Cheat days

m287668
m287668 Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been tracking my meals on MFP for about 4 weeks. I started and tracked for one week, then took a week off while I was on vacation and then got back on track when I returned.

For the past 3 weeks, I've been very diligent, tracking every day and staying within my calorie limits and I'm seeing success; however, yesterday, it all blew up. I was sick with a cold and feeling lousy and somehow eating made me feel better. By noon I reached my calorie max for the day and I just gave up. I decided to proceed with satisfying all the cravings that I'd been suppressing for the past 3 weeks. I probably ate double my calorie allotment for the day.

Despite feeling lousy I went for a bike ride to try to make up for the increased calories (which actually made me feel better) but I know I still went over - even with the exercise. Today, I'm back on track and feeling committed.

So...long winded rant to get to my question....do you incorporate cheat days into you diet?

I feel like my deviation yesterday satisfied me for a while and that now I can go another 2-3 weeks of staying on track but I also fear opening up that door to falling off my plan.

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Nope. If I want something, I fit it into my weekly goal.

    Rather than anticipating that you’ll fall off track again, take a look at why it happened. Was it because you were sick, or are you restricting too much from your diet?
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited March 2018
    I eat at or above maintenance at least once a week. I continue to track and log on those days, and average my deficit out over the weeks and month. There’s some science behind the idea that regular “refeeds” are good for your mental and physical health while cutting calories. It’s also pretty common to be more hungry during illness - your body is probably burning a lot of calories fighting that cold/flu/whatever! I’d encourage you to try not to think of it as failing or giving up when things don’t go as planned! That’s the kind of attitude that leads to giving up for good. If there are treats you are struggling to fit into your diet, pick a day a week or month or whatever when you plan to eat that food/meal/mint chip white chocolate mocha. Be creative with it and make it an event! I always get a sausage biscuit when I donate blood, for example (every eight weeks), and Sunday is pizza and a movie night with my spouse. You can do this!
  • yvonne_beavis
    yvonne_beavis Posts: 39 Member
    It's just a blip. Pick yourself up and carry on. I do have cheat days when I deliberately eat something I wouldn't normally eat, but on the whole I find it is better to incorporate the things you like into your daily 'calorie budget', especially if you have exercise calories to spend.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited March 2018
    First of all, it depends on what you mean by cheat. Some people use the term to reference foods they don't otherwise eat. Others use it relative to calorie goals (cheating = going over goal).

    Personally? No I don't. For 2 reasons. First, it's way too easy (for me) to let 1 cheat meal turn into 1 cheat day which turns into 1 cheat week. Second, basic math. If I have a 500 calorie deficit every day for 6 days, that puts me at a deficit of 3000 cals. Then my cheat meal/day happens and I'm suddenly over for the day by 2500 cals. That basically wipes out all the "good" I did up to that point. It's just not worth it for me.

    Instead, I try to allow myself to eat up to maintenance (so over my goal for weight loss, but not enough to gain weight) on occasions. It could be for a number of reasons, but that's how I give myself some leeway and stay sane over the long haul.
  • m287668
    m287668 Posts: 13 Member
    I really like the idea of eating at "maintenance" and I haven't researched it but my intuition tells me that it is a good thing as you say...both mentally and physically. I do think I fell off track mainly because I was sick (somehow eating crunchy food made my head congestion feel better - or at least took my mind off it). I'm still fighting a bit of a cold but feeling committed to my diet today.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    no, i look at my weekly goal, and fit whatever i want to eat into that.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    m287668 wrote: »
    I really like the idea of eating at "maintenance" and I haven't researched it but my intuition tells me that it is a good thing as you say...both mentally and physically. I do think I fell off track mainly because I was sick (somehow eating crunchy food made my head congestion feel better - or at least took my mind off it). I'm still fighting a bit of a cold but feeling committed to my diet today.

    I had the flu last month and was absolutely ravenous for the first four days - it's the first time I've been sick since I started losing weight and I didn't realize my body would do that. It made a big dent in my progress for February, but considering that I'm primarily losing weight to improve my health, I figured that listening to my body while sick was consistent with that overall goal.

    Even aside from illness though, I personally find regular maintenance days extremely useful. If nothing else, learning that you *can* eat more and not gain a million pounds is pretty awesome, and it makes it easier to deal with emergencies (like being sick, or a friend showing up from out of town, or whatever). Obviously it slows down your rate of loss, but I genuinely find it makes dieting much easier than it otherwise would be. There's a giant thread on refeeds and diet breaks here, which are related but not quite the same thing. It's an interesting read though. My understanding is that the science isn't in yet on whether regular maintenance days have the same beneficial effect on your hormones as longer breaks, but there's definitely some interesting data out there.
  • onematch
    onematch Posts: 241 Member
    I don't incorporate cheat days, they just happen. I'm not perfect. Sometimes I want ALL the cookies. It's fine. Just get back on track the next day. As long as you are consistent 90% of the time (or even 80%) you will see success. Honestly, sometimes after I overeat is when I see a whoosh on the scale. It happened this week. I'd held steady for a week or so, had one night of girl scout cookies and wine and the scale was down more than 2 pounds the next day (and has stayed down!). Go figure!
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    I don't do cheat days -- the whole concept just makes me feel icky.

    But I do aim for a more moderate deficit, and am fairly active, so work in those highly palatable things that I like into that daily budget.

    I "allow" myself to eat at maintenance when I travel, or when I'm having a "OMG everything is awful and I can't take this" sort of day. But I try to limit that to travel or race recovery, and still track everything. And, I said to my therapist that even on those days, I'm still noticing that I mostly am not eating up to the full maintenance level.
  • goatg
    goatg Posts: 1,399 Member
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    If I have a 500 calorie deficit every day for 6 days, that puts me at a deficit of 3000 cals. Then my cheat meal/day happens and I'm suddenly over for the day by 2500 cals. That basically wipes out all the "good" I did up to that point. It's just not worth it for me.

    Instead, I try to allow myself to eat up to maintenance (so over my goal for weight loss, but not enough to gain weight) on occasions. It could be for a number of reasons, but that's how I give myself some leeway and stay sane over the long haul.

    Agreed 1000%. Especially since logging/counting is such misery for me.

    Cheat day = maintenance (body + sanity)
  • m287668
    m287668 Posts: 13 Member
    onematch wrote: »
    had one night of girl scout cookies and wine and the scale was down more than 2 pounds the next day (and has stayed down!). Go figure!

    I could live on a diet of girl scout cookies and wine!! :-)
  • m287668
    m287668 Posts: 13 Member
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    There's a giant thread on refeeds and diet breaks here,

    Wow, there is a lot of info there! Bookmarked it for when I have time to read and watch the video. Thanks!
  • Fitnessmom82
    Fitnessmom82 Posts: 376 Member
    I have one meal a week that I normally would not have (something that causes a binge ect...). In order for me to be successful at my weight loss I have to limit some things. Pizza, sweets and fast foods are slippery slopes for me. Having one meal like that a week is usually enough to keep me happy! I try to fit it in to my calories for the day. But if I go over a little, so be it!
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,070 Member
    I incorporate all the foods into my diet. I do not incorporate cheat days, but even I'll admit they can happen on occasion. One day won't destroy months of work - now if you do that every week, sure it can undo all your work, but once every month or two, while it may slow things a bit, also won't destroy the work you've put in.

    I actually decided to not count calories during my scheduled deload week - it's a week to have some shorter workouts, sleep in a bit, and not freak about everything I put in my mouth. Doesn't mean I'm going nuts, as I still have a pretty good idea of what is "normal" now, but I'm not tracking all of it to give myself a break (I find tracking a pain) - but next week, I'm back to my regular routine in the gym and in the kitchen!

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