Cheat Day Or Treat A Day? Which Is Better?

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graelwyn
graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Some seem to swear by eating clean for 6 of 7 days, working out 6 days, then having a day a week where they simply eat whatever they want before getting back on track, claiming it helps the metabolism and makes it easier to eat clean the rest of the time.

Others just eat everything in moderation, every day, as well as working out.

Is one really better than the other ? It sometimes seems counterproductive to me, to feast for a day each week after a week of healthy eating, giving the possibility of far outreaching a daily treat in terms of calories etc.

Replies

  • Toddrific
    Toddrific Posts: 1,114 Member
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    It totally seems counter productive to have a cheat day. A cheat meal maybe, but not day.

    I'm a firm believer that you have to allow yourself food you like or you are going to break. Having a cheat meal allows you to plan for it, I guess.

    I'm personally not so strict and eat a little fun stuff every day AND cheat at least a day a week =P
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    whatever suits you better? I cannot have treat a day. If I goot the store to buy a small treat, I endup buying a bunch and eating them all. If I buy a big container thinking i'll just keep myself limited, I just endup eating it all. Which is why I allow myself a day or a meal when I get to eat whatever the heck I want. That day i'll have some nice dishes planned along with desert and everything so it keeps me happy.

    But then for other folks it dont work that way and they would much rather go with small treat a day and that works better for them.

    tl;dr different people, different preference
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Yeah same issue with me, I go and get one chocolate bar and want to buy a hoard in, but I dread to think how much I would get through if I allowed myself free rein for a whole day, lol. You can add up major calories with a tub of ice cream and a load of chocolate, even if you have healthy meals.
  • smcwllms
    smcwllms Posts: 27 Member
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    I don't do one whole day, just one meal. It's worked pretty well for me.
  • returningmyfatsuit
    returningmyfatsuit Posts: 35 Member
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    I do both of these. Simultaneously. Works for me!!

    On cheat days, I don't eat THE WORLD. I might eat wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more calories than I should (I usually quit counting ;p) but I don't eat the whole box of ice cream. I might eat lunch. Have some ice cream. go out for supper. Eat a donut. Things like this... not binging on 20 donuts. Not sure how that'd work out!
  • vjrose
    vjrose Posts: 809 Member
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    I go the treat a day route, I have finally in my life come to a point where I can leave the treats alone except for what I plan in. If I denied myself it would be a whole pint of Ben n Jerry's or something like that eventually.
  • Abrasue
    Abrasue Posts: 218 Member
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    I do a whole day.only thing I notice is a bloat due to overload on carbs.has not changed my results though.
  • xxxhelenaxxx
    xxxhelenaxxx Posts: 61 Member
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    I keep my sweet monster down with andes mints (the little hotel chocolate mints) and I take the rest as it comes! Sometimes I'll allow myself something atrocious if I have a really big workout, other times, I'll make some sort of compromise; The other day I was craving chinese food-- normally when I crave chinese it looks like this : sesame chicken with lomein instead of rice, with sweet n sour chicken and an eggroll and probably some cream cheese wontons and 2 servings of root beer

    YIKES.... I turned that into stir fried green beans and chicken separated into 2 servings. I probably couldve done the egg roll, but i didn't.

    Another thing too, if you eat clean for a few days then try to jump into fast food, your tummy will bloat and it will hate you.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    I try to hit my protein macro and stay under calories everyday, and then I zigzag down during the week and up on the weekends.
  • Kristy_Elizabeth
    Kristy_Elizabeth Posts: 435
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    I'd say more like an occasional day with a cheat treat and we've even been trying to make those mostly healthy. We use to do cheat day when my guy had a day off. I yo-yo'd the same five pounds endlessly. No more though! =) I like all my snacks, so I have a lot less need for a cheat though.
  • mischa_12
    mischa_12 Posts: 137 Member
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    my goal is to exercise 6 days a week and stay within my calories, then have one day where i eat the meal of my choice for brekky, lunch or dinner. That's what i want to start doing and then I have something to look forward to, not depriving myself of what i want...i think it would help with my binges.
  • french_press
    french_press Posts: 18
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    I sort of do a "Cheat Day," I eat well during the week and during the weekend (on Sundays usually) I have one cheat meal (which is usually close to being my daily total...) and eat light for my other meals. I try not to go too far over my calories, but I don't really worry about it. I like having one "cheat day" at the end of the week because it gives me motivation to eat well, and then serves as a reward for actually doing it! I usually save it for dinner so I don't go overboard and eat 6,000 throughout the day. I have trouble stopping myself once I start indulging, so this works better for me than "a treat a day."
  • Livingbalanced
    Livingbalanced Posts: 84 Member
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    Personally, I don't like the idea of "cheats" because it seems to categorize foods into "good" and "bad" and I think everything is 'good' in moderation. It's a balance of all foods and exercise that will bring me success :)
  • ingfit
    ingfit Posts: 180 Member
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    I do a whole day, usually Saturday. I do not log my food or exercise and I usually do my weekly shopping the day before and buy whatever treats I've been craving all week. I usually plan a meal that I can share with the whole family or we go out to eat. I like to bake so that would be the day I make something and then if there is any leftover at the end of the day I give it away to other family or friends who are not counting calories. It works for me and I'm losing steadily, albeit slowly . But this is a lifestyle for me not a sentence. It also keeps me from obsessing about food and binging.

    I also noticed that in the beginning, I would over-do it, usually on the carbs and feel really sick at the end of the day, but I've learned to just indulge moderately and combine with healthier choices throughout the day. This is something I can do for life not just for a quick fix.
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Hmm, at present I am buying a treat or two per day, as before I would hoard a load and binge on it, in spite of my best intentions to eat a little each day. I am something of a collector, especially of different kinds of chocolate, lol, and it ended in disaster. I would love to try every kind of chocolate out there, but buying a load in at once was a big fail, and if I did a cheat day, I think with me, it would lead to a big chocolate binge. I am not so into cheat meals as I rarely crave things like pizza and chinese food etc. It is the sweet stuffs I tend to crave and miss when I don't have them. I have never had a cupcake and keep meaning to try one of those really special ones with the interesting toppings.

    I will be having cheat days of sorts for the next few days as I am going on a visit to my mums and that means dinners out and it is sooo hard to skip having a dessert as I don't do desserts here, not the kind you get in restaurants anyway.

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