Cheat day..yes or no?

so yeah first week on the diet this go round and i have to change my answer. i just excersized and burned extra calories, and then i enjoyed personal pan pizzas and quarter pounders. i lost 9lbs.

I like the idea of them for special occasions only (in terms of actually allowing yourself to over eat). Think Christmas, Easter and my birthday. Not other people's birthdays, not Thanksgiving or other national holidays. It's a pick your favourite holidays kind of deal to me. And no more than one every 2 months. Otherwise all your efforts can go down the drain, especially when you're close to goal.

I believe a cheat meal once a week should suffice but if you are still losing weight you should log it. Maybe once a month a cheat day, but still, if you are not at goal log it.

Starting out , a cheat day worked for me. Planned on eating whatever I fancied all week long. My cheat day would roll by, oftentimes, I chose to stick to my normal. I believe just thinking about it and being able to break from what seemed restrictive, as in to have an opt out day was liberating enough.

ETA: Eating lamb all day was my thing. Lamb sausages with eggs for breakfast, lamb gyro for lunch and rack of lamb with mint sauce for dinner.

Look up paleo dessert recipes! I am constantly baking those treats (and/or eating dark chocolate) and i don't feel so bad eating it because it's all natural and nothing processed. And they're delicious and i personally try to have a little treat a few times a week because if i deprive myself all week, i will binge hard on that "cheat day"

I don't do cheat days. I don't like the term.

Day to day, I follow the 80/20 rule and usually leave 200-300 calories after dinner for a snack of my choosing. Most of the time it's ice cream, but sometimes its chip/dip, a piece of cake, or even an apple & peanut butter. It all depends on what I'm feeling that day.

I follow IIFYM, so I'll have pizza or french fries sometimes, but it's not cheating. I work the rest of my day around it. Every once in a while, I'll have a day where I throw macros out the window, but I'll still stick to my calories. Still not cheating.

I do have planned "no counting" days where I eat whatever I want and don't pay any attention to them. I don't consider this cheating because its part of the plan. They are decided in advance and for a reason. They are generally major holidays, special events (birthday, anniversary), or vacation. For example, on Thanksgiving, I don't track. Or we're going on a trip to NYC in December and I'll eat all the foods.

Having times like that are necessary and part of living your life. I can't imagine anything sadder than worrying about calories during Christmas or not indulging in the local cuisine when traveling. It's part of what makes this a life long commitment instead of a diet. It's what has let me do this for 3 years without quitting. For me, these days need to be few and determined ahead of time or else I can decide that every day is a special day. I try to limit them to ~10 days a year (fluctuates due to vacation sometimes). I can't completely undo my progress in 10 days a year.

Cheat meal, cheat day = Cheater. I don't want to be labeled a Cheat or a Cheater. I incorporate Unplanned foods into a meal ie taco (UNplanned food) and salad (planned food)

I feel way too guilty. So now I just incorporate something I really want ( chips, fries, cupcake) into my count and if I don't have enough calories to justify it I choose a better option. I'm too scared I'll get back into bad habits like binge eating

Cheat day... NO .. Actually the word cheating implies breaking a rule or law.. This implies that bad feelings, shame and guilt go with that...

I do an indulgent meal (not a day) that's planned out and usually in advance. No cheating or bad feelings.. Win Win.

Wiggymommy wrote: »

I did some research on this. Check out leptin levels and the need for maybe like a cheat meal just to refuel leptin levels. I'm on a 1200 calorie diet and I cheat about 1 time a week and still losing 2.4 pounds a week on average. No exercise either due to a recent sprain

It's definitely a thing, and why I take two week diet breaks at maintenance when I am on a hard cut. That being said, it may not be needed for people who are eating a reasonable deficit. I don't do reasonable though, and would prefer to avoid tanking my hormones any worse than I already do.