Cheat Days are NOT an Option!
JohnnyLowCarb
Posts: 418 Member
Ok, my opinion. But I read on the LCHF and other boards about people who are on weight loss diets and they schedule in cheat days? Slippery slope my friends.
1. One cheat day, leads to another, hey that last cheat didnt hurt too bad, lets have another. You get the point.
2. If you are introducing cheat days into your diet, its making an excuse for not sticking to your plan. Since your reading this on the LC forum, you are most likely committed or said you were committed to a LC diet. There are thousands of tasty, sinfully delightful LCHF options out there. Why would you fool yourself that you have to have that cheat?
3. Ketosis for many is destroyed the minute you ingest too many carbs, for everyone that threshold is different. But it could take some of us 3-5 days to get the fat burning machine running as normal again. Was that cheat worth it?
4. Cheating is just that! You are purposely letting your self down, opening up the possibility of a downward spiral, or worse yet, YOU let a cheat day occur because you are in a weight stall, frustrated that something is not working.
So next time you want to schedule or incorporate an impromptu cheat day remember "your cheating on yourself, letting yourself down, dont do it". Let that temptation go - I guarantee you - You will feel better that let it pass stuck to your plan and can keep charting the course you mapped for yourself!
Success to you all!
1. One cheat day, leads to another, hey that last cheat didnt hurt too bad, lets have another. You get the point.
2. If you are introducing cheat days into your diet, its making an excuse for not sticking to your plan. Since your reading this on the LC forum, you are most likely committed or said you were committed to a LC diet. There are thousands of tasty, sinfully delightful LCHF options out there. Why would you fool yourself that you have to have that cheat?
3. Ketosis for many is destroyed the minute you ingest too many carbs, for everyone that threshold is different. But it could take some of us 3-5 days to get the fat burning machine running as normal again. Was that cheat worth it?
4. Cheating is just that! You are purposely letting your self down, opening up the possibility of a downward spiral, or worse yet, YOU let a cheat day occur because you are in a weight stall, frustrated that something is not working.
So next time you want to schedule or incorporate an impromptu cheat day remember "your cheating on yourself, letting yourself down, dont do it". Let that temptation go - I guarantee you - You will feel better that let it pass stuck to your plan and can keep charting the course you mapped for yourself!
Success to you all!
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Replies
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I've found the key to "cheat" days is to take the "cheating out of it." If I want something high carb I keep it within the perimeters I've set (special occasion, specialty food item not often found, homemade something that is rarely eaten, etc) and make the conscious decision to eat the item, understanding the consequences. Some people find it easier to call it a cheat day, though, and if they're able to keep it from turning into a cheat month than they should keep it in their lifestyle, imho. It may knock someone out of ketosis, but for this to be a lifelong thing people need to make it work for them. For me its unreasonable to suggest that I'll never eat carbs again but for 98% of the time I can keep to keto and that makes it livable. Plus, even if I'm out of ketosis, going back to eating keto right away keeps me from having too many issues.16
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LowCarb4Me2016 wrote: »I've found the key to "cheat" days is to take the "cheating out of it." If I want something high carb I keep it within the perimeters I've set (special occasion, specialty food item not often found, homemade something that is rarely eaten, etc) and make the conscious decision to eat the item, understanding the consequences.
This is my approach too. I don't call it a cheat day, but I will eat differently from my usual plan on occasion (when losing weight that meant going over calories, for example, since I was not specifically focusing on carbs then).
I don't think eating off plan one day leads to anything the next unless you let it, and although I have not decided if I want to be in keto longterm, if I did I'd still eat pie on Thanksgiving, for example, and mashed potatoes too, and just get back into keto after.5 -
I tend to agree with @LowCarb4Me2016 on this. I can have something high-carb now and then if I really want to, and I know and understand that it's a choice and there can be consequences.
Maybe it's semantics but I don't call it a cheat. I call it a treat. And I deserve treats like sushi now and then. Otherwise life loses an awful lot of its lustre, IMHO.
This does not happen often for me, at all. But this month I met a friend for sushi, and I enjoyed the heck out of it. Last month I had some savoury pastry appetisers at easter. In march I had a sandwich (which wasn't worth it, but I learned I don't like sandwiches as much as I used to, hehe!)
I guess I'm averaging one treat per month, lately.
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Whole30's flowchart is pretty good: https://whole30.com/downloads/off-roading.pdf8
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Whole30's flowchart is pretty good: https://whole30.com/downloads/off-roading.pdf
I love the flow chart!3 -
Aside from a bit dramatic a presentation...(and it's great it works for you OP) cheat meals/days can serve several purposes for the keto/lchf eater. Often called 'refeeds' they can provide fuel for intense workout sessions/endurance events whether part of a carb cycling diet or not. For some they actually help bust through weight loss plateaus (myself included) after stalling. They can counter food boredom or allow for one to accommodate events such as birthdays / xmas a bit easier and really for some life is just too short and to deny oneself food choices on occasion that provide enjoyment in the case where they can get right back on track I see no harm (again myself included).
I recognize that for some it can be a slippery slope and for those I'd stay away but its' not as such for all of us.7 -
Aside from a bit dramatic a presentation...(and it's great it works for you OP) cheat meals/days can serve several purposes for the keto/lchf eater. Often called 'refeeds' they can provide fuel for intense workout sessions/endurance events whether part of a carb cycling diet or not. For some they actually help bust through weight loss plateaus (myself included) after stalling. They can counter food boredom or allow for one to accommodate events such as birthdays / xmas a bit easier and really for some life is just too short and to deny oneself food choices on occasion that provide enjoyment in the case where they can get right back on track I see no harm (again myself included).
I recognize that for some it can be a slippery slope and for those I'd stay away but its' not as such for all of us.
Dramatic? Well read some of the "Cheat" posts out there and come back. Great for you that you can get away with them, but I find the majority of those trying to lose weight use "cheats" and then are stunned to find there not losing and give up.3 -
I mean it depends on what your goals are. If I want cake I'm having it. Yes it's worth the 3-5 days if that's how long it takes to get back to fat burning. Its a blip in the grand scheme of my eating. My goal for eating is to be satisfied without feeling super hungry and maintain portion control, in short. It took a long time to get there and this feels like a way I can stick with. ETA I agree with steph, happens maybe once a month 5
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I have not had a cheat since the day I started.
I have had low carb desserts for special occasions and that's how I view they are intended to be eaten.
I am one that just cannot start bargaining to allow certain things back in my life because I will just continue to bargain until I'm right back to eating like I once did.
That is NOT happening and I won't allow the first step to be made in that direction.14 -
When I was in weight loss mode, I did have special treats on some days but they were usually still within the low carb range. E.g. for Thanksgiving, Christmas or my birthday, I might eat as much as maintenance level but total carbs were still under 100 gm for the day.
Now I'm at maintenance long-term and experimenting with what carb level I want to stick to long term. Will be somewhere under 150; may or may not be keto. I'm experimenting with how the different carb levels affect me. If I have treats I plan them out and am intentional about it and make sure to still log everything.4 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »I have not had a cheat since the day I started.
I have had low carb desserts for special occasions and that's how I view they are intended to be eaten.
I am one that just cannot start bargaining to allow certain things back in my life because I will just continue to bargain until I'm right back to eating like I once did.
That is NOT happening and I won't allow the first step to be made in that direction.
Me neither. And the only desserts I have had, have been home-made yoghurt with LSPA* with goji berries....maybe the occasional blueberry too...
(LSPA = Ground Linseed, Sunflower seed, Pumpkin seed and Almond - to make your own, equal quantities of each BY VOLUME.)2 -
All the foods I eat now are what those in the LF world would call cheats. Tonight, I am cooking pork shoulder steak and lamb loin chops in ghee. I may top one or both with blue cheese. With food like this and the bacon wrapped pork rind "breaded" chicken legs I had at lunch, why would I want to eat crappy carbage? This kind of eating is as close to heaven as I could get this side of death.10
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Today, was Volunteer day. Our Company has teamed up with a local charity and all employees can take 3 days a year to go and work with or in the charity to 'do our bit for the community'.
So, I ate out today, so it is impossible to calculate exactly what the macros were, as I couldn't weigh my foods, and I hate guesswork - but I stuck to no carbs, eating an iceberg lettuce salad box with tandoori chicken breast, two slivers of Brie, a serving of grated cheddar and one of coleslaw. it was a sandwich bar that evidently made all its own foods, so there were no hidden nasty additives, although I have to say the tandoori did taste a little sweet....
The other guys there (from another company) had lunch delivered from their work-place and I sat and watched them wade their way through white-bread sandwiches, potato crisps (chips) sausage rolls, mini quiches and tortilla chips, followed by large, cream-and-jam-filled doughnuts.
I didn't envy them one little bit, nor did I have a hankering for anything they ate.
Which I must confess, actually surprised me....10 -
I know myself & I know I have to stick to strict guidelines or I will feel sick & be off the rails in no time. One off day & my addiction takes over & that's that! So it never occurs to me to make room for special occasion sweets or breads, I am fine doing without. I might feel nostalgia for old favorite treats, but I don't miss the old me AT ALL.6
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cstehansen wrote: »All the foods I eat now are what those in the LF world would call cheats. Tonight, I am cooking pork shoulder steak and lamb loin chops in ghee. I may top one or both with blue cheese. With food like this and the bacon wrapped pork rind "breaded" chicken legs I had at lunch, why would I want to eat crappy carbage? This kind of eating is as close to heaven as I could get this side of death.
Awesome
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »I have not had a cheat since the day I started.
I have had low carb desserts for special occasions and that's how I view they are intended to be eaten.
I am one that just cannot start bargaining to allow certain things back in my life because I will just continue to bargain until I'm right back to eating like I once did.
That is NOT happening and I won't allow the first step to be made in that direction.
Everyone on the LC and weight loss journey needs to read this5 -
The Carb Day thread has a great testimonial from a recently-converted "never-againer."
I'm so obsessed with keeping my vision, body parts, and sanity that the thought of eating one bite of IHOP pancakes is no more appealing than gargling with battery acid while having a Drano enema.
YMMV, of course.7 -
I had one planned cheat meal back in March. It was planned for weeks and I was really looking forward to it. My best friend came down to watch Beauty and the Beast with me. It was our childhood tradition to have popcorn with candy mixed through ... the popcorn was underwhelming and the gastrointestinal distress it caused for 48 hours was HORRIBLE! Never again! NEVER! AGAIN!
So not worth it!5 -
I had one planned cheat meal back in March. It was planned for weeks and I was really looking forward to it. My best friend came down to watch Beauty and the Beast with me. It was our childhood tradition to have popcorn with candy mixed through ... the popcorn was underwhelming and the gastrointestinal distress it caused for 48 hours was HORRIBLE! Never again! NEVER! AGAIN!
So not worth it!
How bad was it?
@midwesterner85, any insights to add?0 -
I had one planned cheat meal back in March. It was planned for weeks and I was really looking forward to it. My best friend came down to watch Beauty and the Beast with me. It was our childhood tradition to have popcorn with candy mixed through ... the popcorn was underwhelming and the gastrointestinal distress it caused for 48 hours was HORRIBLE! Never again! NEVER! AGAIN!
So not worth it!
How bad was it?
@midwesterner85, any insights to add?
Mine wasn't a cheat meal, it was a cheat weekend (Fri. - Sun.). I figured I would have all the foods that I normally miss. The first day was donuts for breakfast, Chinese buffet for lunch, snacking on candy throughout the day, and then a pizza for dinner.
I'm a type 1 diabetic... While I was awake, I was able to keep an eye on BG's, but pizza causes a 2nd wave of glucose hours later, which happened while I was asleep. Woke up with BG of nearly 500, not feeling very energetic, and calf cramps. Continued the 2nd and 3rd day, but didn't eat nearly as much as planned because feeling poorly hurt my appetite. The calf cramps were a symptom of electrolytes getting dumped from muscles back into blood. Severe calf cramps continued and there were times over the next several days that I couldn't even stand, much less walk or run (I'm normally a runner and this put a cog in my training plan as well).
I went back to eating low carb on Mon. after gaining 21 lb. compared with the prior Sun. (1 week gain). Most of that was water weight, of course, but about 6-7 lbs. of fat.
By Wed., I realized that most of the potassium lost from muscles back to blood had been filtered out and I needed to start supplementing potassium in order to have it in blood to be able to re-absorb it into muscle cells. It took several days of high-level potassium supplements to be able to walk and then do some running without serious pain and crippling muscle fatigue even with short distances.
The worst part is that I felt so bad and didn't have my normal appetite on Sat. - Sun. that I still didn't get to eat all the high carb foods I planned to eat and always miss.3 -
@midwesterner85, I'm not planning to try this, but I am awfully curious what would happen if I did.
How did you pinpoint potassium as what you needed to supplement?0 -
@midwesterner85, I'm not planning to try this, but I am awfully curious what would happen if I did.
How did you pinpoint potassium as what you needed to supplement?
Based on symptoms (muscle cramps) and I know that I had really high BG's. I know high BG's causes cells to dump potassium back to the blood.
What I didn't know was whether potassium was filtered from blood yet or was ready to go back to cells. After a couple days of returning to normal BG's, symptoms didn't improve... that told me cells were not re-absorbing potassium. The obvious reason is because it wasn't still in blood to be absorbed. It had already been filtered out.
I literally pissed away all my precious electrolytes.
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JohnnyLowCarb wrote: »
Dramatic? Well read some of the "Cheat" posts out there and come back. Great for you that you can get away with them, but I find the majority of those trying to lose weight use "cheats" and then are stunned to find there not losing and give up.
There was a little drama to the op yes As I said, happy you found an approach that works for you, but cheat days can and do work for some...just wanting to rep that side of the fence. No offence meant. Everyone has to find their own way but I've found this site at times to be a bit discriminatory towards those that don't keto as WOE but just as a diet so while i"m way past getting offended by it, but I do occasionally like to stand up for the diet side. 8 -
JohnnyLowCarb wrote: »
Dramatic? Well read some of the "Cheat" posts out there and come back. Great for you that you can get away with them, but I find the majority of those trying to lose weight use "cheats" and then are stunned to find there not losing and give up.
There was a little drama to the op yes As I said, happy you found an approach that works for you, but cheat days can and do work for some...just wanting to rep that side of the fence. No offence meant. Everyone has to find their own way but I've found this site at times to be a bit discriminatory towards those that don't keto as WOE but just as a diet so while i"m way past getting offended by it, but I do occasionally like to stand up for the diet side.
I can see that. Most won't have quite as dramatic BG issues as I do, so my experience doesn't apply to the majority of keto dieters that don't have diabetes. Doing a high carb cheat day still kicks someone out of ketosis and there is still some recovery, but not as much as what I had to endure.
If it helps someone mentally to do a cheat meal/day/weekend on special occasion, then I can understand it. TBH, I started to crave the foods I don't normally allow as soon as my cheat weekend was over. I dieted with basic CICO for years before starting low carb. I've had cheat days throughout the entire time of dieting - both with basic CICO and with low carb and then recently with keto carb levels. In the beginning, those cheat days were more frequent and were the only way I could endure mentally. Now they are less and less frequent. After that last experience, they may be almost never. But for me, this has become a WOE. If I ever change back to eating carbs (that is a big if for me), then it will have to be a very slow and gradual increase in carb intake over several weeks or months. No more suddenly going from 10g/day to 1,000g of carbs in a day.2 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »
If I ever change back to eating carbs (that is a big if for me), then it will have to be a very slow and gradual increase in carb intake over several weeks or months. No more suddenly going from 10g/day to 1,000g of carbs in a day.
I find that the best way to cycle off and that's my approach when i do.
I also find 'cheat' days way less impacting when i'm lc/keto....i can bounce back quickly because I flush out the excess water and start to feel good again fast. When I'm CICO a cheat day seems to be more impacting....and easier to justify lol3 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »I have not had a cheat since the day I started.
I have had low carb desserts for special occasions and that's how I view they are intended to be eaten.
I am one that just cannot start bargaining to allow certain things back in my life because I will just continue to bargain until I'm right back to eating like I once did.
That is NOT happening and I won't allow the first step to be made in that direction.
I've learned this about myself this year.
I was doing really well and at my goal weight, so I allowed myself to eat pizza and drink beer "only the day before a half marathon or marathon"
This quickly became every Friday (which, most Saturdays I am running a half marathon or marathon, but not EVERY week).
That quickly escalated into, "This is working well, I can just eat carbs when I'm on the road"
I travel for work more than 50% of the time.
I've gained 20 lbs because of this slide, and now I've come to realize that I can't allow myself to do that again. No cheating.8 -
I don't have cheat days. I have occasions where I eat something that might go over my normal carb intake. For example birthday lasagna and cake. Homemade ice cream at a family reunion. A little scoop of potatoes at a holiday dinner. I should specify that I am not diabetic and from my prior labs I did not seem to be pre-diabetic or having signs of metabolic syndrome. I am keto because it helps keep my rheumatoid arthritis under control and it keeps my appetite in check. Sometimes these high carb meals never kick me out of ketosis at all. All other times I've been peeing out ketones by the next day so I think I'm fat adapted enough that these minor indulgences don't do much. I usually don't have cravings after and have no trouble hopping right back to my normal diet.
Another thing I wanted to point out is that I'm celiac so when I eat carbs they are still gluten free carbs. A lot of the distress people seem to get after a cheat sounds a lot like what happens to me when I get glutened. It makes me wonder if it's 100% carbs that is causing the GI issues or if maybe a few people on here are intolerant to wheat or gluten or something else that they don't normal eat on LC. Just a thought. It could very well be all carb related, especially in the diabetics.7 -
I think that if you are at a wedding, it is OK to have a sliver of the wedding cake. A tiny sliver. And I from time to time (not often) I will have a few more carbs, although I ordinarily try to keep them under 15 or 20, the last time is when I had a couple slices of home made bread, did not even throw me out of ketosis. I'm doing every other day fasting so even though I eat at maintenance on my feed day, it is still low carb.
And then I did what everyone is talking bout, the slippery slope, I just slid down it and ate 4 slices of pizza. Day before yesterday.
Sick does not begin to describe how I felt the next day. Nausea. Headache.
I guess I should be grateful that it was so,so, so bad, because I'm not going anywhere near the edge of that slope again.2 -
Soooooo... the app crashed on me after typing out a bunch of thoughts and now I'm grumpy about it and don't want to retype everything. Couldn't possibly get it the same anyway... lol
Just imagine I said some insightful stuff in support of both those that are able to incorporate a cheat without thwarting their goals and for those that can't go there for even a second.
But ultimately, I wanted to share this article about a Ketogains member who is also one that feels strongly against cheating because of an unhealthy food relationship.
He's a major success story and inspiration.
'It is not willpower that drives me but the lack of willpower,' he explained. 'I have no self-control and moderation does not exist for me.'
http://dailym.ai/2qxJCM310 -
@Sunny_Bunny_ The article and Ketogenic.com site were very inspirational! Great stuff, sorry to hear your app crashed, I am sure you had more insightful comments - as you always do 2
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