Cheat days?

emilyrosebecker
emilyrosebecker Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all. I've been doing really well along the way, especially this week! Yesterday I was fine until my parents invited me to dinner, obviously I said yes. I skipped the gym and went to dinner where I ate garlic knots, soup, and pumpkin ravioli . I have no desire to log these items ... Really don't wanna know how many calories I consumed over my daily goal. My question for you all is - how damaging was my one cheat night to my weight loss ? And do you all have cheat days? Lol thanks for the support!
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Replies

  • PeiDub
    PeiDub Posts: 77 Member
    As long as you've been doing well, don't sweat it.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    I don't do "cheat", because I'm not doing anything wrong. If I happen to go over, I go over. Log them, even if you don't want to and move on.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    I do allow myself some slack now and then to eat more than I should. I still log what I ate. Accountability n'at. Refusing to acknowledge, accept and take responsibility for how much I eat is what got me to 320 pounds. That can't continue if I want to get to my goal of 175.

    Refusing to write it down won't change the truth. Writing it down will help you when you want to look at your overall eating trends and learn from them.
  • Simply_4_me
    Simply_4_me Posts: 26 Member
    Write it down, own it, move on
  • emilyrosebecker
    emilyrosebecker Posts: 15 Member
    Thank you guys! I appreciate it
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    I don't do "cheat", because I'm not doing anything wrong. If I happen to go over, I go over. Log them, even if you don't want to and move on.

    +1

    Eating delicious food is not cheating.
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    If your data is incomplete then its kinda useless imo. I go by weekly goals so not
    logging one meal would throw off all the data. Plus if you dont log you will never learn the calorific value of things for maintenance.

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Why don't you log it and see? What's the point of not knowing...of logging only some foods and not another? If you log it you have data, and if you have data, you can understand your rate of loss and it can help you with your future goals (maintaining, gaining, fitness, macros/micros).
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    I don't do "cheat", because I'm not doing anything wrong. If I happen to go over, I go over. Log them, even if you don't want to and move on.

    ^

    I just log the best I can.

    I usually know when there is a high calorie meal coming up so I have time to get in some extra exercise.
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    How damaging was one delicious meal?
    Dunno... go log it & see.
    But even if you really gorged and had 3000 calories, that's only 1 lb.

    What are you "cheating" on?
    If you're on a diet, that's something temporary, and the gains you make will be too.
    If you're changing your eating & exercise habits for good, for the rest of your life, then you need habits you can
    live with. Eating delicious food is something I can live with. How 'bout you?
    Just do it in reasonable portions.
    Overdoing once in a while isn't going to be a problem. Doing it frequently will be, esp. if you don't increase exercise.

    .
    51637601.png
  • oolou
    oolou Posts: 765 Member
    Log it! It won't be as bad as you imagine. Then look at your week as a whole.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    I would log it the best I could and then get on with life. I expect those sorts of things to happen sometimes - for example, today some friends are coming over and they're bringing the food, so I couldn't do my normal routine of pre-logging and planning my meals.

    But whatever happens today, happens today. One bad day won't make me fat anymore than one good day will make me thin. The trick isn't to never have bad days, it's to never allow bad days to stop you from trying for good days.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    oolou wrote: »
    Log it! It won't be as bad as you imagine. Then look at your week as a whole.

    I agree! One day will not ruin you unless you take the attitude of "I screwed up, might as well give up!" It will be likely that over a weeks time you will have eaten at maintenance or better yet you are still in a deficit for the week. Either way, any small gain you might have will be quickly replaced with a new low!
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
    edited October 2015
    Of course, if you don't log it, it means you never ate it, so I totally understand her reasoning.

    ^^sarcasm
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    I never do a, "cheat day" (a day with unlimited calories) as that can usually run a whole week of work. But every once and awhile I'll give myself a meal where I don't count calories. It's the only thing that's kept my sanity in this journey.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    "Really don't wanna know how many calories I consumed"
    "My question for you all is - how damaging was my one cheat night to my weight loss ?"

    Really?

    How are we supposed to know.

    *No One* can possibly know without the missing data you "don't want know", right?

    You can't win at this through denial.

    That never works.

    Never.

    Denial is a loser's game.
  • emilyrosebecker
    emilyrosebecker Posts: 15 Member
    Thank you to everyone who commented positively! That's what these boards are here for ...
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    let it go and move on.

    Normally i'd say log these things, but at this point what's done is done whether you log it or not. Move on and let it go instead of letting it get to you.
  • hazelgirl11
    hazelgirl11 Posts: 3 Member
    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    I never do a, "cheat day" (a day with unlimited calories) as that can usually run a whole week of work. But every once and awhile I'll give myself a meal where I don't count calories. It's the only thing that's kept my sanity in this journey.

    I do the same thing! :smile: I feel like it really works for me as well.
  • alexistexas33
    alexistexas33 Posts: 121 Member
    I personally had only one cheat weekend (3 days) in the 9 months I have been loosing weight , because I went to Vegas.
    During that time, I gained almost 9 lbs due to water weight, so I am particularly scared to try that again.
    Everyone is different though.
  • emilyrosebecker
    emilyrosebecker Posts: 15 Member
    I ended up logging it and accepting it, moving on. Went to the gym and will continue to do well. Thanks again!
  • kissedbythesunshine
    kissedbythesunshine Posts: 416 Member
    booksandchocolate12 wrote: »
    Of course, if you don't log it, it means you never ate it, so I totally understand her reasoning.

    ^^sarcasm


    Haha. I love this motto. Unfortunately this has gotten me in the position I'm in
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    If I were you, I would strongly question my motives for not wanting to know how many calories I ate. My personal experience is that that type of willful denial is what led to me having extra pounds -- I didn't want to know how many calories were in foods.

    If you log it, you may begin to see ways in which you can have some of your favorite foods and still stay on plan. Maybe next time you're in this situation, you find a way to hit the gym first and have an amount of garlic knots, soup, and ravoli that fits within your goals. The point is, you can only manage that type of solution for the future if you understand what happened in the past.
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
    emilyrosebecker wrote: »
    Thank you to everyone who commented positively! That's what these boards are here for ...

    Really? Where does it say that?

    Sometimes the "negative" (read: honest) comments are the most helpful.

    Would this thread have been better if, in answer to your first post, everyone had said something along the lines of, "You went overboard and didn't log it? No problem! Keep up the good work!"

    That's a positive comment, so it's helpful, right?
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    Like many, I never have a "cheat day" where I just eat whatever I please and don't log all day. My anxiety would increase and I can't have that. I don't handle stress especially well. I do have cheat meals or whatever, like yesterday my mom took me to a nice restaurant by her work, where we had been doing office trick or treating for my son, and I had a tuna melt on sourdough that was probably over 400 calories. I logged 500 to be safe and ate and enjoyed the heck out of it. Then I did my best to shrink dinner later that evening to make up for it...........and still came in over goal. The beauty of logging consistently and accurately is that I KNOW FOR SURE that I'm fine because I was under goal by a little all week and a lot one day, so I'll be fine. And if I ever want to go back there and have that amazing delicious sandwich again, now I know how much it will cost me and I can plan ahead by PLANNING to lower my intake throughout the rest of the day. Logging well is the best thing you can do.
  • FitCurves1818
    FitCurves1818 Posts: 90 Member
    I don't log food and I eat whatever I want on weekends. I've been consistently losing 8-10lbs per month because I'm so diligent about staying within my caloric limits M-F and being active at least 5 days per week. I don't consider this cheating. It allows me to feel like a normal person to go to a nice restaurant or have a couple drinks with friends. Everyone has to figure out ways to work those special treats and occasions into their lives, because Birthday cake, pumpkin pie, Halloween candy and cocktails happen. At least they do in my life, and I'd never stick with something if they didn't.
  • mysherman
    mysherman Posts: 11 Member
    Is it really a cheat day or more so a high calorie day? My body knows when I go over. I don't get away with it if I go too far over. So I try to balance one day of higher food intake (which generally happens at the end of week/Fridays) with days following with lower or a more balanced food intake. In terms of calories, I stay at 1300 Cal. from Sunday-Thursday, and then go up to 2300 Cal. on Friday. On Saturdays, the day after my high calorie day, I probably take in 800 Cal. at most.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    I don't have "cheat" days. I have days where I eat more and days when I eat less, but it don't view any of as playing by the rules or cheating. It just is.

    It's one day. You get 365 of them a year. If you're over on one or two or ten, I wouldn't sweat it.
  • boobles
    boobles Posts: 8 Member
    I have set myself 2 cheats. Every week after weigh in I have carbs, something yummy like a subway sub etc. Once a month I treat myself to something really naughty whatever I like for one meal. It's working so far.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,610 Member
    See my replies in this thread: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/34432244#Comment_34432244

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