Cheat meal vs. Cheat day?

I have some issues (eating) If I decide I'm just going to have a "cheat Meal," I always end up binging the whole day/night. For me the best thing is to not cheat at all.

not quite sure I get the logic behind cheat days - I have some days when I eat more nutritiously than others and some days that are higher calories than others - life does vary, after all

But i dont consider any of it cheating and I do make sure my weekly calories are still around the target.

The main thing is to make sure your cheat meals/days, whatever that means to you, don't take your weekly calories over target - if they do, you will not lose (or maintain if that is your aim)

joemac1988 wrote: »

Ataliaron wrote: »

I've been cutting for 4 weeks now and still have 6 weeks left. I've had just 1 cheat meal since I started but I've been noticing alot of fitness people on youtube/instagram who are opting for cheat days instead of cheat meals. They allow themselves one entire day with no calorie or macro restrictions. Some do this once a week, others once a month, and some stay away from cheat days because they say it can completely offset your nutrition balance/program and is just not healthy.
I've only ever done cheat meals (usually 1 per 10-20 days) but I'm contemplating trying a cheat day.
Is it worth doing an entire cheat day or is it better to stick with just 1 meal at a time?

Replace "cheat" with "refeed". It serves a purpose; to trick your body into thinking calories are readily available. I think it depends on how big a deficit you're in. The worry is your total deficit for 6 days could be wiped out if your refeed surplus is greater.

Unless you're smart about it and calculate your refeed day in to your calories for the week. I have a "high" day with more carbs/cals that gives me the opportunity to enjoy a whole lot of "fun" food, give me a refeed, but still eat to suit my goals. I have "low" days during the week to compensate.

joemac1988 wrote: »

Ataliaron wrote: »

I've been cutting for 4 weeks now and still have 6 weeks left. I've had just 1 cheat meal since I started but I've been noticing alot of fitness people on youtube/instagram who are opting for cheat days instead of cheat meals. They allow themselves one entire day with no calorie or macro restrictions. Some do this once a week, others once a month, and some stay away from cheat days because they say it can completely offset your nutrition balance/program and is just not healthy.
I've only ever done cheat meals (usually 1 per 10-20 days) but I'm contemplating trying a cheat day.
Is it worth doing an entire cheat day or is it better to stick with just 1 meal at a time?

Replace "cheat" with "refeed". It serves a purpose; to trick your body into thinking calories are readily available. I think it depends on how big a deficit you're in. The worry is your total deficit for 6 days could be wiped out if your refeed surplus is greater.

Also refeeds should be high in carbs but lower in fat, no regard for macros isn't exactly the same thing but I agree, would still serve a purpose haha

I don't cheat. I have a manogomous relationship with my nutritional plan. I am in it for the long haul. I vowed to not cheat on her and I have and will keep my word. I couldn't tell you when the last time was that I had any type of junk food, went over on calories, or had any carb that wasn't a complex carb. 100% adherence to my nutritional plan has allowed me amazing results. That alone is more motivation and happiness that I ever got by having junk food. I weigh my long term goals and motivation vs the 5 minutes of cheap happiness that comes from junk food or a meal that doesn't match my goals... there isn't a comparison for me so I neither want nor feel any need to go off of my nutritional plan. I have dropped 30lbs in two months and am packing on muscle at the same time. IMHO going off plan just isn't worth the short burst of endorphins from doing so... but that's just me

I am not a fan of "cheat" anything. Although I have used them in the past, it seems that it's not a good way to view eating and dieting. I prefer to just eat, stick to what you need to be doing and if you set yourself up for a long term sustainable way of eating you can indulge guilt free on occasion. To me it's a much healthier mindset than obsessing with cheat meals/days.

For example, tomorrow is my higher cal/carb day because it is leg day. So I know I'm going to be burning a lot more cals then on a typical day, so I plan to have a lot more calories and carbs. This allows me to eat a lot of carbs (so called "treats") that I normally don't eat during the week and also give me flexibility for eating out for dinner etc. My macros weekday macros are: 200p | 120f | 50c while my Saturday macros are: 170p | 50f | 400c.

I think the definition of "cheat" depends really- does it refer to the nutrition/macros of the food, or those on restrictive diets (Whole30, etc), or going over allotted calories (CICO peeps)? And if you are going over calories, how much is okay? 500? 1000?

Every so often I have days I eat at maintenance (+500 from my MFP calories) when I am sick or its a special occasion or something. But this isn't a regular thing.

Every week or so I get Taco Bell for dinner and binge-watch TV after work, but I account for it in my calories. Some may consider fast food "cheating" but for others (like me), that is just part of CICO management.

I know Dwayne Johnson loves to IG about his cheat days- those look insane to me as a regular old person (also the amount he has to consume on a regular day seems crazy to me but he IS the Rock).

If you find something that works for you and you are happy with your progress and results, keep doing it. It won't be the same for everyone.

I can scarf down my maintenance calories in a single meal without breaking a sweat. A whole cheat day would set me back months lol.

Cheat days tend to turn into cheat week(s), it's much better to have one high calorie meal then eat "clean" the rest of the day.