Thoughts on "Cheat Day"

Answers are going to be all over the place. DO what works for you personally and what you know you can maintain in the long run.

For me a cheat day is my way of motivating myself to stay on track the other 6 days of the week. Plus, it allows me to attend parties and dinners out with friends without feeling guilty or eating celery and green tea all day to save the calories. I have incorporated it into my lifestyle change and intend to continue having "cheat meals." I don't believe that one day out of seven will totally blow my calories so off skew that I will gain more than water weight.

It allows me to say no to things that I crave when I know I'm not really hungry. I tell myself I can have whatever I want on my cheat day. By the time the cheat day comes around I usually forget my "list" of cravings for the week or I am no longer craving that item anymore.

Again, you have to do what's right for you and what works for you personally.

I really watch what I eat during the week...so yeah I have a "cheat meal" and when I see stuff i want during the week i weight till the cheat meal and have whatever I want.

I think that some people's thinking against 'cheat day' is that you should'nt be depriving yourself so much that you need a cheat day. Personally I have to kinda of deprive myself- becuase if I mess up once during the week and its hard to come back from it. It preserves my sanity knowing that eventually i'll get to have those things.

This is totally me too!! I try to eat really good all week knowing that if i'm good I can have that bacon cheeseburger i've been craving all week! But if I was to have it during the week in my mind, I've ruined my week. :ohwell:

I use it as an award. If I pass my goal for the week, I deserve to treat myself. I know some will not agree with this, but I am living for myself, not them. I say if you want to do it, DO IT....

If I have a good hard 2 hour workout, afterwards I can eat within reason anything I want. So instead of "cheat" I do "reward". :drinker:

This better describes what I do.

I allow myself a treat here and there, but it still has to fit into my daily calorie intake.

So, if I don't have enough calories left, I will work out to make up the difference. If I don't want to work out, I don't get the treat. It's a good way to keep yourself accountable while still allowing yourself a little bit of slack.

The way I cheat is that I don't log what I'm eating on the weekends. I am really, really strict during the weekdays. However, even though I'm not logging on Sat and Sun, I always choose the better options but if I crave something, I have it. I just don't go over board. One weekend, I wanted a slice of cheesecake. I split it with someone so I only ate half. I don't feel guilty about it. It's been working for me and I don't feel deprived.

I've heard of having a "cheat day" or just a "cheat meal". What do you think of this? I understand that you need to curb your cravings, but are we being counter-productive by doing this? I just want to know what you think about having a cheat day. Do you have one? How often? Thanks!

I don't like them. I think it is counter productive. in my opinion, it fosters the wrong mindset, it reinforces the "diet" or "Short Term" mentality rather than "Lifestyle". If you change your lifestyle, it should be for life and that means some things go away "forever". Sort of like an ex. Or you if it is something you cannot live without, then you will have to work it into your plan.

However, it is understandable that there are times in which one can not eat properly due to the immediate situation. In these situations, you just have to fly by the seat of your pants.

I view it the exact opposite, I have a "cheat meal or day" every week because this is a lifestyle change and not a diet. If I say I will never eat another burger in my life...I know that's a lie! I like being able to eat whatever I want during the weekend because of how healthy I eat during the week. I know that I can continue to eat like this for the rest of my life because I am not limiting myself to what I can eat.

It's worked for me so far, I started working out and eating like this in Janurary and I'm not bored of it because I get my comfort food fix, I know when I reach my goal weight I will need to eat 1000 more calories a day to maintain it so having an extra 1000 calories one day out of the week now will not make me gain weight, I may not lose 2 lbs a week and only 1.8 lbs per week but it's worth it.

I have rest days from working out 2 times per week, and on those days I let myself have a treat, like a cookie or something i've been craving. I think having a full on cheat day is a little over board.

I personally don't believe there is a scientific justification for it.

However I do think it's very important to cut yourself some slack now and then.

That said I wouldn't advocate transforming yourself into a human dustbin for the day either.

^^ This
I think it very much depends on how you define cheat. If you are trying to eat clean and trying to lose weight (they aren't the same thing) then I think it's great to have a clean treat. I personally don't really log on Sundays at all. My family has home cooked meals and I couldn't begin to guess what my mom's cooking is worth. I don't eat more food ususally but I have no idea what the calorie count is and Sundays are Sundays... The food is nutritious, clean and I'm really not going to worry about it.

I used to have a cheat day, where I would pig out until I felt sick on junk food. But I quickly realized that was getting me nowhere and was against the point of a lifestyle change. I have finally settled with a "cheat" meal, one day on the weekend I treat myself to an ice cream or what have you that I had been craving that week, BUT I also make sure that either on that day, or the day after, I compensate my "cheat meal" calories with exercise so it doesn't make me over for that day. So if my cheat meal was 600 calories, I'm gonna be working out to burn those 600 off. Otherwise during the week I actually feel pretty satisfied and don't restrict myself to the point of needing a cheat day anymore. Like earlier this week, darnit I REALLY wanted some Easter chocolate lol, so I had a good workout to make up for it and ate a chocolate egg! :laugh:

I allow myself a treat here and there, but it still has to fit into my daily calorie intake.

So, if I don't have enough calories left, I will work out to make up the difference. If I don't want to work out, I don't get the treat. It's a good way to keep yourself accountable while still allowing yourself a little bit of slack.

This is pretty much what I do. So it really isn't "cheating", but indulging in items you would not normally eat but you account for them in the overall plan. At least that is how I see it. Like someone else said, if I think about it enough, I often come to the conclusion that I really don't want it.

I have my "Friday Night Chinese" every week.
But my boyfriend and I split the carry out entree and the steamed dumplings.

Still a pretty substantial meal, but I look forward to it after a draining week of university life, and I still exercise those days.
Holidays I also don't bother logging. I'm not going CRAZY, but most of the meals are home made and hard to log, and I've been doing this for so long that I have a pretty good idea of the calorie and sugar content of meals now.

Have managed to keep 50lbs the last year.

Have one weekly rarely I will have two. Love them. I have noticed does not make much of a difference. Really I don't go hog wild on my cheat day.