Why a Cheat Day is a misnomer

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  • Cmonnowguys
    Cmonnowguys Posts: 361 Member
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    So, those of you who embrace cheating, what other parts of your life to you have regular cheat days?? If it is good for your body, should be good everywhere else too right?

    Not that it's any of your business, but here's a list off the top of my head:

    1) Playing video games instead of doing chores

    Chores? LOL. Are you 13?

    I call the work I have to do around the house 'chores', too. Why is that funny? Why does that sound like a 13 year old?

    chore
       [chawr, chohr]
    noun
    1.a small or odd job; routine task.
    2.chores, the everyday work around a house or farm.
    3.a hard or unpleasant task: Solving the problem was quite a chore.
    Origin:
    1375–1425; late Middle English char, Old English cyrr, variant of cierr, cerr char3

    Synonyms
    1. duty, work, errand, stint. 1, 2. See task.

    It seems to me like you have issues with semantics. :-)
    Yup.
  • DannyMussels
    DannyMussels Posts: 1,842 Member
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    I only cheat on women.

    And I don't log them on here.
  • thinhips
    thinhips Posts: 2
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    I do believe in a day to have something you have wanted all week. This does not work for anyone and sadly, mine is Vodka, not a whole lot, but enough. Alcohol consumption is just empty calories, I am back on Track now, heading to the gym and plan to stay an hour or more. Being an Oncology nurse is STRESSFUL and sometimes wine can take the edge off, but it's huge in calories, so I just stay a little longer at the gym the next day.
  • AeolianHarp
    AeolianHarp Posts: 463 Member
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    lighten up dude................as long as you are losing wieght who cares what someone calls a day where you "fall off the wagon"!!, lol

    Cheat days in the way that people use them on here are fairly idiotic. BRB eating "super healthy" all week just so I can binge, feel guilty, hurt physically for no reason.
  • 19danno77
    19danno77 Posts: 84
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    To me, this is a debate because he has responded to some people's posts. That to me is what a debate is, banter back and forth. Whether anybody has an intelligible rebuttal is besides the point (to me) because otherwise political debates would just be called political rants (I hate politics and politicians, so this is just my opinion).

    I won't quote a dictionary citation but most definitions include some part of a debate being a formal, structured argument with points and counterpoints scoring towards a ruling. OP's so far managed to belittle and insult several posters without discussing the valid points that were brought up. He made fun of an avatar of one, made fun of somebody's chores in a legitimate rebuttal to OP's follow-up Q of what else in life do cheaters cheat at. Semantics, yes, but this guy has lost the benefit of the doubt with his callous remarks to other posters who offered sincere responses to his questions and were just attacked. That flies in the face of what this forum is about and for...when people demonstrate that level of ****ery they lose my sympathy and draw my ire. So far he hasn't responded to any of my retorts which were also posted in honest sincerity before callmeBAM showed his true debate colors...I fear he may at any point attack my avatar pic or taunt my weight loss or eating diary...(shudder)
  • vegamy
    vegamy Posts: 204 Member
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    But when you cheat on your diet, you only fall further behind.

    Agreed!! I don't do "cheat days". I have bad days and I have days where I've specifically planned in eating slightly worse food choices (like if I'm going out to dinner, or going to a party, or want some Easter candy), but on those days I'll plan it in, I'll exercise more or I'll make better choices for my other meals. Lifestyle change means you have to live - and that sometimes means eating a piece of cake at a party or having a couple drinks with friends. Let's face it, we won't be perfect all the time, but in order to succeed, you can't just say *kitten* it and have a gorgefest every time you're having a bad day. You can make better choices for yourself.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    and there is a difference between having a pig out day and just eating normally and logging minor slip ups, if you can call them that. having a cheat day implies that you DO diet 6 days a week. that one day is different means that you DO have a routine, you DO try to stay within the lines of, and that you DO realize that what you are eating on day 7 is bad for you.

    Why does it have to be every week? I don't use the term "cheat day" but it's as good as any to descibe days I plan to go over on calories. For example, every year on a specific Saturday I plan to go way over on calories. I call it "family reunion", but it is still a planned cheat day in that I am cheating on my regular day to day diet.

    I usually also cheat on Thanksgiving, Christmas (and several days between those 2 holidays), Easter, 4th of July, Memorial Day and other random days throughout the year. But I don't have a weekly cheat day planned.
  • JoolieW68
    JoolieW68 Posts: 1,879 Member
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    << looking for *some* way to unsubscribe from this thread that will never die....
  • ErinBeth7
    ErinBeth7 Posts: 1,625 Member
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    lighten up dude................as long as you are losing wieght who cares what someone calls a day where you "fall off the wagon"!!, lol

    Yes, lighten up. This has got to be the most subjective topic. Live and let be. To each their own.
  • kokaneesailor
    kokaneesailor Posts: 337 Member
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    I would love to debate this but I don't even know what a "misnomer" is.:smile:
  • Axels91
    Axels91 Posts: 213
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    and there is a difference between having a pig out day and just eating normally and logging minor slip ups, if you can call them that. having a cheat day implies that you DO diet 6 days a week. that one day is different means that you DO have a routine, you DO try to stay within the lines of, and that you DO realize that what you are eating on day 7 is bad for you.

    Why does it have to be every week? I don't use the term "cheat day" but it's as good as any to descibe days I plan to go over on calories. For example, every year on a specific Saturday I plan to go way over on calories. I call it "family reunion", but it is still a planned cheat day in that I am cheating on my regular day to day diet.

    I usually also cheat on Thanksgiving, Christmas (and several days between those 2 holidays), Easter, 4th of July, Memorial Day and other random days throughout the year. But I don't have a weekly cheat day planned.

    that is more along the lines of what normal people do. even people who don't diet/try to lose weight/count calories have days where they know they are going to eat more.

    that isn't what i was talking about. i meant the people who literally take one day out of the week or who regularly schedule pig out days.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    But when you cheat on your diet, you only fall further behind.

    Not necessarily. I think that is only true if you see your diet as a temporary thing with an end in site, and perhaps that is the biggest differenc in all this nonsense. I have been dieting since I hit puberty and started caring what I looked like. That was over 35 years ago. During all that time I had cheat days and I've been at a healthy weight most of my life.
  • xoeva
    xoeva Posts: 209 Member
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    I love the splurge day!!!! as long as teh calories are worth every bite!!!!
  • noelliebell
    noelliebell Posts: 4 Member
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    Well the numbers have on the scale have been going down consistently and this morning they went up by four. No matter how we say it or spin it, it's still nothing to be proud of. If I HADN'T had a "cheat day" yesterday, it wouldn't have happened. Water or not, the scale pwned me this morning.
  • 19danno77
    19danno77 Posts: 84
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    [Cheat days in the way that people use them on here are fairly idiotic. BRB eating "super healthy" all week just so I can binge, feel guilty, hurt physically for no reason.

    Personally, I NEVER feel guilty for my binge/cheat days...I earned 'em and my body at the composition MFP has helped me achieve are not counterproductive or destructive in the least. I do one of these about once a month. St. Patty's day, Christmas, day after Thanksgiving, Labor Day to name a few in reverse order over the past year cause me to laugh when looking back...partly because that's close to how I used to eat EVERY day...which was a maintenance intake for the 205 pound old me of around ~2500-2800 calories. I believe cheat days are good if the average stays where you want it to be that is that cheat days turn into the norm.

    I might be unique here for this guilt-free binging, but I doubt it, because if there's one thing I've learned in life is that I'm not a beautiful and unique snowflake, I am just like everyone else.
  • sobriquet84
    sobriquet84 Posts: 607 Member
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    I am pretty tired of seeing the term cheat day. People act like throwing out that term magically justifies, well, anything! I drank a fifth of vodka last night, cheat day! I ate 2 bowls of ice cream, cheat day! And everyone is like "Yeah, that's awesome!" or "LOLZ".

    "Cheat day" should not even be a term used here. I mean, do you even know what it means? Or is the herd just falling in line.

    From my 35 years of experience, cheat usually means taking a shortcut to win or finish first. It means doing something you shouldn't. It means you don't brag about it, you hide it hoping to not get caught. It means you lack the knowledge or will to complete a task with integrity.

    But when you cheat on your diet, you only fall further behind.

    It should be called a "regress day" or "lapse day".

    Regress:
    1. To go back; move backward.
    2. To return to a previous, usually worse or less developed state.

    Laspe:
    1. To fall from a previous level or standard, as of accomplishment, quality, or conduct

    Perhaps we would be less cavalier about our cheating if we acknowledged what we were saying.

    fine then...

    "refeeds".

    better?

    not saying that a half gallon of ice cream or a whole deep dish pizza is anything to be excused, but when i'm cutting weight, i carb cycle, and yes, sometimes i refer to my "refeed" days as "cheat" days, because its not like everyone will understand or know what i'm talking about if i say i'm having a "refeed" or "carb load" day.
  • FrenchMob
    FrenchMob Posts: 1,167 Member
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    Mods, please add this thread the "Most useless threads on MFP" list ASAP. Man, some really have nothing to do with their time. Here's an idea; GO WORKOUT.:huh:
  • 19danno77
    19danno77 Posts: 84
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    Well the numbers have on the scale have been going down consistently and this morning they went up by four. No matter how we say it or spin it, it's still nothing to be proud of. If I HADN'T had a "cheat day" yesterday, it wouldn't have happened. Water or not, the scale pwned me this morning.

    Water retained because of sodium intake can easily account for 4 lbs...and cheat days can be loaded with excess sodium. Weigh every day and watch that weight drop back down without binge exercise. The corrector was right, because as a rule of thumb each pound of FAT has 3,500 calories in it the food alone is rarely the cause for short-term weight gain. Unless it's constipated you and you haven't pooped yet before getting on the scale. All pounds on the body derived of protein, fat or carbohydrate are lost and gained slowly...not just in one day. IT'S water that causes the wild swings on the scale. Also, keep in mind that daily weighing should be done at the same time every day, in the same clothes (or none)...
  • torie079
    torie079 Posts: 179 Member
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    I don't believe anyone owes any oaf on here a reason to have a "I don't give a *kitten*" aka cheat day.... Thank you for your useless opinions and self righteous attitudes but our decisions have nothing to do with you...done patting yourselves on the back?? :)
  • callikia
    callikia Posts: 226 Member
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    Why do people call it a cheat day? Because other people understand what that means and it doesn't need further explanation. Why do they feel the need to announce it to everyone? Because there are a lot of judgmental people in our lives and on MFP who think it's alright to comment the first (and perhaps only) time they see us eating "off plan" when we've been "doing so well". Especially those people who eat like crap all the dang time. They're just waiting for you to fail so they can have a "see, she/he's just as bad as me and this "diet" crap isn't going to work for them. HAHA!" moment.

    Honestly, call it what you want, what others will understand. Or call it nothing. I call it a part of life. There is no way in hell I can say I'm never going to have things like french fries, or fried fish slathered in tarter sauce on a big fat bun, or chocolate cake EVER in my life. I'm living life. Part of that is enjoying it...not resenting every situation where I'm faced with something yummy and I have to say no or I risk "lapsing" or "regressing" on my "diet". All these words suck because they assume that I'm on a diet that will one day end and I won't have to count calories anymore or try to eat healthy foods. If you want a lifestyle change, you have to work some "cheats" into it...or else it's just a "for now" change.

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