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Cheat day... Good or bad?

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  • easyabz
    easyabz Posts: 41 Member
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    Whatever works for your lifestyle, for me i have a cheat day once a week or every 10days if im in a really focused mood. Every other day i excercise and eat below maintance strict. My goals have always oriented towards being shredded so im a obsessive cutter as i gain weight really easily. But when i cheat i count every calorie so i know ive lost weight the week.
  • TheCrawlingChaos
    TheCrawlingChaos Posts: 462 Member
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    I used to schedule cheat days, but it would often cancel out a lot of my work. I've decided to take a new approach to things now and I don't have "cheat days" at all. If I need to have something less than ideal healthwise I will do it, but I don't make it a habit.

    I stole the idea of viewing those meals a "rare and appropriate " meal rather than a cheat from Penn Jillette. Same amount of bad for me, but psychologically it feels less like I'm doing something bad. But interestingly enough, those cravings that I was filling weekly on my cheat days before have now pretty much vanished and I can't really even think of a time in the past 3 months where I had a "rare and appropriate " not-so-healthy meal.
  • Ketzalitzli2
    Ketzalitzli2 Posts: 38 Member
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    Every now and then I'll do a cheat day. That doesn't mean every single week. I do want to continue to progress! But say for example there is a bbq or birthday I will go ahead and choose foods I might not normally choose regularly. Still keep track of portions and try to stay within my calorie range and if I go over I try to make sure I'm not over too much. I feel sometimes its good because then I don't obsess over what I might be missing out on. I have found though that the more I am eating healthy and cutting out junk that when I do go "cheat" and eat junk, its just not the same. I got so used to eating real food that I think I've lost that lovin feelin for junk food.. haha!
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    I eat whatever I want every day. No reason not to.
  • Yisrael1981
    Yisrael1981 Posts: 132 Member
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    The only benefit to a cheat day is psychological. So if it works for you than do it. Obviously if you eat in a surplus those calories will count. They don't get excused because it's only once a week...
    There is no hard scientific evidence to any metabolic advantage to cheat days , all those articles that right about it usually are bro science and don't have studied at all to back it up and if they do they are very weak from a statistical significance perspective
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,261 Member
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    If you overindulge so much that you go over your weekly target you will gain weight so what's the point
    If you plan your treat to fit into your weekly target it's not cheating
  • Acacia_Evers
    Acacia_Evers Posts: 263 Member
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    It depends on the person. Back when I was first starting, I would have a cheat day. That cheat day turned into a week, then a month, and the next thing you knew, I was putting on more weight. So to me, a cheat day is a no. I was also really limiting my foods. Now, I eat whatever I want as long as it continues to fit in with my calorie goal for the day. No restrictions? No need to cheat. :)
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    Acacia_Evers wrote: »
    It depends on the person. Back when I was first starting, I would have a cheat day. That cheat day turned into a week, then a month, and the next thing you knew, I was putting on more weight. So to me, a cheat day is a no. I was also really limiting my foods. Now, I eat whatever I want as long as it continues to fit in with my calorie goal for the day. No restrictions? No need to cheat. :)

    That's what happened to my cheat days too.
  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
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    I just build in at least 100 calories for a treat of some sort each day. That could equate to one or two pieces of chocolate, a small pudding, or 1 scoop of ice cream. Giving myself permission to do that, I have never needed a "cheat" day. I know it is psychological but knowing that I have that cushion for a treat each day? I often end up not eating it. Now, these days, I cannot be spontaneous and go out to eat at the drop of a hat but I can plan ahead so if I want those fried pickles with the fried shrimp, etc. I will, knowing that the rest of that day is salad or extra veggies. So in essence, I don't have cheat days ... I will eat what I want and make sure that I am still within my calories. "Cheat" just has too many negative connotations for me.
  • rwhyte12
    rwhyte12 Posts: 203 Member
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    I have done a lot of reading and the common thought is that eating too far below calorie requirements puts you into starvation mode which means you store fat instead of losing or you exercise too much and don't eat enough. I still tried this approach by just staying at the calories required because it is good to be open to everything. But in the end, I think that they might be right. Then, I started to remind myself usually once a week or every two weeks that I can't lose any weight if I just keep eating below the calories required. So a cheat day is a fabulous thing because it tells the body 'hey, I'm not starving!' and it seems to get weightloss going again. This is my theory based on what I've seen. The above information about the starvation mode is all over this website and in fact comes up and
  • Btheodore138
    Btheodore138 Posts: 182 Member
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    I think giving yourself a whole day to eat whatever isn't the best. You don't want to get into the bad habits that led you to having to watch what you eat in the first place. I think a better idea is having a "treat meal" every once in awhile. If I want a pizza night or I'm going out with friends, I'll make sure it's on a gym day so I have the extra calories to spare to get something special. I used to get into the mindset of "well I ate something bad so I might as well go crazy today" which can turn into a never ending cycle.
  • xXxWhitneyxXx
    xXxWhitneyxXx Posts: 119 Member
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    I don't do a cheat day, because one turns into two and three and so on. But I do have a cheat meal once a week. Today is my cheat meal, I am having Chinese food. I have been craving some beef lo mein and egg rolls for 2 weeks and I managed to make it work today and im only going over my calories by 4. I'm happy lol
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Matters of nutrition are rarely, if ever that black and white...there's a lot of gray and nuance and whatnot.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    Good for some, bad for others. Like most everything.
  • MariRaina
    MariRaina Posts: 11 Member
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    My dr gave me one cheat day each week. With guidelines. The idea isn't to go completely haywire and wreck everything. So I chose Saturdays, which are generally pretty busy for me and keep me away from the kitchen. I'm an emotional eater, and if I'm near food, I'll cram it in my mouth - being away from the kitchen is a good thing!! I have a healthy breakfast, then pack the car with my favorite snacks. For supper, we have pizza and breadsticks of some stripe (we love Papa Murphy's!). That generally fills us up enough that we're not spending the rest of the night grazing. But we keep salads and nuts and fruits and granolas and healthy homemade trail mixes in the pantry. (I stopped keeping candy and cookies back in January!)

    So really, cheat day works for me. :)
  • Katy2Survivor
    Katy2Survivor Posts: 111 Member
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    I eat mostly all every day .. You shouldn't deprive yourself ... Just stay in your daily calories numbers .. And exercise :smile:

    Diet is like kid lol more you say no to it the more it want it :smiley:
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    Katt551 wrote: »
    Diet is like kid lol more you say no to it the more it want it :smiley:

    I have not found this to be true for me.
  • Katy2Survivor
    Katy2Survivor Posts: 111 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    Katt551 wrote: »
    Diet is like kid lol more you say no to it the more it want it :smiley:

    I have not found this to be true for me.

    It was joke :smiley: . But for me it is true .. :neutral:

  • CrabNebula
    CrabNebula Posts: 1,119 Member
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    Cheat days for me are not about what I am eating, rather how much. Sure, I can eat pizza everyday, but I can't eat 5-6 slices like I always want to. I can have that second bowl of ice cream. I can have all the garlic butter I want. I can drink like a fish.

    My cheat days are self-limiting though. I really hit a wall around the 1700-2000 calorie mark and I just, ugh, I don't want to eat anymore - stomach might literally explode. Cat jumped on my gut after my Friday Bacchanalia and agony. And it is hours before I can even think of shoveling more food down my piehole. I watch those 10k+ cheat days on YT and I just have no idea how they do it.

    Anyway, the fact that I end up in pain at the end of it is pretty good deterrent for keeping me from doing it again...for a week. :)

    I'm a calorie banking maintainer. So doesn't really matter what I do on Friday, my weekly deficit is so large.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Yeah, I focus on the week as a whole. So I might have a high day (or 2), but they aren't "cheat" days (which suggests to me over calories). Of course, right now I just have to convince myself my goal for the week is a deficit, not maintenance.

    But in any case I agree that it depends on the person.

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