'd say, over all, the day was a huge success.

    Here it is, the end of the month and I didn't starve myself after that, have gone over my calories a couple of times since then and I have lost weight since. Hmm, nope, not seeing any failures here.
  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
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    My cheats are usually days where I just relax and don't really track. Usually when I'm with family. I make sure to get protein and fats, but I don't stress about the nutrition info too much.
  • rbfdac
    rbfdac Posts: 1,057 Member
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    FrankWhite27330 wrote: »
    Had a hi calorie weekend. Gained 5 lbs

    Half of that, at least, is water weight, I'm sure. Otherwise you had to overeat by 17000 calories.
  • e5412
    e5412 Posts: 17 Member
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    I don't think that 1 meal is going to make or break anything. I probably indulge too often, but I'm maintaining and happy where I'm at. When I do, I log it the next day and I usually make up most of the extra calories a day or two after.
  • lml852014
    lml852014 Posts: 243 Member
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    A couple of years ago I lost about 15 lbs in a few months and had a "cheat" day every saturday. This means I would eat a donut for breakfast, sometimes fast food for lunch and out for dinner. I still ended up losing the weight it was just obviously at a slower pace. I realize now I really need to stop doing that. My goal is to lose about 7-10 lbs and not by a certain amount of time but maybe the beginning of the new year. I like the idea of letting yourself indulge and it not having to be on one specific day because then you really go crazy! I am really going to try and take this into account when I try and plan my meals (buying a food scale tomorrow!)
  • hotasfire36
    hotasfire36 Posts: 235 Member
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    I use to have a free day on Saturdays, but stopped. Im now tracking my calories everyday, but eatting maintenance on Saturdays and counting every calorie.
  • rontafoya
    rontafoya Posts: 365 Member
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    Cheat days are, for the most part, a bad idea. Regardless of your goal. Individual cheat meals are a good thing in my opinion, and if you budget for them, they don't hurt you. What I mean is, if you anticipate a big heavy dinner with friends, just go into that meal having eaten a bit of protein (like hard boiled eggs, and/or some turkey) and very low calories and fat, so that you can pig out on carbs and fat at dinner (which is where people binge) and still not blow your diet. What's the point of eating at a caloric deficit all week, then blowing most of your progress in a "cheat day".? Cheat days add a huge element of inefficiency to whatever goals you have. If you are having difficulty with cravings, the better way to address it is to have go-to foods that are nutrient dense and satiating. For example, if I crave fat and sugar, I have 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter topped with a drizzle of honey. If I crave potato chips I'll have a baked potato instead. If I want pizza, I have rice pasta with parmesan and turkey meatballs. Whatever it takes to smash the cravings (nip it in the bud) as you go, and still not over eat. The truth is, if weight loss followed by maintenance is your goal, a caloric deficit is required. Nothing else works. If you are doing cardio, and having a cheat day, you just un-did your cardio by eating it back on. You were better off not exercising and not having your cheat day and just eating less.

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