When you say "cheat day" what do you mean?

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  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    When I say "cheat day," I mean it is not for me. What is for me is working those little treats into my calorie goals.

    My perception is that people use cheat days to eat whatever food they prohibit themselves from eating the rest of the time, and it will often include eating over calorie goals. For me, it's easier just to work those treats in daily instead of saving up for them. To me, it's a complete waste of time and implies that I'm doing something wrong when, indeed, I am not. :)
  • Optimistical1
    Optimistical1 Posts: 210 Member
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    One "cheat" day can cost you an entire weeks progress, sometimes more. Not worth it to me. When something comes up (like Halloween weekend parties and brunch in my case) I switch my goal from aggressive (2lbs a week) to nonaggressive (half pound a week) this gives me an extra four hundred calories to work with. Doing this may slow down my overall progress a bit, but will not undo any of the progress I've made so far.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    My rules on cheating:

    0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
    B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

    I don't really see what you mean by your second point... Because I've been at this for a while now and the days when I don't wish I could eat more are few and far between. So yeah, in a sense, I feel the 'need to cheat' all the time, but I've still maintained my loss for 1.5 years...

    But I agree that you're really only cheating yourself, as no matter how people try to find excuses for a cheat day, if you eat too much, it's still calories that you'll have to make up for later. I mean I have 'cheat days' when I don't really care if I go over and might treat myself to a nice meal and dessert, but those calories still count, and I still have to make up for them the rest of the week... your body doesn't know what 'cheating' means.

    To me, it's clear what SS is saying because I feel the same way. Freedom is allowing yourself to eat whatever you choose within you calories goals. Cheating implies doing something wrong. :)
  • lisalsd1
    lisalsd1 Posts: 1,521 Member
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    "Cheat day" for me is either Mexican food or beer; still logging, hitting protein goal...but not worrying about calories (but trying staying with in "reason"). I just plan ahead, so a small "cheat" doesn't become a big, multi-day cheat.
  • CharlotteALC93
    CharlotteALC93 Posts: 47 Member
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    For me it means I don't eat all day and then use my days calories on one meal, whatever I fancy but never go over calories. Probably stupid but its fine for me.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    CharlotteALC93 wrote: »
    For me it means I don't eat all day and then use my days calories on one meal, whatever I fancy but never go over calories. Probably stupid but its fine for me.

    Not stupid at all. I don't believe in cheat days but I've saved up a day's calories for a special meal on Christmas and Thanksgiving. :)
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    The term "Cheat day" makes me cringe!

    Tell me what exactly are we cheating by eating over a certain amount of calories for a day?! :o
  • CharlotteALC93
    CharlotteALC93 Posts: 47 Member
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    CharlotteALC93 wrote: »
    For me it means I don't eat all day and then use my days calories on one meal, whatever I fancy but never go over calories. Probably stupid but its fine for me.

    Not stupid at all. I don't believe in cheat days but I've saved up a day's calories for a special meal on Christmas and Thanksgiving. :)

    oh good that's ok then :)

  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    edited November 2015
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    I don't cheat. I work treats into my calorie allotment on a regular basis.

    I do however have some "no tracking" days throughout the year. Holidays, birthday, vacation time. Its good to not have to worry about calories every once in a while. It's a sanity thing to just be able to relax and eat on Christmas and not think about calories.

    These days are relatively few and decided on ahead of time. I don't consider it cheating because its part of my plan.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    I don't usually use the term "cheat days" but for me it would mean Saturday and Sunday. I don't "diet" on those days. I eat at or above maintenance, but not crazy over.

    It does slow weight loss down. Obviously it would since it cuts into my weekly deficit. But I didn't start out with a lot to lose and wanted to lose very slowly. I plan to eat like this (deficit through the week, high calories on the weekend) at least until I retire. It seems natural and easy now that I'm working full time.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    When I say "cheat day," I mean it is not for me. What is for me is working those little treats into my calorie goals.

    My perception is that people use cheat days to eat whatever food they prohibit themselves from eating the rest of the time, and it will often include eating over calorie goals. For me, it's easier just to work those treats in daily instead of saving up for them. To me, it's a complete waste of time and implies that I'm doing something wrong when, indeed, I am not. :)

    This description of a 'cheat day' is not what I do. I eat more, but not different. More of the same foods I always eat.
  • sunandmoons
    sunandmoons Posts: 415 Member
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    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    My rules on cheating:

    0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
    B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

    1^
  • krithsai
    krithsai Posts: 668 Member
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    I don't do cheat days. I do cheat meals. Eating without accountability for a whole day puts too much of a dent on my progress. Besides, I don't starve myself so much that I feel the need to eat a mindblowing amount of food one day. The day of my weigh in each week, I allow myself one meal in which I don't think too much(I do save up calories through the week to use in that meal).
  • retailwizard1
    retailwizard1 Posts: 84 Member
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    Lol... ok I read a few answers and omg please... cheat day means you eat whatever you want and don't think about calories. .. lol to the guy who said an extra dessert... depending how bad you eat... what it will do to diet. .. I used to do cheat day once a week and it did not through off diet... but obviously I woukd have lost a lil more if I didn't do
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    retailwizard1 wrote: »
    Lol... ok I read a few answers and omg please... cheat day means you eat whatever you want and don't think about calories. .. lol to the guy who said an extra dessert... depending how bad you eat... what it will do to diet. .. I used to do cheat day once a week and it did not through off diet... but obviously I woukd have lost a lil more if I didn't do

    If your cheat days didn't throw off your diet, it's because you didn't eat enough to cancel out your deficit. This may not be the case for others who attempt cheat days. Calories consumed are going to be the ultimate deciding factor in whether or not one loses weight, which is why many of us are wary of the idea of an entire day where you don't count calories.
  • rjugy12
    rjugy12 Posts: 22 Member
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    Basically it's for well being human. Give ur self a good meal or two or a good desert. But make sure it fits your caloric deficit if it meets this you will still loose weight. Replace a boring meal with one craved meal. So that u won't go over your caloric intake. Don't stress over it.
  • teresadutton
    teresadutton Posts: 232 Member
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    Cheat days for me are a thing of the past. They would sabotage me everytime, I would go hog wild, I would gain 3 pounds water weight which would then take me 3-5 days to get off and then it would be about time for a cheat day again. It wasn't worth it. I finally made it to goal and eat at maintenance and everyday feels like a "cheat" day :)
  • retailwizard1
    retailwizard1 Posts: 84 Member
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    Ok jellyroll... I don't know how heavy anyone is that is cheating either or how much... my cheating might be different than others... I'm not talking eat all day till you pass out... but order pasta not salad. .. eat what you want I said... not eat till you pass out
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,339 Member
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    I eat what I want every day, no cheat days. The thing is, I no longer want anything that wouldn't fit into my calorie/macro goals...On the weekends, I like to have a couple of vodkas, those are my "treats", but I log them, and try to fit them into my calories. If they fit, bonus. If not, I don't even give it a second thought once logged. There was a time that I thought weekends were for eating whatever, and for going hogwild, but once I really turned my new way of eating into a lifestyle, those cravings pretty much disappeared anyways.
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,339 Member
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    sunandmoons wrote: »
    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    My rules on cheating:

    0 ) You're only cheating yourself.
    B ) If you feel a need to cheat, you're doin ' it wrong.

    1^

    Perfect!

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