Cheat day Yes or Just a little

I'm also not fond of the term "cheat" as it implies that you're doing something wrong or bad...

Once a week I take a rest day. My calorie goal is set at 1400, which is actually a bit low for me (should be more like1550) but I like having the wiggle room, it's just how my mind works. Anyway, on the six days per week when I exercise, my consumed calories average around 2000 and the calories burned bring me closer to my goal. On my rest day, I get little to no exercise but will still consume 1800-2000 calories.

Every couple of months I have a splurge meal when I go out with my friends or with my hubby for a special dinner and/or drinks. I'll try to make good choices but I'm a foodie so if I see something new and amazing, I'm going to go for it. I try to plan for it by being good the week before but sometimes life happens and you have to roll with the punches.

i just finished my first week with MFP with a 'cheat' day.. lets just say i regretted it on the scales this morning, realised i didn't even really enjoy eating all the crap at all, and having read this very helpful forum, now understand i was cheating myself.. on purpose. why not just taste that caramel popcorn? did i feel any better for having huge handfulls of it??

i wasn't just eating more for a treat or because i really wanted to, but because i was hungover and thought eating a heap of crap would actually make me feel better! it didn't!!

from now on i'll eat over my allowance here and there and keep to small portions of the things i like, and not freak out if i go over, but won't be on a mission to eat as much as possible and go way over on purpose, either!

Cheat days can wipe out a full week of work. Seriously! I think you should have a cheat meal instead that is within your calories for the day. I usually pick Friday or Saturday night for my cheat meal.

I am so against cheat days because I have had bad experiences. When I stopped cheat days I saw better results. I would recommend a cheat meal instead of an entire day, even better if you can keep within your daily calories.

I totally have a cheat day!! I go by a modified eat healthy 80% of the time rule. I eat really well 6 days and let loose a little on my day off. I don't go overboard as I would tend to feel sick from eating junk food.

My only "cheat days" Complete days where you eat and drink whatever I want I only do on special occasions such as; holidays, birthdays, or out to dinner maybe once every few months. But maybe about once a month I do have a day where I will eat one thing that I should not that will blow my calorie count. Or if there is something I want for dessert my breakfast will be something
with less calories like sugar free oatmeal. I will pick things that have less calories but have the same amount of nutrients that I need so I can eat something I have been craving. I do however have the biggest sweet tooth ever so I make sure I can eat 3 Gharadelli squares that are chocolates pre packaged as individuals so you know when to stop instead of the whole candy bar in your hand you are not paying attention and eat more than you meant to. I call that mindless eating. So whatever I can do to prevent that I do. I leave enough room at the end of the day to at least have the chocolate to keep me satisfied with being on a diet/life change.

I have 'cheat with in reason days.' So basically what that means is that I still log EVERYTHING and try to stick with my goal. But if I'm out and man, that (fill in the blank) SOUNDS GOOD! I get it, eat half and move on.

And honestly, during the week, if I want a little treat, I'll just budget for it! Last night I had some cotton candy, today I'm at the gym.

For me, so far it's all balancing out. Yes, I could be a little bit more strict, but I know for me that too being restrictive screws me in the long run. So if my cocktails & sushi on saturday slow me down, it's ok. It's better than me ruling out so much that I'll fizzle out and eat everything in sight! I'm not taking this as a diet, I'm taking this as living. And in life, I'm not in a race - just trying to treat myself better.

You know yourself...try it one way and see what happens, and then try it the other. What ever gets you the results you want to see, go for it!

I have my cheat days on Sundays where I just don't log my food and don't worry about calorie intake. It's also my day off from exercising. I still try to not over eat but it keeps me sane so I don't feel like I'm depriving myself (in the past I've noticed that if I feel deprived when I do eat what I wanted, I eat WAY too much). I use sundays to drink soda, get a baked goodie, and go out to eat with my husband

They don't seem to be interfering with my ability to lose weight.

I'll give myself at least one cheat day a week- in the sense of not going to the gym/rigorous exercise but I restrict myself to one cheat meal- you need some reward but not indulgent enough that you're losing ground!

I don't do "cheat" days or meals. Who would i be cheating, myself?

I definitely have days when I eat over my calorie allowance, but that's not cheating, it's life. It's called "going out to dinner for my husband's birthday" or "eating a big piece of cake with coffee yesterday morning" or "I just ate too much crap today".

I just try to ensure that I have more days when I don't go over.

This may seem like semantics, but to me, words are powerful - deliberately deciding to "cheat", doesn't sit well with me. It implies that what I'm doing is hard and not sustainable and that's not the way I plan to eat for the rest of my life.

I agree. I log in everything I eat even if I'm over my calories for the day. I do try to exercise to lessen the damage, but usually the day is full already (wedding, shower, birthday etc.) so I don't have time for much. I double my efforts the following days. Your body doesn't reset itself at midnight, although you do need enough food for the energy to get though the day.