Cheat Days: Fact or Fiction?

I have to say that having a cheat day once a week has seemed to help me a lot. I have been eating healthy and working out for about 6 months now, and have not plateaued yet. (keeping my fingers crossed). But , I do not go crazy with it, and just pig out for a whole day. I basically allow myself one or two cheat meals, and don't worry if I go over my calories for that day, as long as it is not too much.

Things I noticed, when I first started changing my lifestyle like this, it helped a lot with the cravings, I had always eaten fast foods, and craved fatty, salty, high calorie foods and sodas.

The longer I have gone now, the less I have those cravings, so it actually seems like I eat my cheat meals a little less often (it is more like once every other week now). And I have stopped drinking sodas altogether. So now I find that even my cheat meals are not so bad anymore, since I eat them in smaller portions than I used to as well.

So I do recommend doing it, it has definitely helped me so far.

Honestly?

I love food. Cheat days let me have food without worrying about my calories, and have a glass of wine (or multiple glasses ) without worrying about it. Keeps me sane and on track!

Also, like someone else said, the longer I do this, the healthier cheat days get, with much smaller portions!

I don't have cheat days, but I don't restrict what I eat at other times. If I want pizza, I have a bit. Works for me.

Ps: as you may have gathered from my post: I still track on my cheat day. i tend not to go more than 600 Cals over my allowance on my cheat day. Which is generally less than wat I have stayed under in the days before weighin day, so it equals eachother out in the end.

I don't have specific cheat days but I do go over once in a while. Only been doing MFP for a month and I am hoping for my 10lb loss mark on Monday so it seems to be working for me.

When I first starting "dieting" to lose weight I weighed in on Friday morning and then Friday was my "free" day. I didn't have to count my calories and I could enjoy some of the things I had craved that week. It worked for me because it helped keep me sane and on track the whole week. As my health started improving and I changed my diet to mostly whole foods I no longer craved that food that I was saving up for Fridays. I just didn't want it anymore.

The key for me was learning to eat for health and not just weight loss.

I mean, honestly, didn't we all have enough "cheat" days? That is what made us fat! I allow myself organic 70% or higher dark chocolate IF my calories allow for it. I don't drink, smoke, rarely drink coffee and I eat a clean diet without processed foods. I had to drastically change my life. I just don't see how people can justify cheat days or weekends and gorge themselves on fast food and alcohol.

Personally, I gained weight because EVERY day was a cheat day. Far more than a cheat day, actually.

A bit of junk here and there, occasional days over calories, they're not the end of the world.