Cheat days not good for us?
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wingednotes
Posts: 279
I was reading a post somewhere else where a lot of people swear by cheat days. For me I think a day dedicated to eating whatever I want is a recipe for disaster. Not sure I could come back from it.
For me, tracking, and exercising are key to keeping on the straight and narrow. I'll indulge, but it MUST be planned and logged before I do it.
What do you do? Are you able to cheat and then come back?
For me, tracking, and exercising are key to keeping on the straight and narrow. I'll indulge, but it MUST be planned and logged before I do it.
What do you do? Are you able to cheat and then come back?
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I don't think I could come back that easily, in fact, I know I can't. I had a small binge during the week and it's taken me a couple of days to get back on track. So, I full day would just throw me into a terrible spin.0
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I think by cheat days, people actually mean a cheat MEAL in one day. I know a lot of people who choose one meal in which they can eat one meal on their chosen day that can be described as "unhealthy" but still moderated to not to go TOO much over their calorie limit, and this would equal their "cheat day". Not so much just wake up and eat whatever is in sight, healthy or not. Because that would ruin all the work you put into the whole week.0
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Here's how something like with even one meal would play out for me:
wake up
have a sensible breakfast because i wouldn't want to undo my work of the week
go to burger king and get a whopper jr meal. with fries. because its my day to not worry about it. finish the entire thing. because it was MINE. mine mine mine.
dinner - have a reasonable meal because i have to undo the damage of the previous meal.
after family goes to sleep and leaves for work - eat everything in the refrigerator.
MFP would next see me login a year later when I am 40 pounds heavier.
yeah, so even one meal would be a disaster for me.0 -
I'm so with you on this Wingednote.0
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I had a cheat day on my birthday, I ended up gaining 4.4 lbs that week. You don't want to know what I had. I'm still kicking myself for it. I've been almost steady with 2/3 lbs loss a week and that week put me 2.5 weeks behind.0
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Definitely a risky one. Even when I think I have learned enough, and am stable enough to have a cheat meal or whatever, it always ends up in a full blown binge, sometimes stretching over a day or two.
I am absolutely all for indulgences, but I personally have to log them first for it not to turn into something0 -
I have a bad MEAL every now and then I usually save them for events or parties (use to have one a week) so I can have a couple of drinks but I still try and stay under my cals for the day by exercising heaps and if I do end up going over I continue to kick my *kitten* with exercise the next day It gets easier to come back as you go along the fact that most BAD food makes me feel sick now might have something to do with it
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I have a fine line between having a indulgance that leads to a binge and eating clean and feeling deprived which leads to a binge.
Since we will always have the food in our house, I'm trying to have it in moderation. I try to still track my binges and indulgant days. My indulgant days are usually still below maintenance (like yesterday we stopped for ice cream with the grandparents ). Binge days are my problem because at 3-6000 they can do serious damage!
Before we went out I was really fighting the urge to go to our basement and have an ice cream treat. in secret. to me that is the start of a binge but an ice cream with family is fine.0 -
Good point about it being in secret or with others.
It seems that even on an indulgent meal or day, it would be good to have some hard limits.
For me, I think that would include
indulgence would have to be planned a day in advance
no eating in secret
only one meal
exercise at some point in the same day
log as best as possible afterwards0 -
I don't do cheat days. The days I end up bingeing are my cheat days. I have enough of those that I don't need to plan cheat days. :frown:0
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I don't do cheat days. The days I end up bingeing are my cheat days. I have enough of those that I don't need to plan cheat days. :frown:
I second this.
Plus, I believe it is very important not to restrict ourselves. Cheat days or meals are often what people create in order to allow those foods they have been restricting. It is better to not restrict in the first place.0 -
I don't do cheat days. The days I end up bingeing are my cheat days. I have enough of those that I don't need to plan cheat days. :frown:
I totally agree
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+1 to the "no eating in secret" - that is a huge deal for me personally. it is SO easy for me to get dishonest about what I eat. a cheat meal, or day, just becomes another excuse for me, and another chance to break the good habits I'm trying too build.
Now I sound like a hypocrite because if you look at my diary one of my meal categories is "weekly cheat meal" - with a big ol' happy face! I should probably change that. I was MFP friends with a bunch of fit bodybuilding types who have lots of muscle to burn calories and they all had a system that worked for them ... and I wanted that system to work for me, so I tried it. and it didn't work for me. Not saying it won't work for others. But I see that type of thinking playing out in my life as a cheat/restrict cycle - which turns into a cheat/restrict MENTALITY. And I need to be on an even keel, not get too out of balance.
So I tell myself I will slip up, and maybe have a day where I am way over. I plan and am working on one-meal-at-a-time (two whole days! so not like I'm an expert, or on a soapbox), and I also tell myself I will have great days where I can hit my targets. And that I love myself no matter which day I have, and feel my feelings no matter which day I have, and stay honest no matter which day I have. I wish I didn't have to "be careful" about treats. But for now that's just how it is ...
Don't mean to sound rant-y! Just my approach.0 -
Please feel free to join us at below conversation thread for additional support:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/582481-may-june-bed-conversation-thread0
