Why a Cheat Day is a misnomer
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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.0 -
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.0 -
I love the splurge day!!!! as long as teh calories are worth every bite!!!!0
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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.0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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:0
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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)...0 -
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??
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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.0 -
How many calories do you burn "Worrying about what other people choose to eat or say about what they eat?"0
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It must be a blast hanging out with you at a party.
... says the person with Homer Simpson as their avatar.
Um..I love Homer and The Simpsons! I think MANY people do! That was an odd comment.0 -
Um..I love Homer and The Simpsons! I think MANY people do! That was an odd comment.
And a William S. Burroughs fan, too?0 -
How many calories do you burn "Worrying about what other people choose to eat or say about what they eat?"
tee hee!0 -
I think you're being silly. It's just a word. Everyone knows what it means in terms of dieting. No need to go and grab a dictionary to find the meaning. Stop playing word games and let people do what they want with their diets. Worry about yours.0
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There are no cheat days if you are making a lifestyle change...terms like that are only used for diet and folks who do diets.0
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Your Awesome!!! I love your post!! I hate when I hear "Cheat day". My co-worker has this day more then once a week and OMG it drives me nuts!!!!0
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I think they meant it to be "cheat" as in a relationship. Such as I cheated on my boyfriend/I was unfaithful to my boyfriend. So you were unfaithful to your diet. Do I make a little bit of sense?
Just giving out my opinion. Stating not hating.0 -
All I can say is....."oh my".......:huh:0
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I agree I never call it a cheat day - it is a blip in my healthy eating programme a day where I didn't do as I was planning to do - I don't actually plan to have a day where I can eat anything - that kind of defeats the object0
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There are no cheat days if you are making a lifestyle change...terms like that are only used for diet and folks who do diets.
For many, dieting is a lifestyle. Paleo, Atkins, DASH, restriction, calorie counting, macro monitoring ... call it what you want. If you do these things on a daily basis throughout your life your lifestyle includes dieting, if we assume the common usage of the word "dieting" to mean controlling what foods you consume. Only if you give food no thought at all is dieting not part of your lifestyle.0 -
Every Sunday is my 'cheat' day, free day, fun food day, splurge day, pig out day, eat whatever the hell i like day, treat day...ect ect. Who cares what it's called. I love food. I enjoy eating things that are not that good for me from time to time. But in the end THIS IS A LIFESTYLE not a diet. So on Monday it's back to healthy eating!!!0
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This is a perspective I never thought of. I like it.
I had watched Dr. Oz one day talking about a "faturday" but the concept of it wasn't to splurge or binge on greasy fat food but ways to make favorite foods in a healther way so it may seem like cheaitng but your really not.0 -
Uhhh.. I do that every day. It's called "eating healthier."This is a perspective I never thought of. I like it.
I had watched Dr. Oz one day talking about a "faturday" but the concept of it wasn't to splurge or binge on greasy fat food but ways to make favorite foods in a healther way so it may seem like cheaitng but your really not.
Dr. Oz is a tool. He should go back to being a wizard.0 -
Thank you for this post. I totally agree! I did a boot camp and I was instructed to eat healthy all week and have one "cheat meal" a week. For whatever reason (it was never fully clear to me) we HAD to have a cheat meal. What ended up happening was I would full on binge eat one meal a week (which sometimes turned into one, two or even three days). Needless to say, the "cheat meals" helped me add on 20lbs instead of losing.0
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I use the term "cheat day" and quite frankly, I really don't care what I call it. Terminology and semantics won't affect the scale either way. I can call it a "lazy day, binge day, carbapalooza"...it doesn't matter.
These "days" (no more than once per week) have been proven to (1) shock the metabolism to prevent plateaus and (2) allow people to diet or "maintain" longer because they know that it's achievable - they don't have to give up Mexican food or desserts for the rest of their lives.
Read "Body For Life" by Bill Phillips. Many, many people, including one of my best friends has had tremendous success and still had a carbapalooza once a week. I've been going for 15 days and I've lost 13.8lbs - oh and in there I've had to Sundays (my cheat day) where I've had large Easter meals, Mexican food and a greasy patty melt. I know I can now go another six days with a very healthy diet because now any craving I have I can decide whether I want to give in on Sunday.
I don't think NOT having a "cheat day" is realistic for the person who wants to make a "diet" a "lifestyle."0 -
I use the term "cheat day" and quite frankly, I really don't care what I call it. Terminology and semantics won't affect the scale either way. I can call it a "lazy day, binge day, carbapalooza"...it doesn't matter.
These "days" (no more than once per week) have been proven to (1) shock the metabolism to prevent plateaus and (2) allow people to diet or "maintain" longer because they know that it's achievable - they don't have to give up Mexican food or desserts for the rest of their lives.
Read "Body For Life" by Bill Phillips. Many, many people, including one of my best friends has had tremendous success and still had a carbapalooza once a week. I've been going for 15 days and I've lost 13.8lbs - oh and in there I've had to Sundays (my cheat day) where I've had large Easter meals, Mexican food and a greasy patty melt. I know I can now go another six days with a very healthy diet because now any craving I have I can decide whether I want to give in on Sunday.
I don't think NOT having a "cheat day" is realistic for the person who wants to make a "diet" a "lifestyle."
^^^This exactly, well said.
'cheating' IS part of the lifestyle. eventually in life an event, occasion or vacation will come up and most of us will want to indulge and not worry if that hot fudge sundae put us over the limit. We know that tomorrow is another day and we can and will come back stronger!!!0 -
I actually SAVE up uneaten calories for 2 weeks to justify a cheat day...
I log ALL my food beforehand so I KNOW what Im eating for the day and i dont eat a calorie over what i have budgeted. Yesterday for Easter I had 1800 calories and when I ate everything I had logged,,,I STOPPED!!
I didnt go back and revise, I didnt sneak another candy, egg, cake ...nothing!!!
my blog from yesterday explains it all...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/dme1977/view/april-the-8th-splurge-day-commence-239222
for me a "splurge day" is something i have earned....
and this is a LIFESTYLE CHANGE FOR ME NOT A DIET....
I do NOT have certain foods I can and cannot eat ...THAT would be a diet.!!
I have portion control, exercise, and restraint. .. THAT IS A LIFESTYLE CHANGE.
and for me having one day once or twice a month to splurge over my usual calories is NOT a free pass to gorge myself because I DO structure the day and stick to what I have allowed myself for that day. Not a whole lot different from other days except I eat (on average) 500-800 calories more that day. :flowerforyou:0 -
I actually SAVE up uneaten calories for 2 weeks to justify a cheat day...
I log ALL my food beforehand so I KNOW what Im eating for the day and i dont eat a calorie over what i have budgeted.
OK, I see how this works... I could drink a beer a night, and it could work with my diet. Or I could wait 2 weeks and drink 14 in one night. Yes, this makes perfect sense now.0 -
OK, I see how this works... I could drink a beer a night, and it could work with my diet. Or I could wait 2 weeks and drink 14 in one night. Yes, this makes perfect sense now.
And this bothers you why?0
This discussion has been closed.
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