Do you still lose weight when you have a cheat day?

I didn’t. I did, however, lose most of the weight I was looking to lose while having a “cheat” weekend each month. It was helpful for events, holidays, etc., not to go completely crazy but just to have a couple of days where I wasn’t thinking about logging or macros or steps.

I’m pretty close to my goal now and have been doing one of those every two weeks lately, which is probably how I’ll handle maintenance as well.

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

I lose weight still eating foods I enjoy.

I don't have cheat days or meals.

^Pretty much this for me too.
All foods in moderation on the road to maintaining a healthy weight. Changing my habits for portion control and staying within my calorie allotment. Paying attention to choices I make regarding food.

Yes OP, you can have cheat days and still lose weight as long as you continue on plan after your cheat day and don't let cheat days turn into cheat weeks.

I like to prepare for when I go out for wings or drinks. I'll do a double at 9Rounds to earn the good stuff.

I usually push the boat out for one meal a week, possibly two, on different days. As it turns out, fries and salty volume don't agree with me much any more and I am sort of off the booze too so I am limited in the easy damage I can do but give me a fresh french loaf and some sides and ooh yes. I am in maintenance and have found that running a slight deficit most days (1-200 cals) takes care of whatever extra cals I indulge in if it's only once a week or maybe twice.

luvmakidz wrote: »

I would like to have a cheat day every weekend, where I enjoy the foods I used to enjoy. Have any of you done this and still lost weight?

Look at it as simple math. If you're trying to lose 1lb per week, that equates to 3500 calories you have to deduct from your maintenance calories. So if you maintain your weight on 2000 calories a day, then you would need to deduct 500/day or average a deduction of 3500 calories a week to lose that 1lb. So if you eat 1500 calories a day six days a week then give yourself a cheat day and eat 2000 calories over what you should, you really only had a deficit of 1000 calories which means you aren't going to lose that 1lb you were expecting to lose. This is why cheat days are a bad idea. They tend to derail all your efforts making the struggle harder.

Instead, eat what you want but stay in your calorie goal 7 days a week. Exercise to gain more calories to eat, and then you can eat more of the foods you liked before and not need a cheat day.

It all comes down to the numbers. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you'll lose weight. For weight loss, the type of food you eat doesn't matter, only calories. You may do better to find a way to incorporate foods you enjoy into your diet regularly, rather than reserving them for a special day.