Cheat Day

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  • BatmanReturns
    BatmanReturns Posts: 3
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    The first month I was losing 2-3 pounds a week like clockwork. When I hit a plateau (4 straight days of hard training and below daily goal and didn't lose any weight) is when I built in a weekly "free calorie" day. For me it's every Sunday. I do a long cardio session that morning and start hitting the fun foods that afternoon. Pizza and ice cream are the two main staples, but today I'll have some donuts instead of the ice cream. I track the calories and find that I go over the daily goal on this day by an average of 3500 calories. I weigh myself daily every morning (some say you shouldn't do that). However, after my free calorie day I stay off the scale for three days so I don't freak myself out mentally due to the short spike in weight. 3-4 days after my free calorie day I'm usually down 1-2 pounds from where I was before I enjoyed those extra calories. It it works don't fix it. :happy:
  • gemiwing
    gemiwing Posts: 1,525 Member
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    Amen for Free Days as a better term! It's not cheating if you plan for it in your calorie goals.

    I can't lay claim to the term- it's an old Body for Life term that just resonates better with me than 'cheat' day.

    Exactly- Can't cheat when I'm following the plan-that's just logical!
  • YcatsFursworth
    YcatsFursworth Posts: 278 Member
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    I' trying to do no cheat days! haha! I have two planed for the next month though. one for Feb 25th (birthday!!!!!) and one for March 13th ( 2 year anniversary). might not do that one on the 13th though because of work... just what ever day we celebrate it.

    that being said I have cookie dough in the frig. when I cook it I know I'm gonna eat some! but I'm planning to only eat one or two and it will not completely kill my day if I'm good the rest of the day I will not go over my calories....
  • donutnut
    donutnut Posts: 1
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    I have just started here. Whenever I follow a plan rigidly and to the letter my results are always a little disappointing. Maybe 1 or 2 lbs a week - that's ok, but it's not the big numbers I used to get when I had a happy-go-lucky attitude to dieting. My best results always had a cheat day involved. It kept me motivated, plus it sort of 'released' my weight loss for the week (once the weight of the food was out of my system). There is more to weight loss than a simple calorie deficit - maybe it's motivation, maybe it's calorie spiking, maybe it's keeping the starvation mode at bay - nobody quite knows - but for me, one day a week eating all the things that make your brain go "mmmm" until it's stopped going "mmmm" because there is no more "mmmm " left, works. And I'm going to do it. I call it a 'trough day'.
  • r1ghtpath
    r1ghtpath Posts: 701 Member
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    what this guy said!!

    the last time i followed a program "diet and exercise plan" was back in 2002. i did body for life for 6 weeks. it's recommended in their program to follow the "diet" to a T for 6 days. and one day a week you eat. you eat anything you want!!

    in those 6 weeks on the body for life plan i lost 18 lbs! and the exercise component was not crazy. it was cardio ( 30 min) 3 days a week and weights 3 days a week with one rest day.

    i think most of my loss was because one day a week i freaked out my metabolism after 6 days of the same thing........ so, just yesterday i decided to start doing this again. 6 days of careful monitoring and eating well, 1 day of not. i'm guessing i'll start to see pretty good changes in a short amount of time ( again ;-) )
    I could not progress without my cheat day, or as we prefer to say in the scientific community: "RE-FEED THERAPY"

    The science behind calorie spiking is about shocking your metabolism, stoking the fires so to speak.
    I set aside one day per week where I eat about twice my daily goal, and once a month I set a day for a total food orgy where I eat like a pig for 24 hours.
    This has both physiological and psychological benefits.
    It's nice knowing I am never more than 7 days from eating anything I desire in whatever quantity I want.

    I'd be miserable otherwise.
  • MarilynGrube
    MarilynGrube Posts: 75 Member
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    My "FAT-URDAY" is once a week. Just a meal though. If I go back to my old eating habits it makes me very sick!! So just one cheat meal once a week!
  • MelissaL582
    MelissaL582 Posts: 1,422 Member
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    Depends. Thinking about the past year, I would say once a month, maybe twice a month.
  • McBatty
    McBatty Posts: 18 Member
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  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    I don't have cheat meals or cheat days. I eat what I want, when I want it. I'm all about moderation. For me, having to wait for a special meal or a special day to eat something I really want seems too much like a "diet". If I want a Reese's, I want it NOW and not in a week or whatever. I eat what I want, log it and move on. :)
  • scoste
    scoste Posts: 19 Member
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    I usually have one cheat meal but in moderation. I love wine and now have on the weekends with dinner and work it off in the gym.
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
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    I find that I don't have a cheat day per say but I eat food that is bad for me occasionally when I have to or I want to. I always log it into my diary and then if it leaves me with very little calories for dinner I just hit the gym harder that night.

    I find that I want to "cheat' etc but once I log it I panic and go to the gym haha, otherwise I will be having celery sticks for supper.

    This past Fri I had 92 calories left and it was only 1pm..... so after work, off to the gym I went.

    I find that eating that lunch at Pizza Hut with my hubby was worth working my *kitten* off later on so I could have a decent supper, his company for a lunch date was worth it !! ;)
  • Alphawolf02
    Alphawolf02 Posts: 94
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    I love the term "Free day" instead of "cheat". I usually have my day on Saturday. Even though my family and I go out on Friday, I usually plan for it by eating better throughout the day. The hardest thing for me to limit is juice and cookies. I love them both. But, I don't fret if I go over on a day other than my free day, because, while I do pay attention to my daily caloric intake, I also look at my weekly intake. Because I am in this for the long run, I try not to worry about the day to day.
  • fatty2fabby
    fatty2fabby Posts: 415 Member
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    I don't have cheat meals or cheat days. I eat what I want, when I want it. I'm all about moderation. For me, having to wait for a special meal or a special day to eat something I really want seems too much like a "diet". If I want a Reese's, I want it NOW and not in a week or whatever. I eat what I want, log it and move on. :)

    ^ im FINALLY doing this after months and months of cheat meals / days ... sooo much better!!
    it took me a long time to realize this but the weight is coming off even though i have a cookie or a small bag of chips every few days as the op said its all in moderation and having control over your eating habits :) x
  • hannata86
    hannata86 Posts: 57
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    I dont have a cheat day, rather a spike day. Have worked out my weekly allowance to include it so I will lose weight. 3000-4000 calories on a spike day, 1300-1500 daily for the rest of the week. (my overall 1lb loss would be 1700 a day i think)

    So my "cheat" day is basically free (have you ever tried to eat 4k calories in one day? lol) but everything is logged and calculated. No guilt and no reason to give up as I've not stopped logging. Try to keep all my junk to my spike day and keep drinking plenty of water to flush it out :)
  • Miss_dannii
    Miss_dannii Posts: 1,351 Member
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    I only had one cheat day in the past 6 weeks (since I started MFP and my diet) and that was on Saturday, went over by about 500, was back on track the next day and really good etc, well I have gained 2lbs because of that cheat day, wtf :/ xx
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
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    I only had one cheat day in the past 6 weeks (since I started MFP and my diet) and that was on Saturday, went over by about 500, was back on track the next day and really good etc, well I have gained 2lbs because of that cheat day, wtf :/ xx

    Water retention after eating more calories/carbs is not fat gain. The weight will come back down. Give it a couple days.
  • Shriffee
    Shriffee Posts: 250 Member
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    I had my first cheat day this week, after a month.
  • Miss_dannii
    Miss_dannii Posts: 1,351 Member
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    I only had one cheat day in the past 6 weeks (since I started MFP and my diet) and that was on Saturday, went over by about 500, was back on track the next day and really good etc, well I have gained 2lbs because of that cheat day, wtf :/ xx

    Water retention after eating more calories/carbs is not fat gain. The weight will come back down. Give it a couple days.

    Thanks, I really hope so xx
  • smiles4support
    smiles4support Posts: 73
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    I generally have 2 high calorie meals a week, but I earn them!
  • dawnblu
    dawnblu Posts: 95 Member
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    The bigger cheat is sodium. I have, well actually I used to have, high blood pressure. I love eating at spicy places like chilis and would eat alot there. The problem is almost all their food has your whole day of sodium... in one dish. So although I am not over a lot on calories my sodium levels are huge... 6000 mg sometimes. So that day and over the next few I drink alot of water and get the water retention down.
    I have the same problem. I found several "fast food" places where I can get a cheat -type meal that is within my calorie limit but the sodium is off the charts. For instance, McDonalds chicken nuggets (6 pc) and a side salad, or Steak N Shake double steakburger, small fry and a salad... yummy! but they send my sodium through the roof and my blood pressure spikes. I don't like that feeling so I limit it. Last week, I didnt' eat out once and I lost 2.5 lbs so that is some motivation, but I also plan for cheat meals in my normal calories for the day so I don't feel deprived. I log all my food and exercise for the day in the morning so I know what i can eat and have it to look forward to during the day... sounds weird but it helps me plan.

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