is it good or bad to have a cheat day?

I don't have "cheat days" because I eat whatever I want to eat everyday, just make sure you are within your caloric intake goals

During a cut, I have 'refeed days' when I eat over maintenance, but it's the same food I normally eat anyway

It's definitely BAD. In fact it is terrible for you and you will immediately gain weight as a result....


Seriously, lighten up. If you call it a cheat day its bad, if you factor it in, it's not cheating and is guilt free.

Nothing "BAD" will happen as a result of not exercising for a day and eating some more indulgent foods. Chill.

I don't have "cheat days" because I eat whatever I want to eat everyday, just make sure you are within your caloric intake goals

During a cut, I have 'refeed days' when I eat over maintenance, but it's the same food I normally eat anyway

this... and lets wipe out this "cheat" nonsense mentality.

Oh and if you're having to "cheat" then you clearly have not mastered the point of a balanced diet and the mentality of moderation, which is the only thing that will keep the weight off and you healthy.

I do what some people would call 'cheating' every single day... only I call it 'eating in moderation'. :-)

Since joining MFP in April, not a single day has gone by that I have not had pizza or a cupcake or a cheeseburger or cookies or french fries - or some other food labeled 'bad' or 'a treat'. I just watch my portion sizes and total calories.

It's worked really well for me! I've lost 45 pounds and am just seven pounds from my ultimate goal weight.

That's exactly what I do. Except I don't really go for sweets. Pizza, onion rings or a burger though? Fair game. Especially Fuddruckers. Mmmm

I have been doing better with the odd cheat. Only been doing this for 3 months, but got a bit stuck after 8 weeks, so i have cheat days or cheat items, which kick started my loss again. I try and stick to 1200 - 1400 net a day (eating at least half of my exercise calories back) but one day a week if i want to eat up to my maintence allowance I do, it is normally when friends come around, i have a couple of glasses of whatever and have a few snacks, but instead of going mad i limit my intake to smaller amounts.

Nothing is off limits, even ate two spoonfuls of fresh champagne cream the other day, straight out of the pot!!! But did not go over my calorie allowance. This way i only put things in my mouth that are absolutely to die for or that i need for fuelling my body.

It all depends on you.. If i cannot have it i WANT it, so knowing i can have a cheat day or have some food items that may be considered bad then i am OK. Some weeks i am really strict and do not need cheats, but it is there if i want.

To do this sucessfully you need to make this a lifestyle change, so if you cannot avoid bad things, like me, then incorporate small amounts into my daily intake or go and enjoy a meal out and do not feel guilty, just log them and try to stick to your calorie limits. If it derails you and you lose the will to stop eating the bad stuff (all been there) just avoid the temptations.

I never thought i could stop after one biscuit, but i can now and feel great about it. It takes time and a bit of experimenting to what suits you, but you will find it.

Oh and if you're having to "cheat" then you clearly have not mastered the point of a balanced diet and the mentality of moderation, which is the only thing that will keep the weight off and you healthy.

Really??? Sorry will have to disagree, i am 11 lbs. away from losing 300 lbs. in 29 months and if I haven't figured it out by now than god help me.... lol The word cheat in this context simply means eat outside of the norm. I log 50-70 miles a week at the gym and put in 3 days of weight training, I prefer to stick to a meal plan of chicken, fish, and lean beef as well as whole grains and veggies that makes up the bulk of my week. So when I say I am having a cheat meal (Pizza Hut, BW3, Mexican, etc) to me it is a cheat meal from my normal routine, it certainly doesn't mean I don't know how to eat in moderation or that I haven't mastered my lifestyle......... Just my 2 cents....... :-)

YESSSS!!! And WOW, good job!!!

Today is my cheat day its my break from exercising and I can eat foods I don't normally eat.. but not too much.

Is it good to have a cheat day or not?

IMO, it depends. If you're already ripped and trying to maintain your hard-earned physique, eating anything in moderation for the whole day maybe fine. However, if you're still trying to shed off some pounds, I suppose you do cheat meal then having to cheat the whole day. Personally, I have cheat meals 3x/week and it worked for me.

I eat lower on some days and allow more calories on weekend, but the calories for the week are still the same. I guess it's kind of like zig zagging. I like to be able to have a meal out or drinks on the weekend if I want to so I make them my higher days and it seems to work for me.


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Oh and if you're having to "cheat" then you clearly have not mastered the point of a balanced diet and the mentality of moderation, which is the only thing that will keep the weight off and you healthy.

Think this a little unfair, everyone has to handle their weightloss differently.

I use the word cheat for items that many consider as the less healthy options. By calling them cheats then it makes me feel better and helps me deal with these items in moderation.

I and many others are having to deal with major lifestyle changes so it is case of finding a way to get your brain to think in a different way. The word cheat works well for me, it could be a bad item or an XXX item, does not really matter what you do or do not call it, as long as i train my head to think about how i view and consume these foods.

So according to the quote, no i have not mastered the mentality yet, i have a long way to go, I will continue to use the cheat word, until a healthy lifestyle becomes the norm. If i have to use the cheat way of thinking for the rest of my weight loss and maintence then i will. It has worked so far and i am commited and will continue to stick with it and my CHEAT items.

Cheat day or Cheat meal if done in moderation and logged into MFP is a good thing and will keep you from feeling like you are on a diet. Once we start cutting out everything we have liked and only eat 100% healthy then it starts feeling like a diet. I personally believe that we should never be on diets. We should be able to eat about anything we want as long as we stay in our guidelines set out in our MFP profile, it may mean only a couple bites of something we really love that is not so good for us but I will never feel like I am on a diet.
Diets fail everytime for most of us. I prefer to call it a lifestyle change, better food choices, proper portions, moderate excersize..........

I like a cheat meal every now and then but I have to be careful because I can fall really hard off the wagon so I try to limit them. I just had Christmas/bday/new years all in the same week so I am not doing any cheat meals this weekend as I had plenty during all of that. But I am making more of an effort to keep my cheat meal from turning into a binge because then I really blow everything. I am still feeling the effects of this past weekend (tired, sick, sore, just blah) so I try to keep that in mind as well when I want to eat crappy. It isn't always worth the effects it has the next day if it is extreme. I think the cheat meal is the best bet and not a whole day.

I don't know that I call them cheat days but I do eat more "bad" stuff on long run days. I also believe in moderation and rarely deprive myself of anything that I want. I've lived this way for 3 years and successfully lost and kept off 80 lbs. Is this the best method?? I don't know. I'm just doing what works for me.

Why have an entire day of eating nothing but what the community labels as "bad"? It may take some mental effort, but if you eat those "bad" things in moderation and incorporate them into your daily diet then you should be good to go. I'm in the Army living in Korea in a set of BEQ that doesn't have a full kitchen. I do not have a stove/oven, so I had to go out and buy a deep pan griddle to suffice as my cooking method. Since I've been here in Korea I've indulged in many foods that are labeled as "bad" like Taco Bell, Pizza, deep fried foods (Yaki Mandu, which is excellent), of course Subway is on the list and also a place called the American Grill Eatery. In addition to that, I've also experienced the Korean meals at the Katusa Snack Bars we have on the installation as well as going on the economy (outside the installation) to go eat some real Korean food. Also, I've indulged in Quizno's and Mr. Kebab (lamb meat is the best). All these foods are considered "bad" except for most of the Korean diet since it's basically nothing but cabbage and meat in small proportions. It's been difficult to stay on a straight line, but nonetheless I've lost about 12 lbs in the past 2 months. And I've been losing without going to the gym (I don't do PT in the morning because I'm a shift worker, so the whole thing of being in the Army and doing mandatory PT doesn't apply to me). Adjusting my diet was the key. I still eat "bad" foods now, on a daily basis, and continue to lose. It's about your proportion and moderation in which you consume these foods.