Is it Okay to have a cheat day?

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Replies

  • mjglantz
    mjglantz Posts: 486 Member
    I don't use the word "cheat" because no food is really off limits for me. Basically use the 80/20 approach where I eat healthier foods 80% of the time. Even when I choose less than healthy foods there are nothing like what I used to eat and sometimes I just eat more than my calorie range for that day. Looking at it over the course of the week my goal is stay at or under my recommended range. That works for me.
  • Beverly2Hansen
    Beverly2Hansen Posts: 378 Member
    I don't do cheat days because you can't outrun your fork. I do allow myself to eat junk food within my allowance as a reward once a month though. So bunless double cheese burger with cake feels rewarding but I'm also still on track if that makes sense. I found I was eating upwards of like 4,000 calories when I tried to have cheat days it was not a great realization but it explained my lack of weightloss or gain for over 6 months.
  • azuki
    azuki Posts: 38 Member
    Just call it food and either work it in or skip it. Don't label a food a "cheat."
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,452 Member
    Cheating implies breaking rules. But there are no rules in calorie consumption for weight loss/gain/maintenance. You can lose weight eating fast food only as long as you're in a deficit. Not the greatest for micronutritent content, but it can be and has been done.
    IMO, there are no "cheat days". You just have to be ACCOUNTABLE for calories consumed.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,958 Member
    amyrluk wrote: »
    I let myself have a cheat because I have heard that cheat days can speed up your metabolism. When you hit a platue. But are there certain rules about cheat days. like how many calories you can go over. And what you can eat?
    I let myself have one yeasutrday but I think I ate to much.

    Cheat days do not speed up your metabolism. What they can do is help your diet be more sustainable since there is not an all or nothing approach. You have to be careful that the cheat does not become the norm so tread lightly...
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,717 Member
    edited June 2021
    J72FIT wrote: »
    amyrluk wrote: »
    I let myself have a cheat because I have heard that cheat days can speed up your metabolism. When you hit a platue. But are there certain rules about cheat days. like how many calories you can go over. And what you can eat?
    I let myself have one yeasutrday but I think I ate to much.

    Cheat days do not speed up your metabolism. What they can do is help your diet be more sustainable since there is not an all or nothing approach. You have to be careful that the cheat does not become the norm so tread lightly...

    Welllll . . . I agree that "speed up your metabolism" may be hyperbole . . . mostly. But there's some evidence that a body can get a bit of a rev of some type, with observed effects, potentially including RMR, subconscious NEAT, body temp, workout performance, and that sort of thing, from a day of eating *well over* maintenance. But for sure, the idea that people get some kind of extra-supercharged speedy overall weight loss process by overeating once a week? Nah.

    This may be interesting, follow up lab testing after a 10,000 calorie eating challenge:

    https://youtu.be/j6cIbIvEGJM

    The first RMR test is just before the 6 minute mark. I'd encourage anyone pre-diabetic (let alone diabetic!) to think about those blood glucose numbers (elsewhere in the vid), when thinking about whether cheat days may have benefits or not. There may be downsides, and not just fat (re-)gain.

    Her YouTube channel has some other high-calorie challenges, with follow-up of a more home-based nature, and some good science-based explanation of the factors that affect fat gain from an overeating episode. (The one titled "Cheat Day Results (What Happened)" after an 8,000 calorie day has some estimating formulas, even - geeky stuff.)

    What kind of changes from "more than usual calories, less than maintenance" or "some more realistic amount of calories above maintenance", but less than the absurd 10,000 calories? 🤷‍♀️
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    There aren't really any rules...you can do whatever you want. The only rule that's really there is the one that says you need to be in a calorie deficit over time to lose weight.
  • Mahhafooznit
    Mahhafooznit Posts: 24 Member
    Would the treat day on Keto just eating Fat Bombs for your whole days calories?
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,926 Member
    Would the treat day on Keto just eating Fat Bombs for your whole days calories?

    It would be whatever you want it to be - that's the whole thing about cheat/ treat days - do them however works for you.

    From a weight loss point of view, if you eat too many calories over time, you will not lose weight though.
  • lamiller0365
    lamiller0365 Posts: 5 Member
    Yes, I think one day of indulgence is good. Sometimes I mitigate the calories by tracking them over the course of several days.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    rewair wrote: »
    Let us say your maintenance calories are 2000 a day. Let us say you had a cheat day and ate 3200 calories, you are not going to gain fat/weight by overeating 1200 calories on one day. No worries. I have found over the years if I do have a so called cheat day, which isn't a day, more like one meal I generally feel like crap after I eat it, therefore I don't do it much. Went out for Mexican last week, ate lots of chips and salsa and a big fat Chimi- heart burn city and bloated from what I can estimate to be around 200 carbs in one meal!

    Actually if you are eating at maintenance and overeat by 1200 once a week, you will gain 19 lbs in a year. It’s math.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    edited June 2021
    rewair wrote: »
    Let us say your maintenance calories are 2000 a day. Let us say you had a cheat day and ate 3200 calories, you are not going to gain fat/weight by overeating 1200 calories on one day. No worries. I have found over the years if I do have a so called cheat day, which isn't a day, more like one meal I generally feel like crap after I eat it, therefore I don't do it much. Went out for Mexican last week, ate lots of chips and salsa and a big fat Chimi- heart burn city and bloated from what I can estimate to be around 200 carbs in one meal!

    Actually if you are eating at maintenance and overeat by 1200 once a week, you will gain 19 lbs in a year. It’s math.

    Once a week is not once. Once a week for a year is FIFTY TWO times. It is a recurring pattern of behavior.. The post you replied to /quoted said once. Not once a week. For a year.

    Also holy stereotypically 'well actually-ing' someone about something they never said, batman.
  • KevHex
    KevHex Posts: 256 Member
    rewair wrote: »
    Let us say your maintenance calories are 2000 a day. Let us say you had a cheat day and ate 3200 calories, you are not going to gain fat/weight by overeating 1200 calories on one day. No worries. I have found over the years if I do have a so called cheat day, which isn't a day, more like one meal I generally feel like crap after I eat it, therefore I don't do it much. Went out for Mexican last week, ate lots of chips and salsa and a big fat Chimi- heart burn city and bloated from what I can estimate to be around 200 carbs in one meal!

    Actually if you are eating at maintenance and overeat by 1200 once a week, you will gain 19 lbs in a year. It’s math.

    Very true and not something many think about when discussing this topic. It is true that you focus on what you measure, whether it is blood pressure, calories, HRV, power/pace, nutrients or bank balance. Just make sure to measure and log everyday, that is the key to long term success (so if you over-eat you have the data to support your choices).

    Personally I hate the term cheat day or meal, make informed choices based on personal goals, and log what you eat. Who are you cheating eating a 2000 cal Dominos pizza???
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    edited June 2021
    rewair wrote: »
    Let us say your maintenance calories are 2000 a day. Let us say you had a cheat day and ate 3200 calories, you are not going to gain fat/weight by overeating 1200 calories on one day. No worries. I have found over the years if I do have a so called cheat day, which isn't a day, more like one meal I generally feel like crap after I eat it, therefore I don't do it much. Went out for Mexican last week, ate lots of chips and salsa and a big fat Chimi- heart burn city and bloated from what I can estimate to be around 200 carbs in one meal!

    Actually if you are eating at maintenance and overeat by 1200 once a week, you will gain 19 lbs in a year. It’s math.

    Once a week is not once. Once a week for a year is FIFTY TWO times. It is a recurring pattern of behavior.. The post you replied to /quoted said once. Not once a week. For a year.

    Also holy stereotypically 'well actually-ing' someone about something they never said, batman.

    Most people asking on the forums about a cheat day use that terms to mean once a week. A one time occurrence such as a holiday or a birthday isn’t what’s being discussed here.
  • KevHex
    KevHex Posts: 256 Member
    rewair wrote: »
    Let us say your maintenance calories are 2000 a day. Let us say you had a cheat day and ate 3200 calories, you are not going to gain fat/weight by overeating 1200 calories on one day. No worries. I have found over the years if I do have a so called cheat day, which isn't a day, more like one meal I generally feel like crap after I eat it, therefore I don't do it much. Went out for Mexican last week, ate lots of chips and salsa and a big fat Chimi- heart burn city and bloated from what I can estimate to be around 200 carbs in one meal!

    Actually if you are eating at maintenance and overeat by 1200 once a week, you will gain 19 lbs in a year. It’s math.

    Once a week is not once. Once a week for a year is FIFTY TWO times. It is a recurring pattern of behavior.. The post you replied to /quoted said once. Not once a week. For a year.

    Also holy stereotypically 'well actually-ing' someone about something they never said, batman.

    Most people asking on the forums about a cheat day are intending to do it once a week. A one time occurrence such as a holiday or a birthday isn’t what’s being discussed here.

    ^^^ many posts refer to cheat weekends as well, and often state that the person tries “to be good” Monday to Friday. Two steps forward and three steps backwards.

  • mikethewriter
    mikethewriter Posts: 18 Member
    What about a "treat" day while doing keto?
    It's completely alright to have a cheat day or a treat day while following any kind of diet. In fact, having a regularly scheduled cheat day each week can actually be good because it can reduce cravings, provides a mental break from dieting, and boosts metabolism if it's done in a healthy way.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    coming back to this but I think it may be a good idea to sometimes have a really big 'don't worry about it' day and then to see how the scale responds. lots of people afraid to move to maintaining or super upset about going over by a bit.

    Alternatively - watch some of those big 'cheat day' videos that include before, immediately after, and a few days after weights. it's.. enlightening.