Will a cheat day hurt?!

Let's put it this way. You eat unhealthy/high carb food 6 days a week and eat healthy/low carb food only once a week, would you lose weight? Probably not.
You eat healthy/low carb food 6 days a week and you have one cheat day where you eat whatever you like, would you gain weight? Probably not.
Only concern with a cheat day is that it may trigger you to fall off the wagon. If you get on track the very next day, why not have a cheat day once a week or twice a month or thrice in 2 months? For some people, I've read that it actually keeps you sane and keeps you on track in the long run.
I prefer not to have a cheat day for the first 6 months of my weight loss journey. Once I hit my goal, then I'm considering it.

Track it to make sure you don't go too far overboard - depending on what you consider a cheat day you can undo your weekly deficit (I know I can...)

Also, you will probably see an upswing on the scale the days following the cheat day. This will be due to higher water retention (more carbs, more food in your intestines, possibly higher sodium...) and should be gone within the week. If you're certain of your logging on the other days, there's no reason to worry about it and it will even out long term.

(low carb tends to reduce water bloat, so the moment you eat more carbs, your body will again retain more water, but again, it's not fat so nothing to be worried about).

Personally low carb didn't work for me. I like bread far too much to ever want to give it up, even if only temporarily. What worked for me was a happy medium including those things I love, but in smaller quantities (or very very rarely things I love where small quantities just won't cut it... pizza anyone? )

Best of luck on your journey.

Any time I have my clients on a low carb diet plan I insist they take one day each week to replenish their sugar intake (carbs). It's actually a good thing to include high carb meals/goodies in your weekly diet regardless of your particular plan. Within reason of course.

misskarne wrote: »

nomorepuke wrote: »

misskarne wrote: »

If you eat enough calories on your "cheat day", you can wipe out the entire week's deficit.

Why not just eat the things you love and fit them into your calorie goals?

She's on a low carb diet, she says. "Eat things you like as long as they fit in your calorie deficit" is old. So are you suggesting I can live off of cupcakes, donuts or McDonald's because that's what I love? How about your health? How can you jeopardize your overall health by eating junk just to look skinny? By all means you will lose weight by eating only 2 donuts a day.

Oh good grief, not this stupid strawman argument. I'm not saying she should eat only cupcakes or donuts or McDonalds. But if she wants, she can fit some of it into her calories. That prevents the exact scenario OP is describing where they plan to go all out on a "cheat day".

Yep, that's like saying people who are doing low carb eat nothing but sticks of butter and blobs of coconut oil.

Enough derailing and back to OP. If you want a cheat day, make sure you don't eat too many calories on that day. Track everything. It's entirely possible to diet all week then eat back every calorie you dieted in one big binge effectively regaining whatever you lost that week. If you keep your calories under control, a cheat day will not hurt you.

Do you feel your diet is so hard and restrictive that you need an outlet by the end of the week to destress? Or is this cheat day just part of an eating strategy that makes dieting overall easier for you while still being relatively pleasant throughout the week? If it's latter, have your cheat day and enjoy it, if it's the former, you may need to re-evaluate your diet and how well it fits you.

MFP's app lets you view your weekly calories, and see week by week what your calories have been.

Going over on one day may still mean you're under your calorie limit for the week.

Go to Diary > Nutrition > Calories > Week View

Probably not, unless you're taking an exam ... Cheating at what ... !?!

You might deviate from your plan, but that's having a day of relaxed eating - I hate that phrase, it implies you're doing something bad and that sort of mentality is what causes people to quit their healthier lifestyle plans ...

Will a cheat day hurt? I guess that depends on what you are doing.

Fire eating? that will probably hurt...

I use to have a cheat day every week, but I ended up eating my entire calorie deficit for the week and didn't lose for a few weeks. Now I have a day that I allow myself a few extra treats, but still log as normal (you'd be amazed how many calories/carbs you can eat mindlessly when you're on a cheat day). Once I hit x calories on a cheat day i know "ok, time to rein it in now."

I may not neccessarily have a cheat day but I definitely have a cheat meal once a week which is normally when I eat out with my OH. The rest of the day will be balanced and low calorie but during our one evening meal out a week I will have whatever I like. I don't make a pig of myself but if I'm going to be paying restaurant prices, I'm definitely ordering something I know I'm going to really enjoy. I acknowledge that I've probably blown my calories for the day in doing it and I'm going to hoard water like crazy the next day but it's only one meal a week. There are 20 other meals in the week to be good.

I cheat all weekend and work hard all week, works for me.

misskarne wrote: »

If you eat enough calories on your "cheat day", you can wipe out the entire week's deficit.

Why not just eat the things you love and fit them into your calorie goals?

The bold bit. Friday is my cheat day and I used to eat whatever I want, then come Monday I'd spend the entire week working it off.

My suggestions is a cheat meal not a cheat day. Controlled cheating if that makes sense?

Trilby16 wrote: »

I once did Atkins for quite a long time and noticed that one small cheat would not do harm, but slip off the rails for say a weekend, and 8 pounds will jump back on you overnight, like magic!

It's not 8lbs of fat but rather the higher amounts of carbs causing water retention.

Carbs are good for you. It won't hurt you to cheat every day as long as you keep your calorie intake low.

I'm not a cheat day person. I feel it takes me mentally out of the game. But I'm also not one who needs a mental break from the game. If I ate "junk" food when I was losing I made it fit and any calorie overages were very, very rare. If you must "cheat" you might want to reimagine your diet (by diet I mean eating pattern.) Either way if you do it, track it. I would really try not to go above maintenance if I were you.