Tell me about your cheat days...

if i have been sticking to my calorie goal pretty closely, i do like to have a splurge day once a week or every other week. mfp does not factor in a cheat day.

but, like you, sometimes i find my food choices disappointing and then think "well, what a waste!" like the other night, i had a philly cheesesteak as well, and it just didn't hit the spot :$ i was just thinking "eh, don't ever need to eat one of those again." but then, if i go all out on sushi, i'm always satisfied

I too prefer to have a cheat meal once in awhile rather than a whole cheat day. And yes, I have totally found myself being completely disappointed by what I choose. Sometimes I'll go and get something I know is not good for me, but I'll get very small portion of it. That way I get the taste of it, but I"m not overwhelmed with 2000 calories of it, kwim? Like maybe a philly cheesesteak in subway kids size instead of 6 inch or foot long. Something like that. I certainly have my vices, but I try to get them in very small doses. I also don't have cheat meals on a weekly basis. I do it irregularly, which might not be good, but it's less than once a week.

HTH

im in keto...6 days on, 1 day where i eat whatever i please...this past weekend (1130 sat night-1130 sun night) i had probably nearly 6000 calories, high fat high carb...and im down 11 or so pounds in a month

I don't really consider any food bad. If I want it, I eat it, in a portion that fits my calories and macro goals.

But if I want /need more I also have cheat day once a week, though I do not think of it as a cheat. Its a free day, or a no worries on food choices day. I still track what I eat for my own education, so I understand the calories in my food choices. But don't panic about the choices.

Some days I may eat good, with a "bad" meal. Sometimes the whole day is "bad" - just depends on whats going on, my mood etc.

Have lost 60 lbs doing so, close to my goal weight now, and still losing. (10 lbs to go)

To gain one pound, you would need to eat 3500 calories OVER your BMR calorie level needed to maintain your body (which is is about 1230 calories for me as a short older women, assuming I did nothing but lay in bed all day, no walking, no exercise - nothing)

So even if I eat 4500 calories on my free day, I "might" gain a pound - Assuming I was not shorter/ in a deficit on my calorie goal on the other days in the week. But if you eat at a calorie deficit normally, you are short on other days already. Your body does not count calsonly in a 24 hour period - it uses a continual range. So it would count calories over a week, or month, etc.

And I exercise 6 days a week also. So I do have a deficit there added in.

At worst you may gain 1 pound ? And that would not be every week, since you eat different all the time.

So its hard to undo a weeks worth of good eating, unless you just totally give up the next day and never get back on track. And for some people that is exactly what may happen. For them a free day would not work. To each his own.

Keep in mind, I always "appear" to gain weight for a few days, after a free day. Its water weight from excess salt though, and excess carbs. But usually in 3-4 days of good eatting, it dissapears. Happeans every week, and I still lose .

For me - it keeps me sane. If I want it, and cannot work it into my daily calories, I know in a few days I can have that "whatever I crave" - otherwise I am bummed because I miss "whatever it is"

Not I do not binge like crazy, and eat just to eat, or make myself sick. But I do eat what I want. If I want fast food for lunch, and donuts for breakfast, and a Blizzard for dessert - I have it guilt free. but I also still try to meet my personal macro goals, and eat reasonable portions.

I don't have 4 donuts just cause I can - but I may have one or two with a glass of protein filled milk.

Its a lifestyle for me, not a temporary diet. I donot want to live my life never having a bowl of chocolate peanut butter ice cream or movie theater buttered popcorn, with some chocolate candy, and a soda. Just not everyday. Not even every week. But as needed.

I had a day that I didn't cheat and I had spent almost as many as if I would have....let me explain.

I haven't let myself have arbys, mcdonalds, any of the food that as a college student i was used to eating all the time. I had 900 calories left and I realized wow I can get that tonight if i want. I eventually decided that I would get erberts and gerberts instead and get a healthy turkey sandwich and have calories left over. I let myself have chips and a cookie because I assumed it wouldn't have been near as bad as mcdonalds. I totaled them up and bam I was over budged. (only by about 45 calories) but still annoying that I felt I was sacrificing and still used as many.