"Cheat" days?

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AmyOutOfControl
AmyOutOfControl Posts: 1,425 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone else find their weight loss is faster if they schedule once weekly "cheat" days? Friday is my designated day to eat the things I have been craving all week but do not have the calories for. I am not talking binging-- I mostly just let myself have a few drinks and desert during dinner with family/friends. I always see a drop in my scale the next day even though I am eating more that one day. It's weird.
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  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    I don't have cheat days, I eat everything in moderation. This is the way I will be eating for the rest of my life. Cheat days imply food is bad/good. Food is food.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    edited December 2015
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    I have dessert every day; I don't have cheat days.

    Anyhow, it has been documented that many times a higher calorie day will be followed by a loss of retained water. Of course this only happens if you were previously retaining that water.

    It doesn't increase the rate of fat loss (in fact it would slightly decrease it), but it might make your actual rate of fat loss more apparent.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    I don't schedule it, it just happens.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
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    It's all about energy balance. How you come about that balance of energy is not really important.

    There's nothing magical about a "cheat day" or any other way of eating.

    Consume more energy than you need, gain weight.
    Use more energy than you consume, lose weight.

    No gimmicks, no buzzwords needed.
  • Formerly348
    Formerly348 Posts: 9 Member
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    queenliz99 wrote: »
    I don't have cheat days, I eat everything in moderation. This is the way I will be eating for the rest of my life. Cheat days imply food is bad/good. Food is food.

    Now this I REALLY like!
  • Dreysander
    Dreysander Posts: 294 Member
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    IIFYM

    IIFYM

    IIFYM

    I used to do the whole binge starve thing. Had a cheat day every Saturday and ate until I was sick. No longer. Now if I can work it into my macros I can have it. The strange thing is I often find myself opting not to have "cheat" food even though I can now.
  • sinbadfxdl
    sinbadfxdl Posts: 103 Member
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    It's an Anything I want to eat day and yes I do still lose weight. Pizza, drinking, pasta, you name it. The catch is not to go way overboard.
    I'm still at a 1.5 weekly deficit. This helps the boring meals easier to deal with.
    Everything will be different when I'm at maintainance. I will also eat more because of my exercises. Most negative responses are from those that are in maintenance who can afford to fit it in daily. Hehe
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    Never do cheat days! Only a weekly cheat MEAL is acceptable.
  • tillerstouch
    tillerstouch Posts: 608 Member
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    I prefer cheat meal not day, but yes. It happens for me too. The cheat is giving your metabolism a sort of reset from the lower calories.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
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    tillerstouch wrote: »
    I prefer cheat meal not day, but yes. It happens for me too. The cheat is giving your metabolism a sort of reset from the lower calories.

    Can you explain how your metabolism is reset?
  • tillerstouch
    tillerstouch Posts: 608 Member
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    I guess I shouldn't say metabolism, what I really mean is some of the hormone levels in your body. I'm also talking about it from the stand point of being on a low calorie diet.
  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
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    The effect of one cheat meal during a dieting phase won't have a drastic impact on hormones and kept in levels. It will help psychologically, but a prolonged refeed or diet break is needed to affect metabolism and hormones. You can undergo the "whoosh" effect, but that has to do more with water retention. A cheat meal may help increase metabolism for a limited time, but so does all food ingested. Also may help provide fuel for your next workout, but the effects of a refeed/ single cheat on a diet will not be as optimal as a diet break or 2-3 day refeed. But if it puts you in that mindset that you are going to crush your workouts and let's you ease up on your diet a little mentally, then by all means go ahead. I kind of think of cheat meals as pre workout. They're not necessary, but can help you to a small extent, and may have a placebo effect(:
  • tillerstouch
    tillerstouch Posts: 608 Member
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    @pinggolfer96 I agree I'm not saying they are magically going to make you lose extra weight. I was just agreeing with OP that I see similar things and offering an explanation on why they might see weight loss.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
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    The OP a key reason why long term trends are the most important things to be looking at. There's no benefit to be gained from the mindset of "I ate this yesterday, my weight is this today". Bodyweight does not follow a linear pattern that can be predicted in a small-scale timeframe.

    Also, although interesting from a knowledge perspective, the whole marginal gains from the minute changes effected in the neuroendocrine system are about as relevant to the average Joe dieter as the amount of cheese the moon contains.

    I'm afraid it's all no more exciting than long term adherence to calorie goals creating long term sustainable weight loss.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    When I have so-called cheat days (and if I were to consider myself cheating, they would be days where I eat above maintenance) my weight inevitably goes up, not down.

    However, I do not cheat. I maintain a deficit with whatever foods I feel like eating most of the time but I do have occasional days where I eat a bit too much. Over time, my scale weight drops. When I do eat over, the scale goes up due to water and all that jazz, but it goes back down in a day or two of eating at a deficit again. Eating more every so often will not cause faster weight loss.

    If you are consistently eating at below maintenance, you're not cheating at anything, you're winning, no matter what foods you consume.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    If I decide to have a higher calorie/cheat day I make sure to amp up my exercise so I'm still at maintenance or just under.
  • BonyCastro
    BonyCastro Posts: 110 Member
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    amymoreorless wrote: »
    Does anyone else find their weight loss is faster if they schedule once weekly "cheat" days? Friday is my designated day to eat the things I have been craving all week but do not have the calories for. I am not talking binging-- I mostly just let myself have a few drinks and desert during dinner with family/friends. I always see a drop in my scale the next day even though I am eating more that one day. It's weird.

    I recommend make it a "cheat meal" instead of a cheat day! A cheat day can ruin your whole week efforts
  • besdais
    besdais Posts: 76 Member
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    I am eating for life, therefore, there are occasional days where I go over my calories for the day. Most days I am below (when I figure in my exercise calories,) so a day here or there where I go over won't make me gain weight. I don't schedule it, it will just happen. I also try to exercise more on those days if possible.
    In the real world, some days are good (eating wise) and some not so good. If this is the way you are going to eat for the rest of your life, you need to enjoy your meals - low or high calorie. It is good for your body to mix things up - so if you have a high calorie day, try to make the next day lower than normal calorie. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
    Next week is Christmas week. On Christmas Eve we always cook prime rib - yes, I will eat it and enjoy it. And then I will eat appetizers all day on Christmas. My plan is to try to eat low all week up to that point and get right back to it the day after Christmas. If I gain a pound, it will have been worth it and I will eventually lose it. Concentrate on moderation most days, and that will get you through those days that aren't so good.
    That's my 2 cents worth anyway and what has worked for me.

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