Cheat days = SABOTAGE!

"Clean" eating is rather pointless.
Your diet doesn't have to be 100% all-natural, straight from the soil foods.

As long as you're meeting the proper macro/micro nutrient needs, eat whatever you want.

Make every day a "cheat" day and include one or two of your favorite snacks. Just fit it into your macros.

"Clean" eating is rather pointless.
Your diet doesn't have to be 100% all-natural, straight from the soil foods.

As long as you're meeting the proper macro/micro nutrient needs, eat whatever you want.

Make every day a "cheat" day and include one or two of your favorite snacks. Just fit it into your macros.

i agree with this.

the idea of cheat days is necessary if you think of what you are on as a diet, something that you do now until you lose the weight but dont really keep your maintenance in mind. the way i'm doing it is to eat at the calorie level of my goal weight. that way way i'm a)not constantly lowering my calories and b)by the time i've reached my goal i dont have to worry about how to maintain

Double agree

"Clean" eating is rather pointless.
Your diet doesn't have to be 100% all-natural, straight from the soil foods.

As long as you're meeting the proper macro/micro nutrient needs, eat whatever you want.

Make every day a "cheat" day and include one or two of your favorite snacks. Just fit it into your macros.

i agree with this.

the idea of cheat days is necessary if you think of what you are on as a diet, something that you do now until you lose the weight but dont really keep your maintenance in mind. the way i'm doing it is to eat at the calorie level of my goal weight. that way way i'm a)not constantly lowering my calories and b)by the time i've reached my goal i dont have to worry about how to maintain

Double agree

It's a mind set. Once you put it in your head that this day is "cheat" day, You set up your self for failure. There is no such day in my dairy. If I crave something, I eat it in moderation. When I would try to lose wt. in the past. one cheat day could sabotage everything as far as gaining back all the wt. that I have lost. Now I have a new mind set. everything in moderation.

I have never been able to do cheat days. I find that when I have a cheat day not only do I go WAAAY overboard, but then I dont stick to that day and pretty soon everyday becomes a cheat day!

I think the occasional 'cheat events' are ok. For example my niece's pink icing birthday cake doesn't fit into my diet plan but I can forget my diet for her party. Or an anniversary meal out with my wife.

If I accept that every now and again I'm going to have a bad calorie day due to unusual circumstances, then I'm more likely to just get back on track

I think the term "cheat" day is the wrong mindset to have. If you're doing restricted calories, dieting, whatever term someone wants to toss out there, then unless you're very obese, spiking you calories (especially carbs) every 4-5 days helps reset your metabolism and keep the fat burning engine humming.
If you have to call it something, call it a planned refeed or something. Key word being planned. I hit up Micky-D's about once a week to satisfy my desire for a double cheeseburger and that culinary crack they call fries. With the soda, it's just under 900 calories and with some fiddling with the macros, it's relatively easy to keep the daily totals to around 2,500 or so which is about as high as I go right now. Every 3rd week or so, it's off to La Pinata for my beloved 2 pound shredded beef/bean/cheese wet burrito, which takes care of about 3/4 of the day's macros in one sitting.
The rest of the week is generally 1300-1650 cals with a minimum of 200g protein and a max of 125-150g carbs a day.

Several protein bars out there taste pretty much like candy bars (and some really are, if you read the labels..) and can satisfy the sweet tooth every other day or so.

Unplanned "cheat" days usually end in a free-for-all, how much crap can I cram in my mouth, and does the day start at 12:01 am the night before or when I wake up?? kinds of days.

I think you can plan a treat without it being a whole day of eating badly.

Kill the guilt. Don't do cheat days occasionally preplan a MAINTENANCE day.

You can treat without the cheat.

I have no problem in having a little treat of one kind or another, but I'm slowly changing what I see as treats I love baked goods, so I've been developing my own recipes and make the most marvellous muffins that include carrot, courgette, banana, blueberries and oats - they're just the right size to grab for a breakfast on the go or for a mid morning/afternoon snack and they don't bust the calorie bank. I also adore smoothies, so I regularly make my own with fat free Greek yoghurt, skimmed milk, banana and whatever other fresh fruit I have in the house (today I added raspberries). They taste deliciously indulgent. Instead of dessert (or sometimes for brekkie!) I'll slice up a banana, add a few blueberries or strawberries, spoon some fat free Greek yoghurt on top and then sprinkle on some mixed seeds - you have no idea how delicious that is!

To paraphrase Kate Moss's botched quote, "Nothing tastes as good as HEALTHY feels!" (She said "skinny", but I think that's a negative thing to say, and I much prefer my version - LOL!).

Yes, I occasionally have a chocolate biscuit or some crisps or whatever, but I always make sure I'm within my allowances. And if I know I'm going to have a calorific meal (usually dinner rather than lunch) then I'll hit the gym and get in some extra cardio to burn a few extra calories and make sure I have plenty of room for it in my allowances.

I'm still working on it - I'm a work in progress, but I hope that one day I'll find all this easy - that it will come naturally - I plan for this to be the last time I have to shed anything more than a couple of pounds. I want to be fit and healthy and strong, and that's something to aim for and keep me going. I don't want to "cheat" on life or on myself, but I do want to be able to have the occasional treat.