Will once a week “cheat day” ruin my diet?

Jeanaiah · May 2020

I’m 21, 157cm tall.
My fitness pal recommends me to eat 1200cals a day but i eat more than that like 1300-1400 (cuz yah 1200 cals are for babies) but i walk-jog everyday for 1hour so yeah.
And during my day off, specially friday, i eat around 2500. Will this ruin the whole week of starving myself?

L1zardQueen · May 2020

Are you still in a deficit for the week?

Jeanaiah · May 2020

L1zardQueen wrote: »

Are you still in a deficit for the week?

Yes.. my maintenance calories are around 1700 and i eat 1200-1400 everyday except fridays

L1zardQueen · May 2020

I save my calories for the weekends, it has not impeded at all.

StargazerB · May 2020

This puts you at approximately a 1000 calorie per week deficit. Yes, you should still lose weight but it will be slow and that's totally ok.

PAV8888 · May 2020

What is the level of calories where you would maintain?

Do you average below that? Then you will use up some of your energy stores!

Also.

If 2500 is around your maintenance after you include all activity and exercise, then how much weight do you have available to lose that you're choosing the application of a 1000 Cal deficit as the best method to achieve your goals, even if doing so would require you to eat less than a baby and starve yourself?

MFP is our ledger, a source of information we can mine, and a guide; not our ruler!

Duck_Puddle · May 2020

6 days at 1300-1400 and one day at 2500 puts your total calorie intake at 10,300-10,900 for the week.

If your maintenance calories are 1700, then you’re burning a total of 11,900 calories a week.

So you’re still in a deficit of 1000-1600 calories for the week. So you’ll lose about 1/3-1/2 pound a week. You don’t mention how much you weigh but that may be a very reasonable rate.

Ange_Lu · May 2020

It won’t ruin your progress!!! In fact, it is recommended to have a cheat meal at least once a week, it will benefit you mentally and physically. If you’re planning to eat 2500 cals on your cheat day, then enjoy! But keep in mind that you might gain some water weight or get a little bloated. Hope this helps, greetings!

swimmchick87 · May 2020

I tried the cheat meal thing for a long time and it just did not work for me. I could maintain it for awhile, but it eventually it would lead to "cheat week" and so on until I fell off the wagon all together.

I've had much more success this time around by raising my calorie goal every day. I ditched the 1200 cals and set my goal to lose only 1 pound per week (if you don't have as much to lose, you may need to set it for .5 pound per week). Now I get about 1550 calories every day and pretty much anything I want can reasonably fit into that, as long as it's in normal portions. If I'm really craving something I fit it into my calorie day rather than looking at it as a "cheat." I feel a lot better mentally and physically doing this than my old system of 1200 calories with a "cheat meal." Of course you do what works for you, just throwing another suggestion out there.

janejellyroll · May 2020

The math above shows that if you're eating 2,500 on your "cheat day" and the rest of what you're saying is accurate that you will lose weight. What I want to call out is that you say you're eating "around 2,500." Is this "cheat day" logged or are you guessing? If it is an unlogged day, it's possible that you could eat enough to cancel out the rest of your deficit for the week. Just something to consider.

I would suggest that if you feel like you're "starving" during the week, you may want to adjust your plan so that it is more sustainable overall instead of relying on a "cheat day" to get you through the week. Obviously, the math shows that it *can* work, but many people find that weight loss is much easier when they're not suffering for the majority of the week.

Will once a week “cheat day” ruin my diet?

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