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

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  • youdontknowwhatyousaw
    youdontknowwhatyousaw Posts: 221 Member
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    I never use the word cheat when it comes to food, it can be so demotivating. If I really want it, I eat it.
  • OhMsDiva
    OhMsDiva Posts: 1,074 Member
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    kbmnurse wrote: »
    I don't use the word cheat, period. If I eat something that happens to take me over my calories for the day I get over it and move on. It does not happen frequently. Tomorrow is a new day. >:)

    That
  • sinbadfxdl
    sinbadfxdl Posts: 103 Member
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    There is no friggin way that I will go six months counting and logging every day with out a Cheat Day, Break day, or have anything I want day. After words , I feel like I'm ready to get back to it.
    There is nothing wrong with it. It's mostly about learning to at a reasonable amount. It's not a big deal to me.
  • sinbadfxdl
    sinbadfxdl Posts: 103 Member
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    I do it on purpose. I don't feel bad either.
  • ebouchie
    ebouchie Posts: 124 Member
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    I got into this mess (overweight) because I "rewarded" myself with food. So I am really conscious of not doing that again with cheat days. Because to me that's all it is. A reward for eating to plan all weak, "I deserve this". Instead, I do like many others and build it into my calorie allotment.
  • Blender9000
    Blender9000 Posts: 1 Member
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    First of all, I don't call them "cheat days". That sets up the mentality that there are rigid rules for dieting and weight loss, which I think is total nonsense. And instead of a whole day of not logging my meals or being carefree about the foods I eat, I just pick one meal where I do something special. I usually go out for lunch and I am more relaxed about what I eat for that one meal. I also log that meal. I don't worry at all about the amount of calories I consume during my special meal, but I like to be honest with myself. I'm sure you noticed the differences among all the kind people who answered you..."cheat days" means something different for everyone. Try some ideas out, but remember that in the end you must decide what "cheat day" means for you because this is YOUR journey.
  • Jake3844
    Jake3844 Posts: 7 Member
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    I think there is a difference between the perception of a person who is just starting out and a person who has been at it a while. Once you start seeing results from healthy eating and exercise, the cheat day begins to lose its appeal. Not only do you realize it sets you back in terms of weight loss, but after the cheat day is over there is a guilt that makes the entire day seem like a mistake.

    When you first start dieting the cheat day seems like an island in the middle of the sea. You spend all week swimming to your island, and once you get there you are free from the evil thing we call a diet. This isn't a healthy way of going through the week, and I venture to say it may be counterproductive to "look forward" to eating unhealthy food. The entire point is that you can train your body to like healthy food and to stop craving the unhealthy stuff.

    I don't believe there is anything "evil" about a cheat day. From my own experience though it is rarely worth the setback, and if you are still in the mind-set that you need a cheat day, in my humble opinion, you should be trying to train yourself out of that mind-set.

    That being said, at times I have days when I eat what I want, but these aren't planned cheat days and it doesn't happen very often. I don't think your diet is going to be perfect. I don't think you're going to log 365 days of straight diet perfection. So you may have cheat days, but I don't believe they should be part of the plan.

    These have just been my opinions, it's not the same for every person.
  • oolou
    oolou Posts: 765 Member
    edited November 2015
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    I think what works for one person may not work for another. Reading through this discussion it's clear that for some, cheat days are essential and for others, not something they would consider. Personally, if I was going to have a preplanned cheat day each month (or whenever), I'd like to try and mitigate it by banking some calories, either through extra exercise or being more strict on the calorie intake for a couple days beforehand.

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