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Cheat day..yes or no?
Replies
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Cheat Day? NO!
Cheat MEAL or SNACK, YES!1 -
I don't like the words cheat. It implies I am breaking a law or rule.
But I will have a day where I eat normal # calories to loose weight, but it will be different foods that I do not eat during the week. It will be a whole day on the weekend or maybe even just one large meal that takes all my calories!2 -
Find a way of eating that satisfies you within your calorie limit.
If you want something, work some of it into your calories. I have about 20% of my daily calories designated for treat foods. Since I have treats every day, I don't feel nearly so deprived.
I do about the same. I don't do cheat meals or cheat days. I have too much of an addictive personality to not let one cheat day turn into three or a week.
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pbandalyssa wrote: »IIFYM
Yes . Yes yes yes yes yes. I try this. Doesn't always work...but mostly...1 -
My cheat meal is huge bowl of cheerios with full cream milk and PB2 mixed in. Pathetic i know, but i look forward to this so much!! An unopened box has been sitting in my pantry for 3 weeks, as I haven't been able to talk myself into eating any yet, as i know once that box is opened it won't last longer than 1 day..0
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No.
Now I'm not saying that having what you like is wrong. What I am saying that I don't believe its healthy to think of it like that. I rather do 80/20. 80 lean and healthier options and 20 foods I like.3 -
I don't have cheat days but for instance last night a bag of butterkist popcorn was asking to be eaten, so I obliged. I thoroughly enjoyed it, 10 minutes later regretted it, but back on the wagon this morning. Sometimes I go over my calories, some days I'm under, but nothing like I used to eat. My mind set now is moderation and mindful eating of quality food not cheap and as much as I can eat before feeling ill.0
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No ... instead I have a range of calories instead of a number set in stone. The low number is 600 calorie deficit, the high is 400 calorie deficit. If I go 50 or so over or under I don't beat myself up about it and celebrate when I hit it within that 200-calorie window.0
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Thinking about what everyone means by "cheat day," I think it really depends on where you are in your goal. Have you been at this a while, and are you getting sick of eating at a deficit? Sure. Take a whole day and enjoy it. Then get back to work. Are you nearly to goal? Maybe. Depends on whether you're going to beat yourself up about it, but chances are good you can go ahead and have a blow-off day without any ill effects. Did you just start this last week, and you're already struggling to eat under your calorie goal? Probably not a good idea.
Saying all that, though, there's nothing wrong with enjoying a food that you would normally consider a "cheat food" within your calorie limit. Say you want pizza, like me, and you don't want to have a blow-out day. Then plan for it. Eat less for breakfast and lunch, pre-calculate your pizza calories and how much you're going to allow yourself, and enjoy.6 -
AmandaHugginkiss wrote: »Thinking about what everyone means by "cheat day," I think it really depends on where you are in your goal. Have you been at this a while, and are you getting sick of eating at a deficit? Sure. Take a whole day and enjoy it. Then get back to work. Are you nearly to goal? Maybe. Depends on whether you're going to beat yourself up about it, but chances are good you can go ahead and have a blow-off day without any ill effects. Did you just start this last week, and you're already struggling to eat under your calorie goal? Probably not a good idea.
Saying all that, though, there's nothing wrong with enjoying a food that you would normally consider a "cheat food" within your calorie limit. Say you want pizza, like me, and you don't want to have a blow-out day. Then plan for it. Eat less for breakfast and lunch, pre-calculate your pizza calories and how much you're going to allow yourself, and enjoy.
I think this is a really good summary.0 -
I cant fit a pizza , ice cream , donuts and all the goodies while doing IFYM kept it simple and old skool and have free (not cheat)days imo if u are working out and dieting the way you really should be a free day won't slow you down1
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No cheat days or cheat meals. Just work what I want into my day. IF it fits my calories, macros.3
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I'm trying not to do "cheat days" anymore. I used to do that and then I got to where my body was craving that cheat day and I would end up cheating more than just one day of the week. Not to mention I would feel awful after I cheated but it was almost like I couldn't help myself.
I am eating healthier and working out every day but if there's a day that I am craving something then I'll go online and look up the nutritional facts...sometimes that alone is enough to scare me and make me not eat it lol, but if it's not to awful then it's all about portion size. Sometimes I just crave pizza. Instead of scarfing down half a pizza or more I do the math and figure the right portion and only have maybe 2 slices. It kicks my craving but doesn't kill my whole day.4 -
My motto is 'as few of those as possible, but life happens'. I just eat less the rest of the time to make up for it.0
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Cheating can be a negative thing where it be on one's spouse or Way Of Eating.
Treats I can see vs. calling them cheats when it comes to one's WOE.
A 18 year old can eat most anything and be OK the next day. At 65 after basically being off of sugar and all grains for two years I know it the next day when I eat in a way that is wrong for me personally for max health.
Cheat is a negative term in the minds of most. Negative seldom is positive for max health.1 -
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pompeyjosh1990 wrote: »I 100% agree with 'cheat meals' not cheat days, cheat meals should consist of having a chips instead of low starch carb, or a home made burger instead of a bit of chicken. I would not consist a cheat meal as stuff your face with 5 burgers from macdonalds, drink 10 bears and a kebab on the way home! YES everyone has bad days, I get that- (I do too) its just how you sustain and get back on track, work harder, and try harder to sustain a good clean healthy diet. CHEAT MEALS' will help mentally with your weight loss progression.
One thing I learnt when I first started I did cheat days (which is perfectly acceptable) as you are still making progress having 6 out of 7 good meals- to slowly start to cut back what you have for a cheat meal- then it will be the norm. Cheat meals should be a small pleasure if you cook your food in a tasteful way anyway. Now im back in training im having one cheat meal with one beer on a Saturday or Friday night depending on what im doing. I will slowly remove the beer, then reduce the Fat in each cheat meal.
Cheat days and carb loading are totally different so don't let people fool you?....
I'm hung up on this post. Why so extreme? Why is it a homemade burger vs. 5 McD's burgers + beer + a kebab? Why couldn't I go out and get a single burger, a single beer, and no kebab? And then why do I need to make my cheat meals healthier? The whole point is to eat something I enjoy, and if I were to start cutting out beer and fat it's not the same meal. I don't get this mindset at all... But I guess if it works for you, more power to you.
To the "homemade" point - part of "cheating" or "treating" or whatever terminology you want to use goes beyond the food. It's the environment and mood I'm in while eating the food. I make awesome, healthy, 500-calorie meals all week long. I'm a great home cook. The salmon I made last night was restaurant-worthy. But 45-75 minutes in the kitchen to make dinner, then 15-30 minutes doing dishes after cooking is not necessarily relaxing for me. I love going out and letting someone else do all the work. I love the atmosphere of a restaurant. I love getting dressed up if we're going to a nice place. All of this sets up a meal I can completely immerse myself in. It's a whole experience.
Anyway, I don't cheat, I have treats. I work them into my calories and I usually have them daily. When I was losing, I ate at a deficit Monday-Friday and ate at maintenance on the weekends. I might have lost a little slower, but I never had to sacrifice my social life or food I really loved.5 -
That's how I continue to do it...mskessler89 wrote: »When I was losing, I ate at a deficit Monday-Friday and ate at maintenance on the weekends. I might have lost a little slower, but I never had to sacrifice my social life or food I really loved.
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I say no to cheat days as my scheme is to work in foods I love into my plan. As other have said above, the goal is to learn how to create a diet you can live with forever. With the "forever" diet plan, there isn't "cheating" or going off the diet. If there is some food you really want, work it in to your plan (like others have mentioned already).
So my advice is no cheat days and if there is a food you want that you can't have on your food plan, then change your food plan. A food plan you can stick with is better than a food plan that makes you want to "cheat".
Good Luck!5 -
stop viewing food as cheats, bad, good, evil, etc. Food = food...eat the foods that you like and find a way to work in the higher calorie ones while still hitting your calorie, micro, and macro goal for the day.4
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mskessler89 wrote: »pompeyjosh1990 wrote: »I 100% agree with 'cheat meals' not cheat days, cheat meals should consist of having a chips instead of low starch carb, or a home made burger instead of a bit of chicken. I would not consist a cheat meal as stuff your face with 5 burgers from macdonalds, drink 10 bears and a kebab on the way home! YES everyone has bad days, I get that- (I do too) its just how you sustain and get back on track, work harder, and try harder to sustain a good clean healthy diet. CHEAT MEALS' will help mentally with your weight loss progression.
One thing I learnt when I first started I did cheat days (which is perfectly acceptable) as you are still making progress having 6 out of 7 good meals- to slowly start to cut back what you have for a cheat meal- then it will be the norm. Cheat meals should be a small pleasure if you cook your food in a tasteful way anyway. Now im back in training im having one cheat meal with one beer on a Saturday or Friday night depending on what im doing. I will slowly remove the beer, then reduce the Fat in each cheat meal.
Cheat days and carb loading are totally different so don't let people fool you?....
I'm hung up on this post. Why so extreme? Why is it a homemade burger vs. 5 McD's burgers + beer + a kebab? Why couldn't I go out and get a single burger, a single beer, and no kebab? And then why do I need to make my cheat meals healthier? The whole point is to eat something I enjoy, and if I were to start cutting out beer and fat it's not the same meal. I don't get this mindset at all... But I guess if it works for you, more power to you.
To the "homemade" point - part of "cheating" or "treating" or whatever terminology you want to use goes beyond the food. It's the environment and mood I'm in while eating the food. I make awesome, healthy, 500-calorie meals all week long. I'm a great home cook. The salmon I made last night was restaurant-worthy. But 45-75 minutes in the kitchen to make dinner, then 15-30 minutes doing dishes after cooking is not necessarily relaxing for me. I love going out and letting someone else do all the work. I love the atmosphere of a restaurant. I love getting dressed up if we're going to a nice place. All of this sets up a meal I can completely immerse myself in. It's a whole experience.
Anyway, I don't cheat, I have treats. I work them into my calories and I usually have them daily. When I was losing, I ate at a deficit Monday-Friday and ate at maintenance on the weekends. I might have lost a little slower, but I never had to sacrifice my social life or food I really loved.
So Much All Of This....0 -
No... eat "all the foods" every day just make them fit... you do that you will be able to sustain this lifestyle. You'll also find you don't always want to eat the "crap" you use to crave when you were depriving yourself. This happens to me from time to time; I actually get tired of cookies and other sweets (say what?!!) because I eat them a lot, LOL! BTW - I practice what I preach: yesterday I had 2 Twinkies w/ my coffee (and was UNDER my calorie goal for the day and had a nearly perfect macro balance - I was perfect on one and was off by like 1% on the other 2) and this morning I had 3 Ho-Hos w/ my coffee (and will balance out my macros w/ the rest of my food). Plan ahead you can eat whatever the hell you want (in moderation) every single day!3
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xmichaelyx wrote: »My cheat day starts on Friday night and lasts until Monday morning. The rest of my week is structured to allow this.
Me too!0 -
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stop viewing food as cheats, bad, good, evil, etc. Food = food...eat the foods that you like and find a way to work in the higher calorie ones while still hitting your calorie, micro, and macro goal for the day.
^^^This, this, this and this. Can NOT be stressed enough. Just to be clear, no one is saying you HAVE to eat all the foods, just that you don't NEED to exclude any (barring a medical condition) to achieve your goals...3 -
Yeah what he said (above) I didn't mean to imply you should eat all the foods every day I just meant you can, if you want... but you wont want to, cuz you're going to get tired of them real quick! Some days the thought of sweets makes me want to barf and instead I crave things like protein and veggies... yes, that's right, I... crave... them. You learn to stop demonizing food and you'll find your self eating a much more well-rounded variety of foods... and liking it!
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I do one cheat meal per week, and this, along with some other lifestyle changes such as planning meals a week ahead of time and food prepping, helped me get to my goal weight. They are NOT for everybody. Do what feels good and what works for you. Here is a great article if you're considering cheat meals.
http://www.muscleforlife.com/cheat-meal/1 -
I do one cheat meal per week, and this, along with some other lifestyle changes such as planning meals a week ahead of time and food prepping, helped me get to my goal weight. They are NOT for everybody. Do what feels good and what works for you. Here is a great article if you're considering cheat meals.
http://www.muscleforlife.com/cheat-meal/
too many rules...just eat the foods you like and fit them into your plan....1 -
addily1986 wrote: »When starting my diet I thought to myself "I'm not sure I can do this...I need a cheat day." Now my mind is telling me yes cheat day! ...but it's telling me to cheat every day so I'm trying not to listen.
What are other peoples viewpoints on a cheat day?
Dieting is hard work any time of the year you do it. But it feels especially hard for me in the summer because of all the fun social things happening. I mean have you ever tried to float the river without a beer? BORING.
instead of dieting for a season or time of year, make a lifestyle change where you consistently lose, and keep, the weight off ....2 -
I do one cheat meal per week, and this, along with some other lifestyle changes such as planning meals a week ahead of time and food prepping, helped me get to my goal weight. They are NOT for everybody. Do what feels good and what works for you. Here is a great article if you're considering cheat meals.
http://www.muscleforlife.com/cheat-meal/
too many rules...just eat the foods you like and fit them into your plan....
This IS how I fit the foods I like into my plan. There are rules to follow for every successful plan-they're not that hard to keep in mind. For some people with lower daily calorie goals it can be really difficult to fit in some of the more higher calorie foods they like.1
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