Cheat days vs no cheat days

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.

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.

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.

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.