Thoughts on Cheat Days?

I never did it when I was neck deep in bodyfat at 265, because all it ever seemed to do was slow me down. Now that I'm much lower (151.9), I'll throw in a high calorie day almost every week, because it has a much smaller impact, and I have no issues with shaving calories off of the other six days, if I feel compelled to.

When I started to implement nutrition into my fitness regimen, I went HAM. I didn't have a cheat day for almost 3 months. From there on, I've had at least one cheat day a week. I continue to have success doing this as long as it's controlled. Obviously if you have a 2000 calorie deficit for M-F and then eat that much over what you burned...you aren't going to have long-term success. However, I find the leaner you get...they can become helpful for physical progress as well as overall positive mental health. Not allowing yourself some wine or what-have-you will wear on you over time and will lead to binges or just giving up the healthy eating regimen altogether. I know some people discourage them because once they have a taste of the "bad" foods, they find it hard to get back on track. I don't have that issue. As long as you don't allow Sunday to be a continuation of your cheat day...this is perfectly wonderful as a plan of attack. This is a journey, not a race. And long-term success needs to include some balance. ENJOY!

I don't have cheat meals / day. I just fit what I wanna eat in my macros. If I plan on going out and having a big dinner or something I'll just eat less at lunch and balance it out. I do allow myself a buffer of around 500 cals extra every week so I don't sweat if I do end up going over. Works fine for me so far

I don't do cheat meals or cheat days I just work whatever I wanna eat into my day and if I go over on my macros oh well it happens, life happens. I'm not talking 5,000 calories in a single meal but eating at maintenance as been working for me.

I hate the whole cheat day/meal concept. I think it encourages thinking about food in terms of good and bad instead of as fuel and nutrition. I may eat more on some days than others, or splurge on a special treat now and then, but I fit it into my overall calorie and fitness goals so I don't have to feel like I'm "cheating."

Callefrances, I think it has a lot to do with your overall relationship with food. I have struggled with binging in the past, so "cheat days" are dangerous territory for me. Your plan sounds perfectly reasonable and balanced. And lol @jerome, who said it far better than I did.

"Everyone deserves a break"? Nope. I'm maintaining this for life. Last time I did cheat days and it taught me that maintenance would be like cheat days. Gained it all back and then some. 60lbs down, no cheat days, not missing out on anything because I fit everything into my regular days, including eating out.

My thoughts on cheat days - they can be useful but they are typically misused and/or implemented far too frequently.

I think for most dieters they are something that should be implemented "as and when required" and that this is unlikely to be on a weekly or even monthly basis. There are many people who post on these boards with tales of woe "I'm eating right but not losing" that, when questioned admit to a cheat meal or day per week. These cheat meals are sometimes wiping out the weeks deficit.

I suspect that the cheat day/cheat meal concept has gained traction because of the many, many Instagram fitness people who post "epic work outs" and "epic cheat meals" but nothing of the day-in-day-out weekly/monthly grind of controlled eating. Even then, for a lot of the fitness Instagramers, I suspect (and I've spoken to a few who confirm that this is their method) cheat meals are carefully considered and macros taken into account.

With respect to family gatherings, when dieting, I find that I can usually fit a pretty massive meal and drinks into my weekly plan (I often fast on days when I intend to eat big in the evening) but if I can't I don't worry about it much and get back on plan ASAP - family life is too important to me to do otherwise. And, @calleefrances you plan looks sensible - enjoy.

The only time I indulge is on holidays(Thanksgiving, Christmas etc), my birthday, vacation and other special occasions. I don't go hog wild but I will enjoy myself.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I don't call them cheat days as the implication is that I'm doing something very wrong...I call it having a life and having a little fun now and then is pretty irrelevant to the bigger picture.

Yep, this. The phrase "cheat day" kinda sets you up for failure.

A "treat" or "cheat meal" that stays within your calorie allowance should just be called "normal" eating . A "cheat" meal to me would be like an extra 450 calories just from wine, plus a little this and that... I could see one of these meals adding up to 2000 calories easily. Whatever works for the individual, though! Have a great party, I'm sure you'll be just fine!

For me, cheat days/meals, seem to set me up for sabotage... I think it's a "know thyself" kind of thing... If you can "cheat" here and there and make it fit into your plan, than more power to you... I find achieving a reasonable balance and allowing myself an occasional addition to my day works best for me.

calleefrances wrote: »

@redraidergirl2009 I am not on a diet thanks though!

You would have to be in order to have "cheat days".