Weekly or bi weekly cheat days?????

MeganReid1991
MeganReid1991 Posts: 170 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How many people have a weekly, bi weekly or monthly cheat day?
I have been a off and on starter of losing weight and nothing has seemed to really work. But this month I decided I would try to have a weekly cheat day where I don’t track but I also don’t binge. Just eat more freely. I feel so much better when I eat healthy so I tend not to get too off course. This has really helped me stay on track though. I’ve hit my calorie goal every day almost and felt so much better and lost 4 pounds in 1 month.
I realize I may have too cut down my cheat days as I get closer to my goal which is to lose around 40 pounds. So I’m just wondering who has done this type of thing and did it work for you?

Replies

  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited July 2018
    We all do what works best for us (and we're all different).

    I don't personally do cheat DAYS. for me this could lead to eating back ALL the calories needed to be in a weekly deficit.

    I do cheat meals every month or so (sometimes longer). To me, this is a meal I may not log (i'd be ball parking it anyway usually as I don't have the stats to log).

    On a weekly basis I do switch things up on weekends and fit in something i really "like" by not having snacks (which I can't skip during a workday for various reasons, mostly mental) and making sacrifices in another area. This is where I will "fit in" a beer or small dessert splurge (rarely can I fit BOTH of those unless it's half a beer and a super small dessert splurge!)

    I have read that some people will under eat by 50-100 calories for a few days to save for "splurge" meal/day. This doesn't work for me as I can't eat less than my daily calories without getting very hungry in the following days (so this puts me off for too many days).
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I don't really see the point in tracking for 6 days but not the 7th...

    I run a moderate calorie deficit, eat most of my exercise calories, and eat at maintenance for a few days a month, so don't feel the need for cheat days or meals.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I wouldn't call it a cheat, but I eat very light during the week and bank calories to indulge more on the weekends. It is still very controlled and in the end I remain in a deficit. This works well for me. But if you tend to deprive yourself then go ham on those relaxed days, it might not work for you.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    As others have touched upon, the mindset of planning "cheat days" or having a binary "behaving/misbehaving" or "on/off the wagon" mental approach is not ultimately the most beneficial or sustainable for long-term success. If I decide I want to eat something, I log it, recognize there are caloric consequences, adjust other meals that day to hit my goals accordingly and move along.
  • TrishSeren
    TrishSeren Posts: 587 Member
    I just factor things into my every day, yesterday I had chocolate and I was still under my calorie goal for the day. Tonight I'll have 1-2 glasses of wine.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    If you plan it, it is not cheating. BTW, I personally hate the term "cheat day". A person eithers sticks with their plan or they don't. If you think you are cheating, who are you cheating on besides yourself?

    That being said, there are refeeds and diet breaks that are very beneficial with the hormonal side of weight loss and maximizing your efforts. There is a great thread about it here in the stickies. The first couple of pages have the critical info.https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I don't call it cheating, but I'm a lot more strict about my nutrition during the week and a bit more loose on the weekends. I don't log, but I'd wager that I'm a bit under my maintenance calories during the week and probably a bit over on the weekend...but then again, I do more exercise and move more on the weekend so maybe not.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    I'd get out of the cheating mindset entirely. Weight loss is training for maintenance. You need to learn the skills you'll need to maintain your weight loss. And you cannot "cheat" in maintenance.

    If you routinely go over your weekly calorie goal while trying to lose weight, you will either lose more slowly, not lose, or maybe even gain if you go far enough over your goal. But if you routinely go over your weekly maintenance calories, you are going to gain back the weight you worked so hard to lose.

    Don't start down that road. Take a planned diet break if you need to, but otherwise, learn to budget your weekly calories for what you want to eat.
  • MeganReid1991
    MeganReid1991 Posts: 170 Member
    So I guess what I’ll do is start by tracking my Cheat or treat day. I tracked my last two and it looks like I’m still eating under maintenance calories.
    I still would like to have a day where I’m not as strick. I just find for me it’s easier to eat really good all week and indulge a bit on Saturday but obviously I don’t want to throw all my progress out the window..

    I guess what I want to know is if I eat maintenance once a week but eat my normal 1600 calories a day the rest of the time. Will I still lose?
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    MeganReid1991 wrote: »
    So I guess what I’ll do is start by tracking my Cheat or treat day. I tracked my last two and it looks like I’m still eating under maintenance calories.
    I still would like to have a day where I’m not as strick. I just find for me it’s easier to eat really good all week and indulge a bit on Saturday but obviously I don’t want to throw all my progress out the window..

    I guess what I want to know is if I eat maintenance once a week but eat my normal 1600 calories a day the rest of the time. Will I still lose?

    If your cheat day calories don't negate your weekly calorie deficit, you will still lose weight, just not quite as much as if you kept to your deficit for that one day. You just have to do the math.
  • presidentcarter
    presidentcarter Posts: 17 Member
    I don’t have a cheat day. When I decided to lose weight, I stayed away from sweets (I loved sweets!) but I’ll eat them every now and then as long as I stay under my calorie goal
  • Nikolaijj
    Nikolaijj Posts: 11 Member
    I don't cheat. I eat whatever I want every day, just so long as I don't go over my calories. Of course I tend to eat healthier because I can eat lots more and feel full, but if I want some Oreos, I'm gonna eat some Oreos.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    My "cheat days" can range anywhere from every day to once a month. I just eat what I feel like eating, and sometimes that's foods people arbitrarily associate with cheating, other times that's foods that people don't associate with cheating. I understand the desire to have a structure of on point food intake followed by breather days. I know some people find this structure useful. I don't. It makes this feel too much like a restriction diet if I don't give myself permission to anything whenever appropriate.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I don’t have a cheat day. I do have days with higher calorie intake (above maintenance usually) and intake is quite a bit free-er on those days. I enjoy a day where I can be a bit more loose with my calories (I find it difficult to fit in a lot of “fun” foods normally). However, I log every bite every day. I go a touch low on the other days of the week so my higher day is still within my weekly calorie allowance. I am losing as expected because my weekly calories are within my planned deficit.

    I will also mention my highest intake day is my long run day (and day with my highest calorie burn). I have a pretty generous calorie allowance on that day anyway due to all the exercise-I just add a little more to it by saving some calories through the rest of the week.

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