Cheat Meal/Day: Myth or Fact

GlennMcMillan · November 2022

One of the great things people like to do when they know you are on a diet is give you tips. What they do not realize is that most of the information they provide is things we knew or have read. I did not become overweight because I did not know any better. I became overweight because I loved food more than myself.

However, the one statement that keeps ringing in my ear is that "Taking a cheat day will help you on your diet". I did some research and there are studies that agree with the statement, but they really do not discuss the guidelines.

I am hoping to get some feedback from the MFP community.

1. Thoughts on cheat meal/day.
2. How often and personal guidelines?
3. Alternatives to the concept?

Thanks in Advance!

JaysFan82 · November 2022

I'm not against it but I do not have cheat days. In my head it just adds one more day to get to my goal, and I always end up feeling physically gross after. Plus I like the food I eat. I'm always looking for healthy recipes on Pintrest.

glassyo · November 2022

My one tip would be log it.

That way, if you don't lose weight as expected (depending on how many cheat days/meals you had), you'll have a big part of the data to look at.

cmriverside · November 2022

When I had to lose 80 pounds, I had a lot of trouble sticking to 1200 calories (which is what I thought I had to do,) so there were many days when I ate 3000+ calories because I was under-eating the rest of the days. It's the binge/restrict cycle so many of us fall into when we don't have better guidance.

After some months of that, I got really tired of the see-saw. I was losing weight, but I wasn't feeling balanced in any way, shape or form. It was too hard for me, psychologically.

I then reset my calories to 1550 (PLUS exercise calories.) That was so much easier - eating 1800-2000 on most days I still lost weight.

All of weight management is a balance. If you want a day of 4000 calories, I say go for it. OR, set your calories at a reasonable daily limit and still have a "treat" day where you eat a little more or have a couple drinks or a dessert, but not go overboard. There are so many downsides to eating a lot one day then very little the next - at least for me - but some people like to eat a little less during the week so they can splurge a bit on the weekend.

Find your numbers. It's an experiment, and it's up to you to run it. I happen to know I can eat between 15,000 and 16,000 calories per week. I can dole those out any way I want. Some ways work better for some people. It's your story to write.

Just as an aside, I find that discussing diets and/or nutrition with just about anyone other than this forum to be a frustrating endeavor. I just don't do it.

Lietchi · November 2022

My first question would be: define what a cheat day is precisely?

1) A day without a calorie limit?
2) A day over your allotted calories for weight loss but still limited to a certain number (for example maintenance level)?
3) A day without logging?
4) A day eating the foods you don't allow yourself to eat on your diet?
5) A combination?

The fourth one is a red flag to me, a sign that the weight loss strategy is not sustainable. Banning favorite foods is rarely a good strategy for long-term weight management - often people 'go back to normal' after reaching their goal and regain the weight lost.

1 and 2 can be helpful: lowering cortisol levels, 'resetting' appetite hormones, as well as a mental break from being at a deficit. But 1, also depending on the frequency, carries a risk of eating so much that it cancels out the calorie deficit accumulated while dieting.

3 means you have less data to determine what calorie level works for you, and perhaps a risk of eating more than you realize, but can give a mental break for those who don't like logging.

I'd add that I dislike the term 'cheat'. It's not a moral question.
My own strategy is that I cycle my calories flexibly. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower, sometimes in a deficit, sometimes in a calorie surplus,...
I look at the larger picture (longer term view of my calorie intake and calories burned) and also take into account circumstances.
For example, when I'm visiting my parents, I know I'll be over my calories because of the food, as well as a lower level of activity. Other days, I might go for a long run but not eat all my calories back. I sometimes plan, but sometimes improvise depending on how I feel.
I don't feel deprived, so it works well for me.

Retroguy2000 · November 2022

Cheat... as in taking a shortcut to get ahead of someone else?

Nope. It's the opposite. You're only cheating yourself.

If possible, bank calories in advance of an expected higher calorie situation. And keep logging everything.

AnnPT77 · November 2022

Repeating advice above: Log it. No matter what else, log it. Then you can understand the impact, and manage it.

Eating different numbers of calories on different days is fine, if that works best for you. Generally, if you average out right around your experience-tested calorie goal over a week or thereabouts, you'll lose weight at the expected rate. MFP may reset at midnight, but bodies don't. I'd suggest avoiding extremes, but the definition of "extreme" is somewhat subjective.

For me, a rare day at extremely high calories seems to have relatively little impact, other than a big scale jump the next day (or few) that's more about water weight and food en route to being waste, less about fat regain. One rare day - holiday, birthday, whatever - is a drop in the ocean. The majority of our days determines the majority of our outcomes, y'know?

I'm with Lietchi about the details, and also about the term "cheat". Who or what would I be cheating? It's just food; we need to eat some. It's not some epic battle of good and evil, sin and retribution. For me, drama isn't helpful.

During weight loss, I stayed within my calorie goal the overwhelming majority of days, but didn't try to lose weight crazy-fast (thus making it more difficult). I didn't change my exercise routine. (I was already active.) I didn't much change the range of foods I ate, more just the portion sizes, proportions on the plate, and frequency of some calorie-dense things. Every once in a while (special occasions), I ate up to or even over maintenance calories, recognizing - calorie arithmetic for the win! - that I was willing to delay goal weight by X hours or days in some cases, for some special reason.

During weight loss, I logged every. single. day. like it was a religion, even if I had to rough-estimate some things. I kept that daily logging ritual for some months into maintenance, so I was sure I had a good handle on personal maintenance calorie needs.

Nowadays (year 7 at a healthy weight), I do calorie bank (eat a little less most days, in order to create some calorie wiggle-room for occasional indulgences). ("A little" = maybe 150-ish calories - not extreme.) I still log most days, but skip difficult ones where I'd have to rough-estimate (potlucks, buffets, etc.) or when I feel over-busy. (I watch the scale as an adjunct.)

Eating less, eating more: Fine, for me. "Cheating": Seems analogous to believing in Santa Claus, as an adult, a pleasant myth. YMMV.

GlennMcMillan · November 2022

Thanks everyone for the comments. I should have gave more content now that I open the door. My diet is extreme low carb <34g per day is the target or a balance of 5% Carbs, 55% Fat and 40% protein all with a caloric intake of 2200.

My question was in reference to a meal I ate yesterday that I felt guilty eating. My wife wanted to go to Red Lobster and could not resist the Shrimp fest going on. I did get an hour of exercise that took away 500 cals but I exceeded the day by 800.

So by "cheat", I am talking more about eating something in reason that is not in your died plan. Like the fried shrimp that provided me with 126 carbs.

But after reading the comments, I definitely have a depreciation of the word "cheat".

Thanks

Retroguy2000 · November 2022

Did you enjoy the meal? Then don't over-think it. You're generally eating well it sounds like, you're high protein, you're exercising, so one meal and a few hundred unnecessary calories won't make any difference. You might feel or be heavier for a day or two due to water retention. No need to feel guilty about it.

I thought you were more talking like, "If I've been good all week then one day I won't log and maybe I'll end up going over by 1,500", something like that.

As I said earlier, you can bank calories to spend. If you anticipated going out, you could have planned differently the rest of the day. We have our nightly meals planned out. It makes it easier for us rather than deciding last minute, especially if it means defrosting anything. Another benefit is I can plan the rest of the day to meet my goals.

AnnPT77 · November 2022

GlennMcMillan wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the comments. I should have gave more content now that I open the door. My diet is extreme low carb <34g per day is the target or a balance of 5% Carbs, 55% Fat and 40% protein all with a caloric intake of 2200.

My question was in reference to a meal I ate yesterday that I felt guilty eating. My wife wanted to go to Red Lobster and could not resist the Shrimp fest going on. I did get an hour of exercise that took away 500 cals but I exceeded the day by 800.

So by "cheat", I am talking more about eating something in reason that is not in your died plan. Like the fried shrimp that provided me with 126 carbs.

But after reading the comments, I definitely have a depreciation of the word "cheat".
Thanks

I'm going to repeat myself, then:

One rare day is darned near meaningless, emphasis on the word "rare". Unless you literally ate/drank poison, a truly unusual day with sub-ideal nutrition or excess calories (even lots of 'em) just isn't a big deal.

What is your weight loss rate set at, or - better yet - what have you averaged over a period of 4-6 weeks on your current routine? If you're losing a pound a week on average, you have a 500 calorie daily deficit. If you went 800 over your weight-loss calorie goal, but did 500 calories of extra exercise, you still lost 200 calories worth of stored fat. (It won't show on the scale right away, because of water retention.) Even if only losing half a pound a week on average (250 calorie average daily deficit), you'll reach goal weight about one day plus a few hours later.

Is that really worth much angst or guilt? To me, it isn't.

If you enjoyed it, think about whether that delay was worth the enjoyment. For me, sometimes it is. In that case, just go on happily, no harm, no foul.

If it wasn't worth it, consider what you'd do differently next time. Don't spend more than 10 minutes, because . . . why? Rehearse a new answer in your head a few times to make it real, then just go on with your healthy weight-loss routine.

Again, repeating: Food is not sin. It doesn't require expiation. Guilt is 100% optional. I don't indulge in it, because it burns no extra calories, plus it feels icky, and I don't like to feel icky.

Weight management, IMO, is about experimentation and problem solving, on a route to finding a routine set of happy habits that gets you to a healthy weight and ideally keeps you there permanently, almost on autopilot. Whatever you decide about this meal, you learned something. That's useful.

ninerbuff · November 2022

GlennMcMillan wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the comments. I should have gave more content now that I open the door. My diet is extreme low carb <34g per day is the target or a balance of 5% Carbs, 55% Fat and 40% protein all with a caloric intake of 2200.

My question was in reference to a meal I ate yesterday that I felt guilty eating. My wife wanted to go to Red Lobster and could not resist the Shrimp fest going on. I did get an hour of exercise that took away 500 cals but I exceeded the day by 800.

So by "cheat", I am talking more about eating something in reason that is not in your died plan. Like the fried shrimp that provided me with 126 carbs.

But after reading the comments, I definitely have a depreciation of the word "cheat".

Thanks

A single day DOESN'T impact one's weight loss journey if they are consistently counting the rest of the days.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Xellercin · November 2022

I don't believe in "cheat days" I believe in whatever healthy routine is sustainable for the individual. If that includes a strict regimen that has built in days that are less strict and that works for them, then cool, but that's a plan, not cheating.

Let me put it this way. I used to do 80-100 hour weeks for school. It was brutal. The only way I could manage studying for 30+hrs each weekend was to build in mindless TV breaks. Those weren't "cheat" hours where I fell off the wagon of studying, they were strategic pauses from a strict regimen designed to make the process sustainable.

The more rigorous the regimen, the more pauses are essential to the plan. The less rigorous and easier the regimen, the less essential those pauses are.

Having a realistic understanding of what your system can handle is just smart strategic planning.

I personally can't stand overly rigorous eating changes, so I always opt for gentle, slow, incremental, sustainable changes that don't require any planned pauses.

There's no need to deviate from an eating routine that's easy and enjoyable. However, when I switched to intermittent fasting, that was a drastic change and I built two "normal" eating days a week into the new routine in order to stave off harsh reactions in my body.

I wouldn't call those "cheat days" though because they were intentional, and critical components of the plan.

Overall, the key to successfully changing your diet is to know what is realistic and sustainable. The less drastic the change, the less you need to plan for a careful transition process. The more drastic, the more strategically you need to plan.

Make a realistic plan, commit to it, monitor it, have clear indicators of success, and adjust as needed.

cwolfman13 · November 2022

I don't do any kind of specific diet plan so I generally don't feel like I'm "cheating" on anything. My overall diet is pretty healthy and I exercise regularly. We as a family also have pizza night typically once per week on a Friday or Saturday...it is immaterial to my diet as a whole. Sunday breakfast is a big deal in my family as well...typically it is more of a brunch, but it consists of eggs, bacon and sausage, hash brown potatoes, and usually pastries from the little bakery up the road but sometimes pancakes or waffles. It's a rather large meal, but my wife and I don't usually eat again until dinner. My kids are 10 and 12 so they just eat normally and are hungry a few hours later. Sunday breakfast has been a tradition in my family going back as far as I can remember...my grandfather did it, my dad did it, and I do it. Again, immaterial to the whole.

I've tried diet plans before like low carb, etc and none of those worked for me because inevitably I "fall off the wagon". I lost 40 Lbs in 2012/2013 just focusing on overall good nutrition, portions, and monitoring calories and that worked better for me than any structured plan I ever tried.

Lori11223344 · November 2022

Very helpful comments here, thank you. I have been logging and controlling intake for over about 7 weeks and have lost around 10 lbs. only 20 more to go to reach a BMI of 25. Food tracking has definitely helped me avoid overdoing treats.
I have been reluctant to have a maintenance or overcaloried day, but I admit it is getting a bit tedious logging everything.
This thread gives me renewed motivation.

paperpudding · November 2022

why are you saying ONLY 10lb?

10 lb in 7 weeks seems very good pace, especially for someone who only had 30 lb to lose.

cmriverside · November 2022

Lori11223344 wrote: »

Very helpful comments here, thank you. I have been logging and controlling intake for over about 7 weeks and have lost around 10 lbs. only 20 more to go to reach a BMI of 25. Food tracking has definitely helped me avoid overdoing treats.
I have been reluctant to have a maintenance or overcaloried day, but I admit it is getting a bit tedious logging everything.
This thread gives me renewed motivation.

So...with only 20 left to lose, set your calorie goals to "Lose 1/2 pound per week." Eat that amount plus more for exercise days.

Those last 20 pounds are VERY tedious. I lost a total of 80 pounds. The first 65 were at a pace of two pounds or one and a half pounds per week, and I lost consistently. Those last 15 took me nine months. I was hungry. I had a lot of trouble sticking to my goals.

You can do it, but the last 20 stubborn pounds are Stubborn. For me it was two steps forward and one step back and now at Maintenance it's still a bit of a struggle at times. I say go for the Treat Day. Life's short.

Heh heh, maybe my hippie attitude is why I struggle. I prefer a quiet mind over a super thin body.

ridiculous59 · November 2022

We've had Friday night pizza forever in our house. Usually homemade. And I have a glass of wine. I still managed to lose 90 pounds. I like to use the "week view" feature on MFP. I log everything: the good the bad and the ugly, and as long as my daily average is within reason, then I'm okay.

Retroguy2000 · November 2022

Interesting. I never knew there was a week view feature. I see now it's in Reports on the website. I don' t see any place to view that info on the Android app though.

AnnPT77 · November 2022

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

Interesting. I never knew there was a week view feature. I see now it's in Reports on the website. I don' t see any place to view that info on the Android app though.

Nutrition (pie chart icon top right of diary) switch to week view, pick calories.

Retroguy2000 · November 2022

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Nutrition (pie chart icon top right of diary) switch to week view, pick calories.

Thanks.

Also re the Android app, is it possible to see the macros per meal? It's there on PC. When looking at the day on the app, I see breakfast, lunch, dinner, total cals for each, but I only see macros for the full day.

Lietchi · November 2022

If you turn your device in landscape mode, you should see more info per meal and food item.

Retroguy2000 · November 2022

Lietchi wrote: »

If you turn your device in landscape mode, you should see more info per meal and food item.

Never thought of that!

Just tried it. It's unusable though. The fixed parts of the screen fill 90% of the screen, and it's almost impossible to see or scroll through the actual entries as a result.

Lietchi · November 2022

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

Lietchi wrote: »

If you turn your device in landscape mode, you should see more info per meal and food item.

Never thought of that!

Just tried it. It's unusable though. The fixed parts of the screen fill 90% of the screen, and it's almost impossible to see or scroll through the actual entries as a result.

It varies from device to device I'm guessing, I can see three lines of data myself (but it used to be better before the new layout with the curved menu)

MeMeImABigFatBoi · November 2022

Jeff Nippard has a really good video on cheat meals and diet breaks. You should look it up on youtube, especially if you're lifting weights on your diet. (I would post the link here but idk if youtube links will get spam blocked)

I lost a bit over 20lb in a few months over the summer while lifting every second day. Initially I was eating a strict 2300 calories a day. In the middle of the summer, I hit a plateau, thinking the problem was too many calories I started to eat less but nothing changed.

I fixed this plateau by counter-intuitively eating 3000+ calories a day for a week, and actually ended up losing weight at the end of that week. I had gotten a blood test at the beginning of that week and it came back saying my thyroid was apparently underactive.

After that I decided to implement "re-feeds" on my weekends as Jeff suggests in his video, eating more on the weekends than during the week, and I didn't run into another plateau. Never got my bloodwork done again but I would expect my thyroid has probably recovered.

Retroguy2000 · November 2022

Feel free to post the video @MeMeImABigFatBoi

I looked on his channel and there's at least a couple that could be the one you refer to.

Lori11223344 · November 2022

paperpudding wrote: »

why are you saying ONLY 10lb?

10 lb in 7 weeks seems very good pace, especially for someone who only had 30 lb to lose.

I didn't say that.

I am very happy to have lost 10 lbs in 7 weeks. I am trying to not make it seem so daunting to myself by saying I have ONLY 20 more to lose. Because really, 20 more seems like a lot, and as someone else said, those last 20 can be stubborn. It will bring me back to a weight I have not been in about 8 years. And yes, this is chapter 2. Last fall I lost the first 18 lbs (out of almost 50 I need to shed) and kept it off until now. This year, if I can make it to 20 more (38 total) and keep that off, I will be so pleased, and maybe my blood pressure will go down. After that, its just another 10 and that might be chapter 3 to complete the whole 48 lb loss from where I started in Sept, 2021

RichGS23 · November 2022

I personally do not believe in a cheat meal or day. I think if you're clever enough you can maintain a calorie deficit without having to sacrifice everything. For example I had over 600 extra calories one day through extra training, so that evening I had a small piece of cake. I didn't take it as a cheat meal as I earnt it.

If you want the sweeter things in life, just offset it with a little more exercise. I've lost almost 9kg in 8 weeks (19lbs) through keeping strict and focused but still reminding myself that if I've put in the effort and lost the calories, I can have a little treat.

The biggest thing to remember is we're all built differently and different things work for us.

swimmchick87 · November 2022

I have done the yo-yo thing numerous times and it took me a long time to figure out that "cheat day/meal" doesn't work for me. I've tried it all- the full on cheat day, the "cheat meal," and even having one 2000 calorie day per week (with the rest being 1200) so I could indulge but it was still controlled and counted. Nope, nope, and nope. "Cheating" puts me in the wrong mindset, and I also figured out that I was restricting too heavily to begin with, and that's why I was so drawn to "cheating." It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out 1200 calories a day is NEVER going to work long term for me. When I started eating more, and actually feeling satisfied every day, suddenly the entire desire to "cheat" went away.

MeMeImABigFatBoi · November 2022

This is the video I was talking about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HVdLMnr40M

It obviously depends how much you train (I would lift 3-4 times a week and then do a couple hours of sports after each session), but I was honestly shocked how easily I killed my metabolism, only took about a month even while eating 2300 calories a day (which I had initially thought was way too much for a diet).

I think I may have a genetic propensity for low metabolism/thyroid function, as the rest of my family is pretty overweight so don't let this scare you. But yeah if you hit a plateau despite knowing you are doing enough work, this may be the problem.

Lori11223344 · November 2022

MeMeImABigFatBoi wrote: »

I fixed this plateau by counter-intuitively eating 3000+ calories a day for a week, and actually ended up losing weight at the end of that week. I had gotten a blood test at the beginning of that week and it came back saying my thyroid was apparently underactive.

After that I decided to implement "re-feeds" on my weekends as Jeff suggests in his video, eating more on the weekends than during the week, and I didn't run into another plateau. Never got my bloodwork done again but I would expect my thyroid has probably recovered.

It is, in fact a method that many dieticians will recommend when weight loss has stalled in otherwise healthy younger (under 50) people. Working with people who were starving, I often saw thyroid function suppressed (underactive) while they were starving, but most recovered healthy thyroid function once they were able to eat more and restore their body weight. Some did not recover, whether that was due to underlying thyroid disease, or whether the hypocaloric diets they had been following had permanently impaired their thyroid, is a subject for more research.

Cheat Meal/Day: Myth or Fact

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