i dont do cheat days... but today wasn't awesome :/

badr0mance
badr0mance Posts: 29
edited November 8 in Food and Nutrition
today i worked out, had a good breakfast, everything normal... until my BFs family got chinese food for dinner :/

i didn't eat until i was about to bust open (like i did before). i had a little bit of everything but am pretty sure i did not eat enough to go over my calorie goal. i haven't had anything remotely bad in well over 2 weeks, and i don't plan on eating anything else tonight.

should i be worried? i don't want to gain weight. is this a major setback, or just a once in a while indulgence (a "healthier" indulgence compared to how i used to eat.)

any feedback would be great.
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Replies

  • shovav91
    shovav91 Posts: 2,335 Member
    Experts recommend a cheat meal every week. The spike in calories helps keep your metabolism in gear. Don't be too hard on yourself; it's good to indulge once in a while, and one meal in the scope of things makes no difference at all.
  • badr0mance
    badr0mance Posts: 29
    thanks :D

    im feeling better about this
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    but am pretty sure i did not eat enough to go over my calorie goal. i haven't had anything remotely bad in well over 2 weeks, and i don't plan on eating anything else tonight.
    should i be worried? i don't want to gain weight. is this a major setback, or just a once in a while indulgence (a "healthier" indulgence compared to how i used to eat.)

    Yes, I think you should be slightly worried about your feelings toward food. You say you didn't go over your calorie goal. So there is no issue other than in your mind. This was neither a setback nor an indulgence. You won't gain fat in a calorie deficit. You may gain temporary water weight.
  • _persephone_
    _persephone_ Posts: 138 Member
    Also, you can pat yourself on the back for indulging in moderation rather than pigging out. Social eating situations can be really hard when you're trying to eat healthily, and I think you handled it really well :)
  • Rayman79
    Rayman79 Posts: 2,009 Member
    I dont have 'cheat days' as such, but every now and then life gets in the way ;). When that happens, I don't want to be that guy who sits in the corner sulking that he cant eat anything on offer. I live life, enjoy myself (within reason of course), and don't feel at all bad about it!

    I had a spike day this week when I went out to a friends place for a bbq, ended up at double my daily caloric allowance, my solution... a hard workout the next morning and not an ounce of regret. I like to cycle my calorie intake a bit too, so over the week it is at goal, but not the same amount every day.
  • badr0mance
    badr0mance Posts: 29
    thanks guys! and taso42, i think you're right- its mostly in my head!

    everyone feel free to add.... great advice!
  • jayjaybee1015
    jayjaybee1015 Posts: 17
    My wife and I went to the gym, and then were to eat out with my family. They cancelled and we decided to go out anyways. Not only did we eat out, I took down a 1,500 calorie Spicy Crispy Beef at Cheesecake factory, and followed it up with a piece of cheesecake. I ate huge! But I recorded everything I ate. I got right back at it today. I have no problems with what I did, as it was the only time for the week I allowed myself to get crazy. But it felt great!

    14149439.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • alicia__nicolle
    alicia__nicolle Posts: 45 Member
    I don't think you should be worried, this week I ate not so great (cake and chocolate) b/c I was on vacation and I didn't gain anything. So I'm sure you should be okay
  • kvreeken
    kvreeken Posts: 137 Member
    today i worked out, had a good breakfast, everything normal... until my BFs family got chinese food for dinner :/

    i didn't eat until i was about to bust open (like i did before). i had a little bit of everything but am pretty sure i did not eat enough to go over my calorie goal. i haven't had anything remotely bad in well over 2 weeks, and i don't plan on eating anything else tonight.

    should i be worried? i don't want to gain weight. is this a major setback, or just a once in a while indulgence (a "healthier" indulgence compared to how i used to eat.)

    any feedback would be great.




    Oh my. Girl you need to NOT REGRET and move on. Enjoy occasionally. You need to be able to follow a healthy program for life. Are you planning on not enjoying a Chinese take out feast forever!?
  • nickyskins
    nickyskins Posts: 100 Member
    Make Sundays ur cheat day and eat whatever u want.
  • KFuerst27
    KFuerst27 Posts: 43
    You definitely should not be worried. We're on a quest for a healthier lifestyle, not a life-long diet. Enjoying food is part of life, especially when it's in moderation and surrounded by great choices.
  • pajoley
    pajoley Posts: 2
    I think that we all need to have days like that once in awhile. i think that if we don't allow ourselves cheat moments, it makes it way more difficult to stick to the program. Perhaps that comes with thinking of what you are doing as a lifestyle change, instead of a diet. Pat yourself on the back for not over indulging (portion control), for seeing it as a one time thing, :flowerforyou: and for jumping back on the bandwagon instead of thinking it's over cause you slipped a little. I'm hoping that this take on the whole lifestyle change is what will make me successful this time!
  • bpurc22
    bpurc22 Posts: 180 Member
    Don't call it a "cheat day"...it makes it sound like you're doing something wrong! shov is right, you need to mix up your caloric intake so that your body doesn't get used to a certain amount of calories and so that you can healthily lose weight (1. maintain metabolism rate, 2. retain muscle mass, 3. lose fat)..

    Some people "zig-zag" calories (say if MFP said your goal each day was 1800 calories, they would average 1800 calories in a week, but not adhere to 1800 per day). You can train your body to not get too comfortable or efficient. Make it use everything!
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
    Cheat days are bad.
    Nobody should ever do that.

    I prefer "Re-Feed Calorie Spiking" on certain days -- :wink:

    Doesn't that sound so much better than "cheat day"?
  • thatsnumberwang
    thatsnumberwang Posts: 398 Member
    What everyone else said. Also, don't be freaked out if you see the scale go up tomorrow - Chinese food has a ton of sodium and can bump up your water weight - it'll come right off as soon as your sodium gets back down to normal.
  • MammaEFit4Life
    MammaEFit4Life Posts: 4
    i think you're right- its mostly in my head!


    You are your own worst enemy and worlds biggest critic. I know exactly how you feel. I am TOTALLY the same way. Just try and be easy on yourself sometimes...:smile:
  • brittanyjeanxo
    brittanyjeanxo Posts: 1,831 Member
    I feel you. Though I will be under my weekly goal by what is, if I'm honest with myself, too much, I was kind of hard on myself yesterday when I splurged a little on a cannoli and a piece of mochi. Put me almost 400 cals over. But today, I tried to eat a little better and exercised. No biggie :)
  • triciaj66
    triciaj66 Posts: 253 Member
    My personal trainer told me that you should not have a whole day of eatting what u want but instead up just one meal every week .. She says if you do the whole day than you might like it and do it more often ... Just get back on it and u will be fine !! :)
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    I don't do "cheat days" either - personally I don't like the idea of setting out to cheat - on who? Me?

    But, of course there are some days when I'm over my calorie goal and some days when I'm under. I just aim to have the majority of them pretty close to my goal and don't get worried about days under or over as long as they don't happen too often.

    This sounds like a positive day for you - you're learning to enjoy food (and social occasions) without having to end the day completely stuffed. I'd call that a victory!
  • sc1572
    sc1572 Posts: 2,309 Member
    This will NOT set you back! Everyone has days like these. In my opinion, they're needed every so often. You worked it off before, ate it, logged it, and that's it. Tomorrow is a new day!
  • ALH1981
    ALH1981 Posts: 538 Member
    i had a shocking week and weekend - i need to get back on track immediately - i do not not not want to get not he scale tomorrow.
  • bag4498
    bag4498 Posts: 14 Member
    I had a cheat day this week. I do make sure its not the day before weigh in though. NO REGRETS.
  • doornumber03
    doornumber03 Posts: 221 Member
    i usually do 1-2 cheat meals a week.....I usually kill it for the exercise that day to try and off set it....you need to have them to keep you sane.
  • PercivalHackworth
    PercivalHackworth Posts: 1,437 Member
    I agree with what has been said here. Cheating... against who, what ? bulkers use that word, but it's another purpose. In your case, it's just a day you enjoyed eating something different. I mean... then what ? You are still there, aren't you ?

    Some diet strategies say that if people eat more on some days, but that allow em to keep the diet on the track for a long time, it's then much better than being a control freak, and ending beating yourself up because of the unavoidable binges to come.
    Over the months I've experienced that, the more control you are trying to do, the more binges you have. It's not called a diet, it's called torture and intolerance against myself :)
    And again, a day won't change anything, weeks do, months, and years also ;)
  • Ambrogio1
    Ambrogio1 Posts: 518 Member
    today i worked out, had a good breakfast, everything normal... until my BFs family got chinese food for dinner :/

    i didn't eat until i was about to bust open (like i did before). i had a little bit of everything but am pretty sure i did not eat enough to go over my calorie goal. i haven't had anything remotely bad in well over 2 weeks, and i don't plan on eating anything else tonight.

    should i be worried? i don't want to gain weight. is this a major setback, or just a once in a while indulgence (a "healthier" indulgence compared to how i used to eat.)

    any feedback would be great.

    To me that is an impromptu splurge. I try to stay away from that, does it happen? Yes but stay away from it. You feel guilty when you do it. Now having said that, I eat a ton of garbage food every week. I plan for it, work it into my plans and then dominate it. Having set time to eat whatever you want is healthy and very good to do. I always have done this since I was a kid but now I know why its ok. Alot of people do it on this board. Good Luck
  • Ambrogio1
    Ambrogio1 Posts: 518 Member
    My personal trainer told me that you should not have a whole day of eatting what u want but instead up just one meal every week .. She says if you do the whole day than you might like it and do it more often ... Just get back on it and u will be fine !! :)

    I love Trainers. Most of them are so off its actually sad.
    Tell your trainer I ate 9000 calories in 3 days and lost 1 lb this week and had my best workouts in over a yr. And then tell her it was in 2 meals and I skipped breakfast all week! DOOOOOOOH!
  • bpurc22
    bpurc22 Posts: 180 Member
    My personal trainer told me that you should not have a whole day of eatting what u want but instead up just one meal every week .. She says if you do the whole day than you might like it and do it more often ... Just get back on it and u will be fine !! :)

    I love Trainers. Most of them are so off its actually sad.
    Tell your trainer I ate 9000 calories in 3 days and lost 1 lb this week and had my best workouts in over a yr. And then tell her it was in 2 meals and I skipped breakfast all week! DOOOOOOOH!

    clap clap clap clap clap clap

    "Cheat days" are healthy. It's just when you have two or three days in a week going way over caloric expenditure that you fail your week (I have unfortunately experienced this many times).
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
    The only thing that might happen is that the sodium causes you to retain water. (:
  • Beatlegirl66
    Beatlegirl66 Posts: 68 Member
    I can really relate. On Friday night I ended up going to the Golden Corral Buffet. Now prior to my attempts to lose weight, I would go wild and eat everything there. I did much better with my food choices and didn't eat like a pig and was full. Thanks to the workout I had earlier in the day, I was under my calorie intake. But I sure felt guilty! And guess what? I lost 3 pounds this week! Who knew?
  • Ambrogio1
    Ambrogio1 Posts: 518 Member
    My personal trainer told me that you should not have a whole day of eatting what u want but instead up just one meal every week .. She says if you do the whole day than you might like it and do it more often ... Just get back on it and u will be fine !! :)

    I love Trainers. Most of them are so off its actually sad.
    Tell your trainer I ate 9000 calories in 3 days and lost 1 lb this week and had my best workouts in over a yr. And then tell her it was in 2 meals and I skipped breakfast all week! DOOOOOOOH!

    clap clap clap clap clap clap

    "Cheat days" are healthy. It's just when you have two or three days in a week going way over caloric expenditure that you fail your week (I have unfortunately experienced this many times).

    The more and more I learn my body the more I realize its really just the total number at the end of the week.
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