10 Reasons why you should not have a cheat day... hmmm

I love when something works for a person, then they think it should work for everyone and take that as the bible.....Great cheat days don't work for you, they work for thousands of others so where's the problem with them:noway: .

Maybe it's just me, but this post seems to lean heavily toward a cheat day being made up of "junk food." I have a cheat day, or "spike day" every 10-14 days or even longer. I don't spend it on junk food, and my spike day does not increase my cravings, it doesn't cause me to lose control, I don't feel guilty, and I've also discovered that when a spike day comes up, I end up eating fewer calories than I had anticipated. What works for some of us doesn't always work for others.

I cheated on mostly healthy food yesterday. Just didn't watch my portions other than measuring the salad dressing.

As for junk food, I save it for when friends or family have some in my presence which is not often. Being strict about having absolutely no junk food just led me to bingeing for a very long time.

too late...(as I'm eating Chipotle this very minute)

1. Feeding the Junk Food Addiction - Not everyone is a junk food addict. This is a reason JUNK FOOD ADDICTS should not have a cheat day. "You" is pretty general.
2. Doesn’t help reduce cravings - Yes it does. I've been spiking every week for over a year. Anything I crave during the week gets worked out on Spike Day & I'm more than ready to get back to another 6 days of healthy eating.
3. Eating way too much - This is most likely to be an issue for people with eating disorders...& the vast majority of people trying to lose weight don't.
4. Guilt afterwards - There's no guilt if it's planned & done responsibly. If I've managed my intake the entire week & allowed myself 4000 calories for Saturday & can still end up with enough of a weekly deficit to lose weight, what's to feel guilty about?
5. Doesn’t raise your metabolism - Read up on leptin.
Also, do you think that when scientists are doing research studies on diet plans, that they allow people to cheat once per week? Of course not! - Yes they are. Read up on leptin.
6. Junk food is unhealthy - Lots of things are unhealthy. There's nothing wrong with enjoying food that isn't "clean" in moderation because you like it. And yes, a gigantic portion (if you like) once a week is moderation.
7. Some things take a while to leave your system - What does this have to do with a cheat day? People can eat crap on a regular day & still be in a calorie deficit.
8. Taste sensation doesn’t manage to adapt - I still enjoy the taste of healthy, clean foods. As well as junky processed ones, once in a while.
9. Body doesn’t manage to adapt to the new fuel - Read up on leptin...& glycogen storage.
10. Knowing that cheating is not an option makes things easier - The opposite is true. Knowing I only have to wait 6 days at the most to eat something decadent makes it easier to resist it during the week.

After all, what we should be after is not try to go on a “diet”, but to actually make a lifestyle change in order to live a healthier, happier life.

Real life is not "dieting" 100% of the time. My lifestyle is eating healthy & exercising 6 days a week, & allowing myself to let loose & have fun (which includes eating crap food sometimes) on the 7th day. It's realistic, flexible, & it works for me.

In short, it's a behavioral issue. If it works for you, great. For some, using them works better.

This is it in black-and-white. Changing eating and fitness habits is about behavioral modification and simple declarations of any kind about changing behavior are rarely universally accurate or binding.

The reason MFP has worked for me is because I can eat what I want so long as I stay within the limits and the occaisonal cheat day is allowed and even encouraged.

If the plan instead was "Salads and clean eating for life! You can't ever have anything unhealthy!" I would not have succeeded. Hell I wouldn't have even tried.

Plus anyone who's been on a diet for a few weeks and says "I'm never putting that garbage in my body again for the rest of my life!!" is usually the person eating fast food in their car 3 weeks later.

You gotta live. Moderation. It really does work!

This is a really long article, so I'm going to get a piece of cake out of the fridge to eat while I read it.

This is a really long article, so I'm going to get a piece of cake out of the fridge to eat while I read it.

Yep, way too long. I will read it as I eat my shrimp quesadillas......maybe....I'll think about it.

I only need one reason to have a cheat day. It works.

Yep, that'll do.