Cheat days?

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bethieannie
bethieannie Posts: 75 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How many of you have "cheat days?" Why do you have them, and what day of the week? How is it going for you?

I personally weigh in on Tuesdays, and let myself eat less than healthy foods for the rest of that day (I stay close to my calorie allotment, but often eat takeout or processed snacks). My reasoning? If I had a great weigh in, I am not going to sabotage it by going nuts on junk food, and if i had a bad weigh in I am that much more conscious of what I am putting in my mouth. Plus if I go overboard, I have the rest of the week to make up for it.
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Replies

  • ckdub428
    ckdub428 Posts: 453 Member
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    I recently heard someone call them "spike days" because cheat implies guilt. I usually have one day that is high and its normally when I need to to help my sanity.
  • LolaGotThin
    LolaGotThin Posts: 112 Member
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    I do have cheat days but I usually only cheat for one meal and snack and that's it. It really depends on how I'm feeling. For example, it was that TOM and I had this killer craving for sea salt and vinegar potato chips. I had the same craving for two days so I caved and got a tiny bag of Tim's Cascades. They were delicious and hit the spot and nixed that craving.
    Then there are holidays or birthdays or special occasions. In general, I get between one and three cheat days a month. :> I haven't had much issue with that.
  • EatClenTrenHard
    EatClenTrenHard Posts: 339 Member
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    4000 calorie once per week. and 2700 calorie(my maintenance) once per week. the rest days are 1kcal deficit per day.
  • cantjustcant
    cantjustcant Posts: 1,027 Member
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    The first 43 years of my life were cheat days....I am caught up
  • itsuki
    itsuki Posts: 520 Member
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    Once or twice a week (usually one week day and one weekend). I call them cheat days rather than spike days because I usually don't see a spike in my net calories - I eat one bad meal (mmm french fries) but I compensate either by more exercise or less calories at other meals.
  • mjbrenner
    mjbrenner Posts: 222 Member
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    I like the term "cheat day", because I am breaking my daily routine. "Free day" is a another good term. I dislike the "spike" terminology, only because it is tied to a specific commercial diet plan, whereas a cheat day is more generic in focus.

    I have one cheat day per week, usually Sundays, where I eat two to three times my normal daily allowance, and no food is off limits. To balance this, I eat less than my MFP recommended calories the other six days per week. For example, MFP recommends I eat 1990 calories per day, so I do 1500 calories six days a week, and 4500 on my cheat day. It has been working really, really well for me. I don't get hungry on my lower calorie days, and I can really enjoy some crazy meals on my cheat day.

    When they are part of your diet plan, cheat days also have the advantage of giving you a chance to be "normal" in social situations. Thanksgiving day I did not need to be the only family member on a diet. I ate until I was stuffed and it did not interrupt my weight loss goals at all.
  • Buddhasmiracle
    Buddhasmiracle Posts: 925 Member
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    The first 43 years of my life were cheat days....I am caught up

    Ditto.
  • skinnyeli
    skinnyeli Posts: 1
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    Cheat days really arent a good idea at all. Its better to have a "cheat meal" that way, you don't go out of control and blow your entire week on a single day. Perhaps either every friday or every sunday, you can let yourself indulge with dessert and whatever meal youre craving :)
  • shaycat
    shaycat Posts: 980
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    I have cheat days. I call them "relax" days. I do them on the weekends and enjoy a nice meal and some wine with my husband.
    It makes me feel like I am not depriving myself of anything. I eat well during the week and relax on the weekends.
  • robinogue
    robinogue Posts: 1,117 Member
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    I don't have any cheat "days", I do have a cheat meal. It used to be every Saturday. Now it's on occassions and mostly on the weekend.
  • mjbrenner
    mjbrenner Posts: 222 Member
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    Cheat days really arent a good idea at all. Its better to have a "cheat meal" that way, you don't go out of control and blow your entire week on a single day. Perhaps either every friday or every sunday, you can let yourself indulge with dessert and whatever meal youre craving :)

    Some people do better with a single cheat meal and more freedom in their daily routine. Some of us are happy to have less freedom day-to-day in exchange for a full-blown cheat day. Neither is inherently wrong.
  • fourthewebbs
    fourthewebbs Posts: 11 Member
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    I like your way of thinking
  • holthaus30
    holthaus30 Posts: 58 Member
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    Once or twice a week (usually one week day and one weekend). I call them cheat days rather than spike days because I usually don't see a spike in my net calories - I eat one bad meal (mmm french fries) but I compensate either by more exercise or less calories at other meals.

    Im the same except I do it one time a week, which is at random, or one time in two weeks. I feel too guilty if I cheat once a week consistently.
  • lovinmysoldier
    lovinmysoldier Posts: 156 Member
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    I do and have for awhile. I pick at most one day a week as a free day, no counting calories. Multiple reasons really. Mentally when I need a break from counting and not think about it, secondly I believe giving the body a bit extra helps to prevent plateuas or lack of weight loss due to decreased calorie intake. I do have rules though, I will only continue to do it as long as my week to week weight is overall less than or equal to the week before and I can easily get back on track the very next day.

    I don't necessarily do this every week, just when I feel I need a break or if I know we are going to a party or out for a special occasion.
  • onlysony72
    onlysony72 Posts: 6 Member
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    When I did the Body for Life plan they put in 1 cheat day per week - "cheat" as in eat anything and everything. I'd eat myself sick on those days and still lose weight. This time around...simply on a healthy eating plan I'll have 1 cheat meal a week. Matter of fact, if I seem to plateau at a certain weight, and know I've been eating well and exercising but the scale isnt budging, I'll have a cheat day and low and behold...I'll start dropping weight again. The BFL program said this is because you're body may have slowed down its metabolism due to the lower calorie intake and having a cheat day tricks it into believing its not starving and can release some fat and calories. I'm not sure if there is any scientific proof behind this but it works for me :)
  • MenaMena
    MenaMena Posts: 232 Member
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    If I were to consider myself on a diet, I would feel the need to cheat. But since, I am learning how to eat responsibly then I figure I can eat what I want as long as I stay within my calories. If I eat more, then I need to move more. I chose to eat healthy so if I "cheat", who am I cheating but myself.

    Just my opinion, for what it's worth.
  • NoExcuseTina
    NoExcuseTina Posts: 506 Member
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    I make myself burn calories with exercise in order to eat more 90-95% of the time...occasionally I will not log, but I try not to even if I have to guess at the calories
  • bethieannie
    bethieannie Posts: 75 Member
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    I have been a yo-yo dieter for years! I do really well for a while, then feel VERY deprived, and throw it all out the window! Thats why I do my cheat days, so that I can have the crap that makes my mouth water, and not feel like I have failed and give up completely. I try to stay within a couple hundred calories of my target, and if I am over more I add a workout in. And I do this on my weigh in days, because I am less likely to completely over indulge if I have that number from the scale on my mind. To each their own I suppose!
  • deniseselah
    deniseselah Posts: 225 Member
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    If I were to consider myself on a diet, I would feel the need to cheat. But since, I am learning how to eat responsibly then I figure I can eat what I want as long as I stay within my calories. If I eat more, then I need to move more. I chose to eat healthy so if I "cheat", who am I cheating but myself.

    Just my opinion, for what it's worth.
    ^^ good point!

    I have a spike meal, not a day (whatever program 'spike' refers to I'm not a part of; I just personally like that word) - really, this is the first week I am trying this. I usually eat out either Fri or Sat night with friends, so I wanted to set aside a meal for that.

    I set up a special section of my diary called "my one weekly cheat meal" - just reinforcing it for myself that I do it ONCE a week - not a meal here, and 'oh well I screwed up and might as well keep eating' - nope. One.

    For me I want to log everything I eat accurately - spike, regular, off-the-rails ... I have been in denial for YEARS about how much I eat so even if I go overboard I log it and forgive myself.

    To whomever said "I've had years of cheat days - I'm caught up" - yep that's me too! :laugh: so true.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    I don't do cheat meals or cheat days. I eat what I want, when I want it - I simply do it in moderation. Having to wait for a specific meal or day to enjoy something I want is too diet-ish for me. I would much rather enjoy that Reese's NOW than have to wait for a certain day. Eat it, log it, move on.

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