Cheat Days

alrowlandson28 · May 2012

Hey guys

I just quit weight watchers and signed up for this instead. I'm about 5,7, 127 lbs (soon to be more...wedding is done and now I have no motivation)...

The nice thing about weight watchers was the 49 cheat points you get a week. I'm trying to figure out how to still allow myself to indulge without gaining. I've been eating whatever I want for over a month and haven't gained much more than a lb...was thinking that if I set this up to lose 1/2 a lb per week, then I could save the extra 1800 calories for one day a week and splurge, or spread it out over the week. That way I'd probably maintain my current weight (prob lose actually consdering I've been eating about 3000 calories a day for a month)....does anyone have a system they use with calories to still allow for cheating? Like setting it to lose a lb when u want to maintain and then splurging once a week?

Thanks!!

Gerry_Lane · May 2012

Don't live for "cheat" days....live for who you will become. Cheat days is how you got where you are

Gerry

Dagoth · May 2012

I eat at a 1000 calorie deficit 6 days a week and have one day where I eat a 1000 surplus. It seems to work out.

stfuriada · May 2012

As cliche as this sounds, losing and maintaining weight IS A LIFESTYLE. It's not something you should do periodically.

Don't make your diet so restrictive that you feel the need to have cheat days. Everything in moderation, even things like pizza and ice cream will help you stick it out.

t4nn1e · May 2012

Wow, 3000 calories?

Can you give me an example of what you would eat on a day to day basis? I only have 1200 calories a day, and I often have far less than that! I just can't find enough to eat for more than 1200 calories? (obviously, I could have cake and chocolate etc, but I choose not to..)

placeboaddiction · May 2012

Just become a responsible human being. If you cheat, you cheat, if you don't, you don't. Don't feel guilt when you do, you are just being human

I don't have cheat days, but I have days I screw up. Yesterday, I screwed up, no big deal. Just owning your diet as not a "Diet" but a lifestyle.

I dieted my first 15 pounds, then changed my lifestyle for the last 50 lbs. Dieting always killed me. I'm one of those who doesn't take directions well. So if I don't put boundaries up, I feel I personally have a higher chance of doing something.

va_va_voom · May 2012

As cliche as this sounds, losing and maintaining weight IS A LIFESTYLE. It's not something you should do periodically.

Don't make your diet so restrictive that you feel the need to have cheat days. Everything in moderation, even things like pizza and ice cream will help you stick it out.

^^ This.

I don't have cheat days. I typically follow the 80/20 rule. I make sure 80% of what I eat (at least) is healthy and allow myself (up to) 20% of the stuff I love that isn't so great for me. It helps to find healthy alternatives to your favorite "sin" foods, too. Swapping out ice cream with frozen yogurt, or baked chips for regular chips - that kind of stuff.

My ticker is probably misleading b/c it says I've only lost 6 pounds - but I've actually lost a total of 46 pounds since January (gave birth and lost 40 pounds prior to joining MFP). So, the way I've been doing it seems to be working OK.

fayereed · May 2012

I just save calories from other days. I have no set amount, some days I just eat more and some days I just eat less. I'm happy as long as stay within my weekly allowance.

alrowlandson28 · May 2012

lol yeah it's pretty bad

For breakfast I would have a breakfast sandwich that I make (ww english muffin, egg white, cheese, avocado), a bowl of fruit, glass of milk
For a snack between breakfast and lunch I'd have a granola bar and some veggies
For lunch I'd have a big bowl of pasta with chicken and a salad...normally from skinnytaste.com....then some kind of skinny cow desert...
snack between breakfast and dinner would be another granola bar and veggies
dinner would be some other kind of dish coming in around 500 calories...then dessert again...then maybe air popped popcorn and some more fruit at night....

it's all Healthy food...just a lot of it. I'm a snacker plus a 3 full meals kind of person. If I don't eat every 2 hours I feel dizzy and get super irritable and everyone can hear my stomach growl. It probably comes in closer to 2500 but with weight watchers I was always in the negative for points (meaning I ate way too much) and still lost. The problem is when I don't count things then my stomach can't handle all the food I eat and I feel sick.

and I think it's healthy to have a cheat meal! Right now I'm supposed to have 1400 calories if I want to lose half a pound a week and I figure compared to what I've been doing, I should lose. I'm also going to take that 1800 calories and use it for a cheat meal on Friday or something I guess

alrowlandson28 · May 2012

Thanks for all the responses guys! The thing is...I can't borrow from other days because I only have 1400 calories a day. There is no way I'd ever have any left over. 1400 calories doesn't leave much room for any kind of fun (bbqs in the summer, drinks, dinners out)...

It's really hard switching "programs" because I really did like the WW bonus 49 points....it made the whole thing more realistic as a lifestyle like you are all saying.

neverstray · May 2012

There are a couple of ways to do this. Don't eat back your exercise cals, and then on cheat day, you will have those available to eat.

What I do, is I just don't log on cheat day. That doesn't mean I go nuts...it doesn't mean I go over, I just don't log. So it gives me some leeway, if I want. Cheat day is hotly debated here and is a subject that people get nasty about, for some stupid reason. Asking this question is like asking if there is a god. So, just understand that you just have to do what is right for you. There is a lot of support for cheat days in diets. WW does it in their own way. I learned about it from a book called Body For Life where Bill Phillips strongly promotes a cheat day once a week. It's up to you. If it makes sense, do it. My mom, who was thin as a rail and worked out everyday and was in better shape at 60 than most 20 year olds I knew, did a cheat day every week, and it worked great for her. I've carried on the tradition.

alrowlandson28 · May 2012

Thanks! That's a great idea with the calories gained from exercise too....I'm waiting for my Jillian Michaels 90 Day Bodu Revolution and my new Asics to come in the mail! That should rack up some calories to be used at wacky wings :$

cf8wrk4u · May 2012

I would tell you not to drink your calories (that's my trick - very little juice/beer/pop) but I know you love your coolers. Haha... try to avoid cheat days hun but give yourself one small treat/day instead. That's my other trick... I get a couple cookies/ice cream/whatever each day but just one treat.

That may help???

Also, 127 is a good weight... I'm 133 (I'd like to be 130).

You look GREAT either way. xo

alrowlandson28 · May 2012

I would tell you not to drink your calories (that's my trick - very little juice/beer/pop) but I know you love your coolers. Haha... try to avoid cheat days hun but give yourself one small treat/day instead. That's my other trick... I get a couple cookies/ice cream/whatever each day but just one treat. That may help???

Also, 127 is a good weight... I'm 133 (I'd like to be 130). You look GREAT either way. xo

Thanks dearest! I do the treats every day...but I want to be able to go out for dinner once a week and not worry about it...me n kyle are trying to do date night and there's no way I can keep that under 1400. Restaurants are EVIL!!!! Even that apple pecan salad at montana's has like 60 grams of fat. I can probably handle one meal though and not a whole day. We're going out with another couple tonight and I wish it was u and Jay

. Okay lets switch to email LOL

alrowlandson28 · May 2012

Oh and I def. don't drink my calories...with all my eating there's no room for that lol!

Coolers are the one weakness in the summer and I can't find any of the Mike's Hard lemonade 99 calorie coolers anymore

LiddyBit · May 2012

Don't live for "cheat" days....live for who you will become. Cheat days is how you got where you are

Gerry

I just wanted to point out that the OP's stats are 5'7 and 127 pounds. That's lower than a lot of goal weights around here. I'd say how she got where she is was working for her.

B21goddess · May 2012

Don't live for "cheat" days....live for who you will become. Cheat days is how you got where you are

Gerry

amazing advice.

LioshaM · May 2012

I think the first thing to figure out is how many daily points = calories. I just left weight watchers as well because I needed to wrap my mind around what I was actually consuming. I really think the 49 points spread over 7 days (7 points per day) is probably calories that are already built into what MFP has as your daily calories. Take for instance your 4 point dessert, when I switched over to MFP and I actually looked at the calories, it was only 140! I said to myself, Is that all?

I really thought that the higher the points the more calories, but it's not a whole lot. So probably, the 26-29 points that most people are set to lose weight on using weight watchers is probably 1000-1200 calories, which is why fruit and veggies are zero. That's so deceiving to me because when I log it on MFP, it really does have a calorie associated with it. That's also why when you don't use the 49 extra points, you end up losing on an average of 2 pounds.

I don't know, maybe I just rambled on, but just know to eat everything in moderation and plan for your cheat days. Make sure if you know you will have that slice of cake and ice cream, eat small meals. But just don't sabotage yourself, like I sometimes do on the weekend. I'm still learning!

Cheat Days

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