Cheat day... Good or bad?

Definitely need one. Just don't let it derail you. And more of a cheat meal.

I don't like the idea of a cheat day because I work very hard to be good. I know the idea of a cheat day might be to reward yourself for doing a good job, but think of all the added calories you have to burn off again. That's my thought process to dissuade myself. I work hard to get the weight off... I don't want or need to work at it any harder.

I take it this way, is having a cheat day ok if it were cheating on your spouse? I don't believe in cheatint others or myself.

I don't have cheat days, if there is something I want, I just work it into my calories. There will be very few occasions I would consider cheat days, but I will always try abd stay in calorie range and not go over board. Going overboard is what got me here to begin with and I really don't want to make it a habit.

Tomorrow I am going to the State Fair which is known for unhealthy Foods but I will do my best to make sure I eat healthier options and stay within my calorie range. All the walking will benefit me by burning off some of what i eat but I won't go too crazy because I don't want to undo all my hard work I have already done so far.

TK6299 wrote: »

MeganSchuyler16 wrote: »

I don't know about a whole day dedicated to cheating lol... I'd never make any progress. Honestly I have one cheat meal a week on Sundays, which is when both my husband and I go out and have a date night. Even on the day I have my cheat meal I usually stay within my calories. I just eat less for breakfast and lunch and for my snacks something really small and tea to hold me over. That way when dinner time comes and we go out I can sort of indulge. This Sunday we are going to Melting Pot for the first time and I am so excited because I hear it's amazing.

So I say one cheat meal a week... but still try and stay within your calorie goal for the day.

Well said... One cheat meal a week and try to stick to within a couple of hundred of your calorie goal.

I like this idea too

Instead of having a cheat day, I like to have one day where I can go out to eat for one meal. I don't even do that every week. More like every couple of weeks. I still try to make smart choices when I do but I cut myself a little slack.

I usually do 1-2 cheat meals, and my definition of a cheat meal is a meal that isn't tracked at all.

Yes! I love my cheat day, not even because I get to eat what I want, but because it has helped me lose weight (ironically). Anyways if you are trying to lose weight, lowering your calorie intake for too long eventually becomes less and less effective. But a little break and high calorie day really helps to shake up your metabolism so it doesn't get used to low calories. It's called zig zag dieting If you do it properly. It has worked for me - broke me through the plateau.

At the beginning of my MFP journey, a few weeks ago, I had full intentions of having cheat days. However, I started having small "cheats" instead. I don't' call them cheats though; I call it surviving, lol. This is helping me learn that I can have a small amount, to not overdo it. Instead of a whole family size chocolate bar, I'll have a third or a quarter. I feel less like I'm missing out that way. I don't do it every day. There were a few days here and there that I would do that at first. I am learning to only do it on workout days (I only recently started making a deal with myself that it must come from workout calories - I'll see how that goes). Before my journey, I ate too many chocolate and salty snacks pretty much daily.
Also, if I plan on having a bigger dinner, I try to exercise that day or at least make sure I have enough calories saved for it without sacrificing my macro numbers too much. I'm getting much better with portion control. I do have a bit more than I probably should, at the larger meals, but it is absolutely no where near what I was having before.
There are items I've learnt I can't have at home yet. Snacks like chips and doritos, I am still not good at stopping myself before I have too many. I've started eating a healthier type of popcorn instead when I'm craving salty munchies. I did this the last couple of days and it has helped a lot, I'm better at keeping the portion at a decent amount.

I think the problem with cheat days is quantity of days and quantity of food on those days (particularly with weight loss goals). If a person has a cheat day every week, that one day can make a bit of a dent in your weight loss goals. Say you are at 1200 calories a day (after the 1000 deficit) if you want to lose 2 lbs a week. If you have one cheat day a week, that is 6 days of 1200 calories. Those 6 days, you ate 6000 less calories because of the deficit, which is 24000 calories less each month... equalling about 6.8 lbs of fat loss. If you did not take those approx. 4 cheat days, you would lose about one more pound of fat. You would have eaten 3200 calories less - one pound of body fat equals about 3500 calories. In 6 months, that's 6 pounds more you could have lost... and so on. Another factor is how much you eat on this cheat day.. that can change the numbers as well, especially if you go over your deficit. This does not factor in exercise. I am merely showing a small example of the impact it can have. Of course, this is fine if you are ok with that. It simply slows down your goal.

I hope that made sense. I'm new to this and learning as well. I can only give advice on what I think might work and any experience, big or small, I may have.

I cheat day once every 2 weeks, however I still stay at or a bit below my calorie goal, and do my exercise on cheat day, just be smart about it!