Cheat Day vs. Cheat Meal?

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Shedding4Wedding72
Shedding4Wedding72 Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I have been reading online about how it is good to have a "cheat" something, as ways of motivating yourself and rewarding yourself for all of your hard work throughout the week. I don't care what anyone says, I am going to have a "cheat" SOMETHING tomorrow... I just want to know if it would be good to have an entire cheat day? Or should I just cheat with one meal?

OR, :tongue: , should I have a couple cheat meals (to make up one day) spread out throughout the week?

I want everyone's personal experience/opinions!!! Also, add me!

Help?
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Replies

  • Kanzaki3
    Kanzaki3 Posts: 656 Member
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    I like having a cheat day instead of a cheat meal. Things can get crazy when you're with your friends all day. A cheat meal is probably a better idea though. I remember my friends and I spent a whole day at a bar. I ate 50 wings in one sitting plus drinks throughout the day and night. A week later, the scale moved up only 2 pounds.I hated myself for doing it but I had no regrets. It's all about having fun in life.
  • smgmtx
    smgmtx Posts: 12
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    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.
  • ranman1515
    ranman1515 Posts: 3 Member
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    from my experience, cheating is cheating, but you do need those little inspirational meals to keep you going. I love hamburgers and instead of the double w/ cheese, I got the jr. burger w/o cheese w/ mustard onion and pickle... I have learned from my meals, that you still have to diet on your diet.... being on the diet, you will always be tempted by simple things, but only you can make those decisions best of luck on your diet,

    and I only have a cheat meal about once a month
  • shaycat
    shaycat Posts: 980
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    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.
  • Colbyandsage
    Colbyandsage Posts: 751 Member
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    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.

    This is what I plan to do. If I allow a whole day then it turns into 2 then it takes me all week to make up for it :)
  • JonathansMom0910
    JonathansMom0910 Posts: 22
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    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.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    i will have cheat meals. I'm not sure if I can do a complete day because there's only a few things now that I want that i'd consider "cheating". I also dont consider myself to be on a diet since I pretty much eat anything I want and dont deprive myself of anything.

    my cheat meal is usually bacon cheeseburger and side of onion rings from my favorite local burger place. i save this as my cheat meal because I have gluten allergies and if i ate this regularly - even if i could fit in my daily calorie budget - the gluten in the bun and on the onion rings would make me sick.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    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?
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
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    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?

    My mind has been blown!
  • akangel81
    akangel81 Posts: 19
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    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
  • shady81x
    shady81x Posts: 290
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    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'd think a "cheat meal" is a non-healthy meal (eg. KFC!), even if it's within your calorie budget for the day.

    And a "cheat day" is an entire day of having non healthy stuff.. aka an entire day of "cheat meals".

    Does that make sense even? :laugh:
  • kristinL16
    kristinL16 Posts: 401 Member
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    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.
  • karyngrace
    karyngrace Posts: 105 Member
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    I hate calling it a cheat day........its not a test, its a learning curve!!
    id rather call it a fun day because thats exactly what it is!! and besides how can you appreciate the good stuff if you don't indulge in the bad stuff once in a while! :)


    I rather go a whole day of naughty fun food and work out like a demon the next morning, than have one "bad" meal and worry about calories all day!
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    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!
  • cnt21811
    cnt21811 Posts: 28 Member
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    A cheat day or cheat meal... are you still logging the food?
  • moxi155
    moxi155 Posts: 15 Member
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    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...
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
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    for me i use sundays as a make up day - to use up any extra exercise calories that didnt get eaten during the week. sometimes i spread them throughout the day and sometimes i just splurge it on one meal. i still log everything and make sure i dont go over my weekly net goal (or if i do, but not too much)
  • gapm
    gapm Posts: 48
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    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.
  • GoddessJuliya
    GoddessJuliya Posts: 49 Member
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    ~I prefer to call it a free day not cheat day, that's what Biggest Loser's Bob Harper calls it :), and I usually try to still do some type of exercise that day so I'm still burning calories or I usually Sundays as my cheat day because I take a 45 minute group exercise class on Monday nights where I burn around 400 calories so I know I'm gonna make up for the cheat day the next day. Hope that helps & sure I'll add you. I'm new to this, been on here since 2/11 & only have 2 friends that I know offline so far. ~Goddess J :)
  • SMK715
    SMK715 Posts: 108
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    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

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