What do YOU consider a cheat day?

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  • bii14
    bii14 Posts: 192
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    the day i dont workout!
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
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    I'm not on a 'diet' so I don't have cheat days. If I want something that's not healthy, I make sure I have room for it in my diary, either by eating lower calorie meals beforehand, or even better, I make sure I exercise enough to cover the extra calories. If you feel you need a 'cheat day', you may not to be able to maintain your weight after you reach goal, especially if it's a full blown binge day. Also feeling the need for a cheat day may be a signal that you aren't havng your fav foods often enough. Yes, you can have some of your fav. foods and still lose weight.

    Before I started MFP I was having a 'treat' day. Every Friday my husband and I would have ice cream or some other junk on Fridays. It worked fairly well for us but now we are so busy and have so many family/friend's functions, we need to save our 'treats' for when there aren't so many healthy choices to choose from. Like last weekend we had pulled pork sandwiches with bbq sauce, potato salad and cake, cookies, etc. We didn't have a full blown binge, we ate smaller portions! Like instead of having a biggg spoonful of potato salad, we guesstimated 1/2 cup. Because of that and the fact that we exercised plenty that day, we both stayed under our calories. I would NOT eat that way everyday because I know I wouldn't lose weight and My stomach felt yucky afterwards anyway.

    So I guess if I had a cheat day it would be eating garbage food but staying under or near my calories. For one day and not often.
  • MaddiJoseph
    MaddiJoseph Posts: 117 Member
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    I don't really have cheat days. I keep small portions of all my favorite foods in the house, like milyway mini ice cream bars and eat that when I have a craving. If I really want to cheat I fit it into my calories. I find the only days I go more than a few over my goal is when something uncontrolable or unexpected happens, like a snack day at work that's sooo hard to pass or my husband wanting something high cal for dinner that I wasn't anticipating. It's all about moderation, and beyond that You would have to really go crazy to gain much from a little bit of cheating. Just try to moderate. It's not worth calling anything a cheat, as long as it fits realatively well into your goal.
  • mrsdixon814
    mrsdixon814 Posts: 15 Member
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    A cheat day is one where I eat wherever you want but not go overboard eating everything in sight. Usually a food that I don't eat all the time, some candy, maybe a few cocktails. Just letting the hair down a bit but not using it as an excuse to get nutty and lose sight of my goals
  • onequirkygirl
    onequirkygirl Posts: 303 Member
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    the day i dont workout!

    *thumbs up* this!
  • slim104
    slim104 Posts: 160
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    I dont have cheat days. I have a treat once a week but i don't cheat. I don't see this as a diet because i eat plenty of food, but the right food. So what's the point in cheating.
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
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    Roughly 1000 calories over maintenance, for me, personally. Idk what works for everyone else, but that is what I allow myself. Most of the time I stay under that range, sometimes I go over it. It all balances out in the end though, otherwise I'd have gained weight I'm sure! :)
  • karylee44
    karylee44 Posts: 892
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    i eat and log my calories.. any "treats" i give myself are logged. i try to keep within my cal limits.. i don't want to label anything i do "cheat". just implyes that i am fooling myself.. if i eat it, i log it, if i log it... i need to burn it!
  • 115perfection
    115perfection Posts: 109 Member
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    Going over calories, or opting for the less healthy option when I go out to dinner.
    I log everything though!
  • pnut80
    pnut80 Posts: 77 Member
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    i work in a bakery and we have samples everyday of pastries, i usually end up eating one and i very seldom add it into my cals because its such a small portion...i know it counts too but i feel like its really a cheat if i dont :p

    seriously though...no food is off limits for me, i guess a cheat would be when i allow myself to have a little bit more than usual. and i always end up workin it into my cals. i have had a few days since i started that i knew i went over and i didnt add it in to my count.
  • TheycallmeHotDonna
    TheycallmeHotDonna Posts: 26 Member
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    I would agree with the drinking thing too. And yes a good night sleep is hard to come by after a night of lusherism...:)
  • Arctic_Blonde
    Arctic_Blonde Posts: 9 Member
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    With that great attitude, you will have success. Enjoy...
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
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    I just wanted to add... I really prefer the term "spike day" or re-feed, because that's really a more positive spin on what I do, and I really don't consider it a negative thing. I'm not always hitting 2000 calories every day of the week, so it's nice to make up the extra ones with something special at the end of the week, like going out to a yummy dinner or splurging on some extra ice cream or going to the mall and having a red velvet brownie. Because, let's face it, life happens from time to time and I personally don't want to miss out on enjoyable moments due to calorie counting every time the opportunity arises. :)
  • insights2
    insights2 Posts: 52 Member
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    I don't intentionally have a cheat day, but I do religiously track what I eat.If I know I'm going somewhere and want to indulge, I try to do it sensibly and I also I try to do some sort of extra exercise to try to balance it out. If I happen to go over, then I may adjust a little over the next day or two, but I don't make myself crazy over it. I don't do any diet that restricts an entire food group because that just doesn't work for me, though it does for others. Otherwise, I tend to beat myself up, which never works out well....
  • slrrese
    slrrese Posts: 180 Member
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    Honestly, and this is probably going to sound really boring, but I don't call anything "cheat days", "cheat meals" or "cheat food". If I want something, I'll have it, and just work it into my daily calorie goal. If I want a meal that's going to take me well over my goal, I work it into my weekly goal instead, and compensate on other days (within reason). If I go way over and can't make it up on other days, I just move on. I'm really trying to make this a complete, permanent lifestyle change. It messes with my head if I think of it as "cheating", or if I see food as "bad" or "naughty", or if I say I've "broken my diet". Yes, I definitely have days where I could have eaten better, but it's just part of life. Sorry if that sounds preachy, but just how it works for me. :smile:

    This is exactly how I feel! Every DIET I have ever done has failed. This is a permanent lifestyle change, not a diet. I need to learn to stay within my limits regularly to acheive and then stay at my goals.

    This .
  • kaddydaddy
    kaddydaddy Posts: 60 Member
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    I have "cheat weekends" rather than cheat days. I try to stay focused on eating under 1900 calories and exercising during the week, but I'll "let my hair down" on Friday night into Sunday; that's when I do things like drink beer and eat junky foods. It's a system that seems to work fine for me. I still get to have the fun I used to, but in moderation, and I stay motivated during the week by the results of the diet and exercise.
  • WhitneyAnnabelle
    WhitneyAnnabelle Posts: 724 Member
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    Someone said something about alcohol. I try to factor it into my daily caloric needs, but that's just cheating. You can't save up calories for alcohol, which is why I usually go over because of it...which is also why I've quit. I did it years ago when I was losing weight, so I need to keep doing that to maintain.
  • dlpnrn2b
    dlpnrn2b Posts: 441 Member
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    When the kids want to go to cici's pizza... Pizza is my downfall so I try and make sure I work out extra hard for those calories but it still puts me over in my macros.. so I totally cheat with the Bavaria dessert pizza and cinnamon rolls..
  • Nicki801
    Nicki801 Posts: 12 Member
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    usually every sunday i have a treat, yesterday i had a nice slice of banana cream pie, but all week i eat and exercise like i should and i think everything in moderation is fine, now i wouldnt eat pie everyday of the week or even every sunday. but once a week i like to "splurge" and give my self a treat.
  • rextcat
    rextcat Posts: 1,408 Member
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    yesterday

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