Cheat days

pandabearretherford
pandabearretherford Posts: 28 Member
edited November 21 in Health and Weight Loss
Is it good to have cheat says maybe 1 a week as long as you don't do over board

Replies

  • Unknown
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  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    Personally, I found that cheat days would completely derail all the progress I made during the other days of the week. So it ended up becoming a vicious cycle of restricting and bingeing, not healthy at all.

    Now I prefer to work treats into my daily calorie goal. If I want a chocolate bar, I will have one and log it. Then I will eat less during my other meals to compensate, or exercise longer. I think this is a healthier approach.

    Taking a break from your calorie deficit to eat at your maintenance level is an option too. Log it just like any other day, but allow yourself to eat up to your TDEE. But if you do it too often, you'll definitely slow down your progress.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    What are you "cheating" on? A healthy lifestyle?
    Just incorporate the food that you like into your daily calorie intake, and give yourself some leeway for special occasions. You are only going to be successful long term if you don't deprive yourself to the point where you feel like you have to "cheat". Remember that you have to sustain this for the rest of your life.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,683 Member
    I opted to stick to my diet for 16 weeks straight ... never going over my calories.

    Happily, I exercise. So I had/have lots of exercise calories to use. It was only the rare day where I felt a bit like I was missing out.
  • dani_1977
    dani_1977 Posts: 557 Member
    From my experience 1 whole cheat day is hard to come back from. The next you feel like crap, so its usually hard to make good decisions when you are bloated and sluggish. I Usually plan one meal or item a week, If I really really crave it. If not then I try not to, I try not to reward myself with food to often. Also, you could do as the poster above says and find a way to have a small piece of something every day. If chocolate is your thing, then find a way to incorporate into your "day" like yogurt with chocolate. Of if pizza is what you want, try to find a healthier version of the pizza
  • pandabearretherford
    pandabearretherford Posts: 28 Member
    Well what I mean is I will still log my calories but not try and watch what I eat or should I say worry about what I eat..... but still try and stay with in my calories. I haven't done it yet so want everyone's insight
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    edited August 2017
    pandabearretherford wrote: »
    Well what I mean is I will still log my calories but not try and watch what I eat or should I say worry about what I eat..... but still try and stay with in my calories. I haven't done it yet so want everyone's insight

    So you want to stay at your calorie deficit and log your calories?

    That's not a cheat day, that's just a normal day. I think you'll find that most of us eat whatever we like as long as it fits into our goal.
  • emcclure013
    emcclure013 Posts: 231 Member
    I usually don't do an entire cheat day - I'll have a "cheat" meal from time to time though and I don't feel like it has hindered me. The important thing is to get back on track afterwards. I drink lots of water afterwards and log the meal and own up to it. I'm usually under my calories by a bit every day, so that gives me a little leeway to eat something that's more of a "splurge" later on.
  • 2DUNNY
    2DUNNY Posts: 101 Member
    i eat LCHF for 9 days, then anything i want for the 10th day. do whatever works for you. i have lost 39 lbs. so far. :flowerforyou:
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    pandabearretherford wrote: »
    Well what I mean is I will still log my calories but not try and watch what I eat or should I say worry about what I eat..... but still try and stay with in my calories. I haven't done it yet so want everyone's insight

    If you are staying within your calories then there is no "cheat". If the goal is simply weight loss, then all that matters is calories, not what specific foods you eat.

    By the way, if you did want one day a week that you could go over your calories, consider "banking" some for that day. Eat a little under your goal on the other days, and make them up on another day. As long as you hit your target for the week, the daily totals are less important.
  • 2DUNNY
    2DUNNY Posts: 101 Member
    pandabearretherford wrote: »
    Well what I mean is I will still log my calories but not try and watch what I eat or should I say worry about what I eat..... but still try and stay with in my calories. I haven't done it yet so want everyone's insight

    on my 10th day, i eat anything and everything i want and i do not log at all. today i am having donuts for breakfast and it's husband's birthday, so chocolate cake with ice cream tonight. i also bought chips & bean dip. i do not log on my carb load "cheat" day.
  • missevil
    missevil Posts: 113 Member
    For me, a "cheat day" contains not necessarily crappy food, but a lot of calories. I have a very small budget (~1100/day) which I try to meet in my normal days. But it definitely doesn't allow any "luxurious" food or only in very small amounts or sweets as a replacement for a real meal.
    So on my cheat days, I meet with friends and we go out for a brunch buffet or a nice dinner. This is totally killing my budget, but I need it because I love food and without these days, I could never have a decent amount of yummy food. Yes, it sets me back a few days, but I need roughly one year anyway, so what are those few extra days, compared to one day of food happiness every 4-8 weeks.
    Don't get me wrong, I like what I eat on a normal day and I'm totally ok, but it's simply a very tight budget and without eating all the yummy things in homöopathic doses (and I really don't want to eat only 1/8 of a Pizza - that's torture!) I need those days off.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    pandabearretherford wrote: »
    Well what I mean is I will still log my calories but not try and watch what I eat or should I say worry about what I eat..... but still try and stay with in my calories. I haven't done it yet so want everyone's insight

    I don't consider any day I stay withing my calories a cheat. From this post it sounds more like you mean cheating from a healthy diet, not your calories?

    I am a firm believer that its not what you eat, its how much. Calories for weight loss, food types for health.

    As long as you are logging as accurately as you can while "cheating" you should still see results you expect from your calculations. If you are not logging then you can't know what to expect, so I usually advise against it.
  • 2DUNNY
    2DUNNY Posts: 101 Member
    missevil wrote: »
    For me, a "cheat day" contains not necessarily crappy food, but a lot of calories. I have a very small budget (~1100/day) which I try to meet in my normal days. But it definitely doesn't allow any "luxurious" food or only in very small amounts or sweets as a replacement for a real meal.
    So on my cheat days, I meet with friends and we go out for a brunch buffet or a nice dinner. This is totally killing my budget, but I need it because I love food and without these days, I could never have a decent amount of yummy food. Yes, it sets me back a few days, but I need roughly one year anyway, so what are those few extra days, compared to one day of food happiness every 4-8 weeks.
    Don't get me wrong, I like what I eat on a normal day and I'm totally ok, but it's simply a very tight budget and without eating all the yummy things in homöopathic doses (and I really don't want to eat only 1/8 of a Pizza - that's torture!) I need those days off.

    i agree with this. also, after my 10th day carb load, i will gain (example) 4 lbs. but then over the next 9 days, i will lose 6. happens every time and i love seeing that downward line!!!
  • jhildebrandt73
    jhildebrandt73 Posts: 290 Member
    Stay within your calorie goal. If you "cheat", be honest and log it. Eventually, I found, that by cheating, I took up valuable calories where I could have eaten something good for my body and been more satisfied. The best thing you can do is improve your relationship with food. If you were in an abusive relationship, you would leave it. But the bad food we eat is doing damage and we stay with it. Because we feel like we can't live without it. But we can!!
  • DebLaBounty
    DebLaBounty Posts: 1,169 Member
    I actually plan to have tasty foods every day. I do pay attention to what I'm eating but I build in a dessert or treat every day within my calorie goal. I find that when I don't watch what I eat (usually this happens at a restaurant, I'm looking at you fish and chips! and margarita!), my loss slows way down. What works for me is running an extra mile or walking an extra 30 minutes or something the next day, and drinking lots of water, to get back on track. I'm glad to hear you will log whatever you do, it's really a great way to keep track of what works and what doesn't.
  • pandabearretherford
    pandabearretherford Posts: 28 Member
    All of this helps it really does I'm 5 11 tall and 288 lbs and I really want to get to be healthy for me but also for my kids and husband but mostly for me because I hate looking at myself but I'm use to going to all you can eat and never really think about what it dose to you and my kids are getting use to the same as I did so trying to change things while they are still young and my husband and I want to be there for my kids so it all helps and thank you
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    I think the main things to keep in mind is that it's important to keep the long game in mind. Traditional diets fail because people push themselves so hard to lose weight as quickly as possible but can't or don't even try to keep it up once they reach their goal. We're trying to make real, long-term change in our lives, so if that means having days where you don't worry about what you're eating, where you eat at or over your maintenance calories, then you should go for it. So long as you average out to a deficit over time, you will lose weight. I think it sounds like you've got your head on straight and will be fine. Keep logging, enjoy your life, and don't let yourself get hung up on trying to be perfect.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    I think the main things to keep in mind is that it's important to keep the long game in mind. Traditional diets fail because people push themselves so hard to lose weight as quickly as possible but can't or don't even try to keep it up once they reach their goal. We're trying to make real, long-term change in our lives, so if that means having days where you don't worry about what you're eating, where you eat at or over your maintenance calories, then you should go for it. So long as you average out to a deficit over time, you will lose weight. I think it sounds like you've got your head on straight and will be fine. Keep logging, enjoy your life, and don't let yourself get hung up on trying to be perfect.

    I agree with this.

    I tend to sort of follow the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time I try to eat nice balanced meals, get in my fruits and veggies yadda yadda. But if it's my birthday, you bet I am going to enjoy that piece of cake!

    Life is all about balance, try to be healthy as much as you can but its ok to still enjoy the not so healthy things sometimes :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    When I was losing weight, I usually ate maintenance on the weekends...this allowed me some indulgences that I didn't really partake in during the week...things like pizza and movie night or going to get my pub grub fix, or going to friends' house for a pool side BBQ, etc..

    I never really considered this "cheating"...I wanted to lose weight and I wanted to have an overall improved diet...but I also want to live my life and have some fun, etc...it's all about balance, not trying to have some perfect diet or whatever...

    I eat very well during the week...and I eat pretty well on weekends as well, but weekends are definitely when I have more indulgences whether I'm losing or maintaining...
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