How do you do YOUR cheat day.

So would you still consider it a "good" day if you had, say, a burger, but still stayed under on your calories?

I call that a "lean" day if its just the one burger tbh.

Im not "dieting" so i have nothing to cheat on! Just eat a moderate deficit daily, exercise hard, hit macros, its all good!

I don't call it a cheat day if I stay under calories. Occasionally (say, when it's a big holiday or company comes into town), I'll take a day (sometimes a few) off of counting completely. These are what I call cheat days, but they don't happen every week. I also continue to workout even if I am off counting. For a once a week thing, I would suggest doing one meal where you allow yourself to eat whatever you want, and don't worry about logging it. If you try to log it, in my experience, you can end up with guilt, which makes the freedom not worth it. Such a splurge will not hinder your weight loss, and could likely increase your sbility to stick to your plan on other days and meals. Good luck!!

Any day you stay under/within your calorie allotment is a good day! My 'cheat' days consist of not even keeping track of the calories - or if I am really feeling a little guilty or afraid that I mat go over board with drinks with friends then I try to make sure I workout a little longer/harder that day to help balance out the calories. Obviously the more you cheat on cheat day the less effective your diet is going to be - but we need to live a little as well. I can 'cheat' once a week and still stay within my weekly calorie allotment (think of it as using up banked calories from earlier in the week from exercising etc.).

My cheat day is usually a weekend day. I eat whatever I want might have a few beers too.

My "cheat" days are days where I eat less healthy. Generally it's more like a cheat meal, not a whole day. I give myself one cheat meal per week and I can use it on whatever day I want.

For example, today was my cheat day and I went to Burger King and had a 730 calorie lunch. It was delicious. I have no regrets.

I just plugged my whole day into my diary and I'm still under for my goal by about 70 calories. If I had been over that would have been fine too, 'cuz it was a cheat meal. Generally I'm under or on target on my cheat days, and can always throw in an extra workout if I'm over by a lot.

Do my cheat days stop me from losing weight? Well, maybe a little. I've lost just about 10 pounds in 9 weeks. Maybe I would have lost a little more if I didn't cheat, but I would rather lose weight slowly and cheat sometimes, than lose it quickly and then go on a three week food bender and wind up back where I started.

Mine is more a half day. I'll usually save "cheat days" for a day when we have plans with friends. Eat healthy all day except for that one meal and then "indulge" a bit. That way I don't go crazy and end up licking chocolate frosting off a pizza or something.

I don't like calling it "cheating," because that means you're doing something bad. Eating the occasional candy bar or ice cream isn't cheating if it's incorporated into an overall healthy diet.

I remember running the Long Beach Half Marathon and a woman I passed had scrawled on the back of her shirt, "I run for donuts." I couldn't help but comment as I ran past.

My cheat day is usually just a cheat meal. I can't put the Chinese food down xD. However, I always try to log it afterward. It keeps me conscious of what I ate. Plus I read that a cheat meal / day can trick your body into thinking you're continually getting that high calorie intake so it continues burning calories at a decent rate rather than becoming accustom to the low calorie meals every day and then stalling out after a month or so.

I eat twice my daily goal during my weekly "free day"
And once a month is my binge day - 24 hours of pure fun - EAT EAT EAT!
About 10,000 calories -- LOVE IT!

The hardest part is turning it off.

I was actually pretty bad this weekend. I usually eat pretty good, but this weekend I choose unheathly things to eat including chicken strips and fries and cold stone ice cream. I did however realize what i was eatting and logged it and managed to stay under my calorie goal. But that little set back for college hangover eatting ended with Sunday night. Im vouching to stay on track.

Recommendation: ALWAYS input your food to MFP. Even on Thanksgiving...you get the idea. It is incredibly informative.

I usually give myself one meal (not day), on the weekend, where I indulge on my favorites (anything involving bacon, steak, big monster sandwich, etc.) Even if I'm over for the day, I make sure that when I am eating it i'm in the moment. Meaning I savor every bite and NEVER regret it afterwards. Get back on your healthy eating at the next meal.....Just a thought.

Our trainer recommended we plan a "cheat meal" instead of a "cheat day"... here's her math. Say you've kept a consistent 300 calorie deficit all week, netting you an 1800-calorie deficit by Friday night. Saturday is your cheat day.

Breakfast - three 4-inch homemade whole wheat pancakes, 3 tbsp syrup, 2 eggs, apple juice = 770 calories (personal example - whoops)
Lunch - McDonald's: 2 McMinis, med fries, small Coke, vanilla cone = 813 calories
Supper - 2 pizza pockets = 460 calories
Snack - can of diet Coke and a snickers bar = 271 calories
Snack - microwave popcorn in the evening = 160 calories
plus you skip your workout in favor of a movie because it's your day off... = let's say 300 calories not burned

Now your cheat day is at 2774 calories... more if your usual workout burns more than 300 calories... enough to undo the entire rest of the week. And that's assuming there was no alcohol involved.


That was pretty sobering. So was realizing that my 2"x2" piece of birthday cake this weekend cost me 200 calories. :grumble:

Mine was not a cheat day but a cheat meal. Every saturday I would go out usually for a mexican food meal!

I'm not a cheater. Whats the point? You got to have the commitment i think in order to reach your goals. Wasn't cheating what got us larger in the first place? Now that I started feeding my body the right foods and right amounts, my body craves wholesome good for me foods. I just don't see the point in having cheat days.

We used to eat take out every Friday and Saturday and decided the best way to break that habit was just to have the last Friday of the month be our cheat day. So I'll have take out and I have a ton of baking ingredients left over from the holidays so I might buy some butter and make cookies too. It'll be interesting to see how it works out.