Cheat days?
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I don’t have cheat days or cheat meals per se - but both when I was losing and now in maintenance I would work in foods that I enjoy as often as I possibly could. For some things it’s easy to fit in a little chocolate or a serving of gelato on a daily basis. For others I would need to eat then less often, weekly or monthly, but I usually bank calories during the week to allow for the more indulgent weekends as that tends to be when I have more social things, restaurant meals, pizza night with my kids, etc.
I also always log the calories (well am playing with periodic breaks from logging in maintenance) and that includes weekends, holidays like thanksgiving or Christmas, or vacations. What I found is that by continuing to log, even if it’s just estimates, I often found that the calories were still within my weekly target or didn’t put me outside maintenance for the week, or even if they did, it reassured me that I didn’t eat 3,500 or 7,000 cals above my maintenance cals so the spike I saw on the scale was likely temporary water weight and not actual gain.
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serindipte wrote: »indiacaitlin wrote: »I always track on weekends, I saw a great infographic about the work week dieter and how not tracking/overeating every weekend can really mess up your calorie deficit! Since reading that I worked on my macros and get the food I crave into my calories and don't feel the need to have a massive blow out.
I just saw it this morning and saved it!
I did this for the longest time and it killed my progress. I thought it was doing everything I could until I really took an objective look at my diary and saw just how little I was logging on weekends and when it did log, it was inaccurate and often incomplete.4 -
I log every single day. I don't have designated cheat days, but I log everything that comes my way planned or not, from moveis to social gatherings to hungry days to holidays to birthdays to random "I feel like McDonald's" days...etc. In the last year I maybe had 2 or 3 unlogged days. When I can't know exactly how many calories something has I just estimate, otherwise I just weigh and log everything whenever that's possible.
With that said, if your weight is doing what you want it to do, there is nothing wrong with going about it your way. Once your weight stops doing what you want it to do, you will know what you need to change.2 -
Have you reached your goal? How long have you sustained your current WOE? How serious are you about reaching your goal? And many other variables to take into account. If you've reached your goal and are in maintenance, sure, plan a day to go crazy. I do, about once a month. Just remember that one of the reasons people get in trouble on a maintenance diet is because they fail to realize how strict maintenance still must be.0
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I am ten pounds from my goal weight (down 135 lbs) so I am a LITTLE more into "cheat days" where I eat at maintenance or a couple hundred above, knowing that I'll burn additional calories through exercise the next day.
During the bulk of my weight loss, I did not do cheat days at all. The chart above is a great example. You can LITERALLY undo an entire week's worth of good habits with two days of bad behavior. If you want to eat something higher calorie, go ahead and do it, but log it and make sure it fits within your calorie goals.
If you just can't resist and go way over, spend an extra day at the gym to balance it out. It's really all about balance and learning what you can and can't do and still be able to achieve your goals.
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I have two cheat days a year and just put my own food as "Wine Fest", 10,000 calories. Basically, pay $20 to get in. About 50 wineries and a dozen random foods selling products while giving out nearly unlimited free samples. Yes, that includes wine samples. Four hours in and I'm usually fairly intoxicated wearing a wine glass cozy around my neck with a turkey leg in one hand and a giant green chili quesadilla in the other.5
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I don't have full cheat days I have cheat meals once or twice a week. I track 99% of the time. When I go drinking or have a social event planned I "save" my calories for that event or do cardio to mitigate the amount of calories I'll be going over by. I personally usually eat back my calories from cardio because my current goal is maintenance and body recomposition no weight loss. But even when I have a cheat meal it's usually still healthy (obviously minus the alcohol). My cheat meals are usually dinner with friends, my s/o or eating at someone elses house. I think its important to track to the best of your ability even if you end up being significantly over. We're all human and need a break so if you need a full cheat day or 2 then go for it but I think its good to be aware of what you're putting into your body still hence why I still track my cheat meals0
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I log everything, everyday, no cheat days, cuz who exactly are you cheating? Just yourself.
It's your choice. For me, I am pretty much eating as I will when I get to maintenance, just less calories for now, but all foods (everything) in moderation and correct portion control.1 -
Nope, because a "cheat" day means I'm going off the rails. Instead I plan for favorite treats every day.1
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