Cheat days vs no cheat days

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  • Aerohead21
    Aerohead21 Posts: 333 Member
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    It would make my weight loss slower but it might also help me with keeping it off because I know I can't live the rest of my life this strictly. Cognitively and intellectually this all makes sense but emotionally it is so devastating to me. I mentioned to one of my friends I think another part of my problem is because I weigh everyday. I know any weight gain from a low calorie day is water retention and it will come off eventually but I don't want to be so dependent on my scale. I want to be happy with what I'm doing and not feel like I am chained to this diet/lifestyle/what have you.
  • jkleon86
    jkleon86 Posts: 245 Member
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    There is no such thing as a cheat meal or day. For most of us this is a life style change and therefore that means life is gonna get in the way of the most well thought out plan.

    Life does have a way a getting in the way. I seem to end up with one cheat meal a week , I don't "plan " it it just happens but I normally don't go over by to much 200 to 300 calories and this might sound like alot to some people here but conpared to the way I use to handle a flub up I think I am doing great :wink:
  • hawaii86442
    hawaii86442 Posts: 167
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    I remember a doctor telling my friend that she needed to lose weight to be within her weight range. He gave a lot of suggestions for eating healthier and at about 1200 calories a day. The bonus to this diet is she could anything she wanted one nighr a week. She ate a quart of ice cream with toppings. She has successfully lost her weight and has maintained it. If she gains a few pounds she goes back to the diet with the Friday night special. I hope this helps!!
  • shimmer_glo
    shimmer_glo Posts: 103 Member
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    I don't know how much this really helps, but I've found that week by week or month by month, I just have to assess where I am and figure out what my problem areas are. If it's weighing myself too often, I'll change that. If it's eating too late at night, I'll come up with a plan to stop that from happening. It sounds like you already know what things are your trouble areas, so you probably also know the best ways to combat those problems if you just think about it and find what will work in your situation.
  • Aerohead21
    Aerohead21 Posts: 333 Member
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    Thanks :) I think by talking about it with everyone I am beginning to really break down what the root causes to my problems are and develop ideas ans strategies on how to handle them. I am on a learning curve, really. I know how to be fat. I've done that successfully and without fail my entire life. This weight loss thing? Not. A. Clue.
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
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    There is no such thing as a cheat meal or day. For most of us this is a life style change and therefore that means life is gonna get in the way of the most well thought out plan.

    Life does have a way a getting in the way. I seem to end up with one cheat meal a week , I don't "plan " it it just happens but I normally don't go over by to much 200 to 300 calories and this might sound like alot to some people here but conpared to the way I use to handle a flub up I think I am doing great :wink:
    That's a great attitude! It's not about being flawless, it's about doing better than you were before. There's always something to improve and better yourself with; that's not a problem, it's what makes things interesting!

    @OP: after reading your replies, it sounds to me like you're really stressing yourself about being perfect. I wrote a post earlier to address this kind of difficulty if you'd like to read it: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/578928-give-yourself-a-chance
  • FriendsR4EverTreasures
    FriendsR4EverTreasures Posts: 181
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    Personally, I don't diet, I eat anything I want and make sure I stay within my calorie goals either by counting calories or exercising excess calories away. I have lost 17lbs but it has taken me 275 days so far because I don't deprive myself of ANYTHING, literally, no foods are bad foods for me. Granted, I have lost SLOWLY; however, I know that I can maintain and keep eating all the food I love without yo-yo dieting. I"m 1lb away from my goal weight and have not deprived myself of any of my favorite food for the entire journey. I think sometimes we want to be in a hurry to lose the weight but that's not the best because deprivation and low calorie nutrition is not something that can be followed or maintained long term, the weight will come back and it has taken years and years of restrictive diets for me to finally accept that and so when I began my journey last July, I knew it would be a lifelong thing and therefore I have not ever felt like I need a "cheat" meal or day because I eat my favorite foods in moderation and exercise heavily on the days that I indulge, but then, I do love my workouts and that has got to be enjoyable for you too. :)
  • nicholsvj
    nicholsvj Posts: 220 Member
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    A lot of doctors I know that do a lot with weight loss - serious, life style type, not the gimmicky pill crap - actually want their patients to have one "cheat meal" a week. It actually will help with maintaining loss and preventing plateaus. The science behind it basically says that you have to trick your body out of "starvation" mode. When we ate the way we did to gain weight, our bodies just stored it all. When we make drastic changes, we start to burn fat. But as that becomes permanent, our bodies think we are going through a "lean" period and burn the fat slower. But when we give it a high cal meal, our bodies think - alright, lean mode over.

    Also, most nutritionist would rather people go by weekly calorie goals than daily. Meaning, if you are at 1200 cal/day (which may be too low for you at this point anyways) you can easily go over by a couple hundred calories in one day (100-300) and make up for it with extra exercise or 50 fewer calories per day the rest of the week
  • annemw82
    annemw82 Posts: 97 Member
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    I don't really like the phrase cheat. It implies that I am doing something wrong. Like a few people have mentioned I eat what I want, when I want. I just budget it into my calories or maybe spend a little more time exercising that day. But I find that when I allow myself a cheat i go overboard with it. However when I deny myself for too long I tend to binge. It's all about finding balance in your life and your diet. Almost everyone eats fast food, sweets, etc from time to time. You just have to figure where and how those things fit into your new lifestyle. good luck!
  • Aerohead21
    Aerohead21 Posts: 333 Member
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    Right! And today was almost a binge day! My friend's bday party had so much good food there and alcohol galore. I avoided the drinks and desparately tried to avoid the food but none of it was "healthy" per se. It wasn't like it was unhealthy, just not diet like. And she was like "try this" to EVERYTHING. She had grilled it specially in her native way (she's Hawaiian) so I couldn't just tell her no. And it was sooooooo gooooood. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to eat double what you see in my diary. Fabulous. Really truly. And I feel so guilty about it I explain it in my notes, made a status update, and now I'm explaining myself here like I should feel bad that I ate chicken and salmon and shortribs plus fixin's for lunch. I made a conscious decision to only eat a little of each and not a bunch of everything so why do I feel so bad to have a day where it isn't the best?
  • Aerohead21
    Aerohead21 Posts: 333 Member
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    Oh, and it doesn't help I am planning a trip to the zoo tomorrow and I have nothing to take to eat and they don't offer healthy selections.....stressing over tomorrow already!!
  • mzhokie
    mzhokie Posts: 349 Member
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    I don't know if you call it a cheat day if I can still keep it with a 500 calorie deficit....... that's with eating exercise calories back. I think I have only once since I started keeping track ate more than I burned on any given day. I'm not totally sure since those days consist of eating things that is hard for me to enter since I don't know totally how it was prepared.

    What I do is try to eat clean as much as I can for the majority of the time. We love to eat out on the weekends. I told myself this time I was going to figure out how to lose weight and still live like I have been living. So I wasn't going to give up our going out. Instead I learned how to make smarter choices and work on portion control. I also work out since I know I'm going out.

    I would get a pedometer if you don't have one so you can see how many calories you really do burn during the day. That really does help me out. I use a Fitbit which syncs here and gives me my exercise calories. I make sure I net at least 1200 calories so I have to eat some or all of those exercise calories back. I like to have those extra calories at least one night a week so I don't have to worry about what I order as much. I do think it's good for me not to be hovering at 1200 net every day.... I don't do anything drastic mind you but I eat almost all of my exercise calories back so I net the 1410 that MFP gives me.

    You have to figure out what you are happy with. If there is a lot of stress going right now, make sure you get your exercise in. Exercise helps so much with stress and anxiety. It's just such a good release and will help you mentally too. I know that when I was going through some family drama, I would do about an hour on the treadmill every morning to just to let me mind go blank for a little while.

    I also about once a month enjoy myself to the point where if I am one calorie below what I burned for that day, it's a huge success. There are always special occasions that come up or events where you don't want to worry about it. I don't lose sight of what I'm trying to do. Those days, those special times, I think more about maintenance because once I'm done I am going to need to maintain. So practicing maintenance at times is just as important as sticking to your limits.

    It's good you could take time off, not gain too much and then get it back off. Give yourself credit for what you have done. Learn ways to deal with the drama, stress, etc. so it doesn't effect your diet. Maybe with all the drama you need to eat a little more calories... like just 100 or 200 more.... go to 1400 a day. Just for a little while. Then drop back once you feel like you have it under control. Just a thought.
  • mzhokie
    mzhokie Posts: 349 Member
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    Oh, and it doesn't help I am planning a trip to the zoo tomorrow and I have nothing to take to eat and they don't offer healthy selections.....stressing over tomorrow already!!

    Eat healthy before you go.... a good breakfast with eggs, some high fiber toast, turkey sausage or veggie sausage. This will stick with you for a long time. Put a protein bar or some almonds in a ziploc bag for your purse. Drink lots of water. Smart snacks really help to keep you from getting hungry and eating the bad stuff. If they search your bag tell them your diabetic and you must maintain your blood sugar! It's not a lot they usually let you take it in.

    Is it just you and the kids or a big group going to the zoo? Can you get away for 15-20 mins to walk around the place by yourself to burn some calories. I know at an amusement park you could walk while they are on a ride but not sure what situation you are in at the zoo. Just keep moving.
  • Aerohead21
    Aerohead21 Posts: 333 Member
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    At least me and my 2 yr old, maybe one other adult friend with no kids. Either way, my son keeps me on my toes. He likes to run like a maniac. I'm actually not worried about the exercise part tomorrow because the zoo is so big and I will have to lug everyhing around and push the stroller some of the way. I'm actually just concerned with the food. I could stop at the store and stock up on some of those healthy things....I have to go to the store anyway so I might as well do that early and then go to the zoo :) good planning! See, I need to develop that social support system and maybe this wouldn't be so hard!
  • Aerohead21
    Aerohead21 Posts: 333 Member
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    I think I need to incorporate the not so healthy stuff in every once in a while. MFP has me set to 1200 because my exercise levels are so low and my weight loss goals are 2 lbs a week. It's too much at the moment and I just know if I did this for another 10 months I'm going to blow it. That is just too hard for a lifestyle.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    I think I need to incorporate the not so healthy stuff in every once in a while. MFP has me set to 1200 because my exercise levels are so low and my weight loss goals are 2 lbs a week. It's too much at the moment and I just know if I did this for another 10 months I'm going to blow it. That is just too hard for a lifestyle.

    Have you considered lowering your weight loss goals per week? If you were to go from 2lbs to 1lb per week, you would get more calories per day. Having more calories each day would allow for a treat. Most people find trying to do this all or nothing doesn't work for very long. You begin to feel cheated, resentful and downright angry that you can't enjoy at least SOME of the things you once loved. Finding a comfortable balance in your eating will help. I've found as long as I eat healthy 80% of the time, I'm content. I get to eat the things I enjoy the other 20% of the time and it keeps me from wanting to binge eat.
  • Aerohead21
    Aerohead21 Posts: 333 Member
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    Yeah, I have considered it. It would make the food part more manageable.
  • ChicoKass2010
    ChicoKass2010 Posts: 4 Member
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    It is absolutely essential to have a cheat day(s) or whatever you want to call them to sustain weight loss. Who wants to live never eating a chip, cookie, cake, pizza, or fried chicken again? That's a miserable existence. So whether you choose to have 1 cheat day or 2, or just 3 cheat meals a week, or small treats every day, it's necessary.
  • rapt1
    rapt1 Posts: 5
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    Cheat days, cheat meals.. Think one poster said it, go by a weekly goal. So if your daily goal is 1200 calories a day then cut it to 1100 then on day 7 you will have 600 extra calories if you want that cheat day or meal.

    The key for myself was litteraly drinking 60-80 ounces of green tea a day at least. So I'd get hungry, drink my tea any maybe have a piece of cheese. I was eating under 1k calories a day, lifting heavy 3 days a week and swimming 2-3 days a week.. so in retrospect with my lvl of activity I would never drop that low or maybe not drop that low for a great length of time again because at the end my weights to a fast drop and thats where I lost a lot of muscle.
  • losingthehealthyway
    losingthehealthyway Posts: 46
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    For me it's important to enjoy food! I make room in my calorie count for a little comfort food every single day, and I am giving myself one flex day a week to NOT count calories. It's not that that's a binge day or a "cheat" day. It's just to give my brain a break from counting calories so I can enjoy eating meals with my family! Those days will help me learn to recognize fullness so that when I'm done losing weight, I can maintain without obsessing over calorie counts.

    This is a lifestyle change, not a diet. I am looking to lose 20 pounds over the course of 7 months, so I can learn tools to keep my weight in check ALL the time. That's why flex days are important to me.

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