cheat days

haha, I DO!! i have sunday as my cheat day and have done so for the past 5 years! I eat WHATEVER i want and trust me, i do!!
AND i have exactly the same body response too... by sunday's end i am bloated (not neccessarily due to OVEReating naughty food- but just eating some wrong foods after a clean week) but yeah, by wed/thurs i am back to normal weight and by sunday i have lost another kilo... i HIGHLY recommend the cheat day as it gives you motivation to stay on track during the week and KNOWING that you can eat that special treat on sunday (or whenever) you are more likely NOT to fail. during the week. I am not a hardcore gym fanatic/body bulder/figure competitor, but i do go 6am and around 6pm everyday and even on my free days do aerobic and incidental exercise throughout the day.... I LIVE FOR MY FREE DAY.... but yes, it is bittersweet! LOL
OH and no i do not log it... that would look bad! haha i do log exercise for the free day however and write FREE DAY!!!! in my food notes at the bottom...

Calling them "cheat" meals or days is stupid. The idea that having an occasional treat is cheating yourself is just stupid. It makes it sound like you've done something wrong, even though you haven't. Treating yourself once in a while is an important part of weight loss for the majority of people. It keeps you focused on being healthy on every other day, and gives you something to look forward to. It isn't cheating at all.

Also, I would still log these things in MFP. Your food log is there so you know what you've eaten. Not recording stuff is counter productive to that, and it reinforces the fallacy that treating yourself occasionally is a bad thing & it should be hidden away and never spoken about. There is no shame in eating treats, and there is no shame in having them on your food log.

I agree. When I plan to have a "treat", its just food that I don't schedule very often. I wish I had another word to call it, but cheat isn't it.

When I tried a diet minus cheating, I would be great for 3 days, then like clockwork, I'd go snack crazy on the fourth day. It left me feeling really weak and sort of like a failure.

Now, I plan to have cheat day about every 2 weeks. Usually, I do it on the day I weigh in, so I can have a full week to "recover." I keep a list of all my cravings throughout the weeks, and just tell myself I'll get to eat them on my cheat day. Usually, I end up not wanting these things, but writing them down keeps me from feeling deprived because I'm just postponing them.

I enjoy healthy food, so it's really usually snacks I crave. On my cheat days, I'll eat a normal healthy breakfast and lunch; the only real cheat is that I let myself have whatever snacks I've been craving. This way, I'm still filling up on healthy stuff, but also getting to enjoy things I don't usually eat. Honestly, I eat so healthy normally that after a few unhealthy snacks, I'm pretty much over the cheating and reminded of why I don't eat those foods daily. I log my food intake as another reminder of why I can't enjoy those foods every day.

Setting a cheat day means that instead of having 1 bad day for every 3 good, I have 1 bad day for every 13 good. Also, planning it means that I'm still in control of my cravings, not the other way around, and that empowerment reminds me that eating healthy and in moderation is something I chose to do for myself, not some sort of torture being imposed on me.

Honestly, I eat whatever I want every day to an extent. As long as I get close to my goals for the day, and do not go over my calorie intake, I allow myself to eat whatever I feel like eating in moderation. I've been doing this for three weeks straight now, and it's the only thing that's worked for me so far. I have realized though, that if I want to eat something high calorie now, I can't eat something filling, satisfying, healthy and low calorie later. I rationalize with myself that a 400 calorie muffin is SO not worth skipping supper and my bedtime snack!! I do plan to have a cheat day at the end of the month for my best friend's birthday! I can't wait for cupcakes!