Cheat Day vs. Cheat Meal?

I'm no doctor, but from what I've picked up, the reason they say it's good to have a cheat day every once in awhile (once a week or so) is to keep us motivated to do well and also it's good for the metabolize. And cheat day DOES NOT mean binge day. More like, enjoying a higher calorie meal at Olive Garden or having a small slice of cake at a party.

Plan one cheat meal. A whole day can get a little out of hand. Trust me I speak from getting way to carried away the last two weekends. From now on one cheat meal one weekend day.

I have cheat specifics I guess. Once every 2 weeks I have a dessert-anything I want. And once every 2 weeks I eat one meal that I don't care about the calories. I also LOOOOVVVVEEE Frap type drinks, so once a month I get a low fat one. Otherwise, if I crave chocolate, I eat a mini candy bar instead of a reg size one and so on. If I crave a cake, I make cupcakes, eat one and send the rest to work with my husband.

My Dr told me that when people deny themselves these types of things, that is what usually leads to binging.

Curious:


What is a cheat meal?

You are either within your goals for your daily totals, which makes it not a cheat, or you are over your goals, which makes it a cheat day?


What defines the meal itself being a cheat, rather than the day?

I would personally say a cheat meal if you feel you need one but a cheat day can set you back 3 days so your only working four days a week if you do it once a week. I have dieted many times ( but this time I'm in it to win it ) and tried both ways . what i found best in the long run was if i did a cheat meal once a week when me and my husband would have date night but even then i would try to be somewhat sensible and cut something out the next day

I've done Weight Watchers in the past and like that they give you flex points to use for the week. You can use them all in one day or spread throughout the week. Or not use them at all. I wish I knew how to do something like that with simply counting calories (which is basically what I am doing now since I lose my WW points calculator). Along the same lines, my thinking is still in line with the WW philosophy that you can eat anything you want but you need to be accountable. Sure, I don't make a habit of having McD's every day even though I could fit it in somehow (but would have to really cut back throughout the rest of the day, which wouldn't be good), but I don't consider going to McD's "cheating" in the sense that some might. If I looked at it that way I think it would really set me back. Feeling like I cheated brings too much guilt and negative feelings. If I eat something that puts me over my goal I need to own it and then move on. I think if I had a whole day of eating what I wanted each week it would be difficult to get back on track, especially if you are talking about going over by more than a few hundred calories.

I also wanted to add that on a previous WW plan there used to be a points range (mine was 18-23points per day at that time--long ago, after I had my first child 9 years ago). There was a blogger who had a plan called the "wendy plan" where basically she had a formula for how many points to eat each day to break a plateau. I don't remember the details, but basically you would have one day at 18 pts, then a day at 20, then a day at 23, then a day at 18. That way you were mixing things up and varying your calories each day. In that sense I do think it is ok to have a day or two a week where you have more cals and a few days where you are lower rather than eating the same things each day.

I don't have cheat days or cheat meals. I eat what I want, when I want it. I simply do it in moderation. I know cheat days or meals work for a lot of people, but I find them to be too "diet-ish". If I want a piece of cake or chicken alfredo, I want it RIGHT NOW - not in a week or on a special day. Learning portion control is key to an "everything in moderation" lifestyle. I will say that my binge eating has stopped since I switched to this type of lifestyle vs have the "bad" stuff on certain days or for certain meals.

Do what works for you!

I don't have cheat days or cheat meals. I eat what I want, when I want it. I simply do it in moderation. I know cheat days or meals work for a lot of people, but I find them to be too "diet-ish". If I want a piece of cake or chicken alfredo, I want it RIGHT NOW - not in a week or on a special day. Learning portion control is key to an "everything in moderation" lifestyle. I will say that my binge eating has stopped since I switched to this type of lifestyle vs have the "bad" stuff on certain days or for certain meals.

Do what works for you!

<<<<<<<Agrees wholeheartedly!! It IS a lifestyle! Enjoy eating...

I don't have cheat days or cheat meals. I eat what I want, when I want it. I simply do it in moderation. I know cheat days or meals work for a lot of people, but I find them to be too "diet-ish". If I want a piece of cake or chicken alfredo, I want it RIGHT NOW - not in a week or on a special day. Learning portion control is key to an "everything in moderation" lifestyle. I will say that my binge eating has stopped since I switched to this type of lifestyle vs have the "bad" stuff on certain days or for certain meals.

Do what works for you!

^ It works for me too.

I have always given myself a cheat day on the weekend. My feelings on the situation is that if ONE day ruins all the work that I do all week, then im doing something seriously wrong. Also, im on a 1600 calorie/day diet, so when I say cheat day I mean I probably eat 2000-2500 calories/cheat day. Which is the average persons every day calorie count. I cheated every single weekend, all day long, and still managed to lose 45 lbs from february - august last year. Not to mention im disabled so my workouts are toned down a bit from limitations and pain. And my last point --- Dr Oz talked about cheat days a week or 2 ago and he said he has Faturdays (Fat Saturdays) where he eats whatever he has craved the entire week. Its healthy and perfectly normal. I think never allowing yourself a cheat something is just a diet set up for failure. However, this is just my experience and my opinion. You do whatever is best for you. Good luck

i think it depends on what works best for you. also it depends on what your idea of "cheating" is. some people see it as a dessert, or maybe a meal they normally wouldn't choose, like a hamburger and fries or something. in my opinion, things like that might keep you sane!
i find it really hard to just have a cheat meal because i tend to just keep going! haha. i normally eat really, really healthy though, so if i have a full day of cheating then it really doesn't affect me too much.
i say, try and find a good balance that will keep you happy and committed.
good luck

I don't really have cheat days or cheat meals, but I don't deprive myself either. For example, I really wanted spaghetti carbonara one night, so I made it myself- whole wheat pasta, fat free half & half, egg beaters, turkey bacon (that I just happened to have on hand) and low fat mozzarella cheese since I'd forgotten to pick up some Parmesan. Like others have said, it's all about moderation.

That said, if I ever get to any of Tyler Florence's restaurants- calories will NOT be counted. And a great time will most definitely be had.

I had what I considered my "cheat meal" last night after my WW weigh-in. It was the first time this year that I had something I considered a 'cheat'. A friend took me to White Spot for dinner and I had my favourite...a Beef Dip with fries.

I knew that I was going out for dinner so I was very careful during the day. At dinner I ordered the small size and only ate 1/2 the fries. I logged it all in my diary. Today I did twice as much exercise than I normally do and will try to do that for the next couple of days.

I have consistently lost every week this year so I doubt that I will have done much, if any, harm and I enjoyed it immensely! I really think giving myself permission to do that will help me stick with this new lifestyle change.

It's only a "cheat" if you don't log it IMO.

Planned spike days are a good idea to give leptin levels a boost. This means eating at around maintenance or above for the day.

So if you were to have a single meal that you deemed to be a cheat but were still in calorie deficit then that is defeating the purpose of the "cheat". It still helps psychogically however.

So I eat whatever I want that fits into my cal/macro goals. The body sees macro/micronutrients not food names.