Do you allow yourself a cheat day?

Can you work the Snickers bar into your calories for the day? If not today, plan it in to another day's calories. You can eat what you want within your calories and still lose weight. Treats like that aren't always filling and they are calorie dense, so it's hard to fit it in every day, but if you want a Snickers, there's no reason you can't have one if it's within your goals.

I think what works for one person may not work for another. I have an open day once a week but I eat very low through the week to get that day. It works for me, but some might continue eating. I am losing 2 pounds a week doing it this way...but that might just be me. It took me 2 years on here to figure out what works best for me.

I'm not a big fan of cheat days or the on/off "cheat"/"treat" or "behave/misbehave" mentality. I could see where it can be beneficial from time to time to indulge in a favorite, but I argue from a sustainability standpoint you need to find the personalized definition of a way of eating that you can live with long-term. As others said, there's nothing wrong with incorporating foods you enjoy within the confines of the calorie level requisite to your goals and minimum nutrient requirements.

I echo what others said about making it fit. Don't forget, the number MFP gave you already has a deficit so if you go a little over you're eating into your deficit not going over your TDEE. At 2lbs a week you have a 1000cal deficit which obviously you don't want to use up but if you go a little over it won't exactly ruin weight loss efforts. Try to keep that in mind as you go.

steveko89 wrote: »

RoxieDawn wrote: »

The thing with stopping eating all the foods you love you will miss them like a long lost friend, but you don't have to! Start working your calories so that you fit a snickers into your day!

For Snickers, get a bag of the fun-sized bars (80 cal/piece). You can easily fit 1-2/day into your daily calories to get your fix. Just don't eat the whole bag

The size snickers that might satisfy me and another person might be different.

Fitting in a candy bar or that 'one' tasty treat we need to make our day complete will of course will come down to individual preference, pre-logging first thing in my day is what I would do!!!

I don't like to cheat myself. I used to frequently grab a snickers bar at the checkout lane, but now they no longer taste good or satisfying.
But you won't gain back 2 lbs from one candy bar.

Define cheat day.

1 snickers bar is not a cheat day. I can fit that in as dessert on a normal day.

I did a cheat meal once (even thought I reigned it in slightly). Felt guilty, tried to log it, and realized it was like 3000 calories between the appetizer, meal, dessert, and drinks. My weekly deficit is around 3500 calories, so I undid the whole week in one meal. It is amazing to me how quickly calories can add up.
Now I try to do cheat “items” like several drinks, a dessert, a more decadent meal — and I plan for them beforehand and “bank” calories. I still do run into the occasional need for a large calorie expenditure and plan for it. For instance, tomorrow a neighborhood chef is cooking a meal with three courses and dessert. I ran 5 miles yesterday and ate none back, ate 500 calories under today and didn’t eat back my 300 workout calories, and will workout tomorrow and eat nothing until the meal. So I can eat about 3000 calories at the meal and it will be ok. I find that helps.