Cheat Day?

jenichenny
jenichenny Posts: 73 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone do a cheat day? Dr Oz says you should have one cheat day a week to speed up your metabolism. I though this was a load of crock! UNTIL I did a cheat day (it was a special event) and that week I lost big. Thoughts?

Replies

  • Erica27511
    Erica27511 Posts: 490 Member
    I don't necessarily have cheat days, but I do calorie cycle. One day I will eat 400 cals under my goal and then I'll eat my TDEE which is 400 above my calorie goal. It's working for me and I am losing fast.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    I cheat every friday.
    Calorie cycle as well.

    PS: Dr Oz wants you to buy his stuff so normally I wouldnt listen to him.
    But on this occasion he is spot on.
  • amanda_ataraxia
    amanda_ataraxia Posts: 400 Member
    I do not have cheat days, but I do have a day where I allow myself more calories (1600 instead of 1200). But, I do not go crazy eating junk. Those calories still come from "clean" foods. It has helped me lose more weight and broke a plateau I was on a few weeks ago.
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    Many do cheat days and have had success, I do one every week but moreso of a cheat meal. However, I don't listen to one word that comes from that mans mouth.
  • Agator82
    Agator82 Posts: 249 Member
    I have cheat days in the sense that I will have special events with family and I will have more those days than on any other day of the week. Psychologically speaking, the principle behind a cheat day is not so bad as you deprive yourself 85% of the week so you get a "free" day. My experience it helps to round out my nutritional balance (sometimes you get a little vitamin/mineral deficient when you are losing weight) so you body has everything it needs.

    Ironically, as you start to get healthier, if you cheat too much on a 'cheat day' you will feel like crap so it helps to reinforce good principles for when you move to maintain your weight loss.

    All that being said, Dr. Oz's advice and support for a cheat day also makes sense and gives plenty of reason to go for it.
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    Many do cheat days and have had success, I do one every week but moreso of a cheat meal. However, I don't listen to one word that comes from that mans mouth.
  • Lotad
    Lotad Posts: 7
    I normally have one cheat day a week, (I'm addicted to chinese food)!
    I just wouldn't over do it, or use it as an excuse to over eat tons and tons.

    Just treat yourself to what you've been craving all week, and remind yourself to not go overboard and you'll be fine! :)
  • crobl
    crobl Posts: 380
    Personally, I think having a cheat day, is like keeping your I-Phone safe in its Otter Box all week, and then taking it out on Saturday afternoon to drop it off the roof of your house into a bucket of water...

    It's ok to give yourself small rewards, but a whole day of 'cheating'... people that binge could actually eat back all their progress in 1 day! Calorie cycling is a much better idea
  • placeboaddiction
    placeboaddiction Posts: 451 Member
    I let cheat days happen organically :). I keep under calories and then sometimes eat bad. When I schedule it, it makes it really hard to validate a continued health focused eating that whole day... So I'd eat like a XXL grilled stuffed burrito from taco bell for lunch , then 12 hot wings(Blazin' wings... yeah they taste like garbage, but fudge it. I eat as much spicy of foods as I can now that I have lost weight and no longer suffer from heart burn) from BW3's for dinner..etc.etc..etc.. I don't like doing that. It made me feel guilty. So now I just eat a bad meal when I feel like it. I go over calories once or twice a week. Don't feel guilty though :)
  • OnMyWeigh464
    OnMyWeigh464 Posts: 447 Member
    My weigh in day at TOPS is on Mondays and I use to schedule cheat days on Tuesday where I didn't care WHAT I eat...and at bed time I felt GROSS.

    Now what I do is I eat great all week and if something comes up I'll just plan to eat as good as I can but if there happens to be junk then so be it...

    My mentality is this - I've been "cheating" for years and that's why I am overweight and counting calories now so I try not to have a cheat day if I can.
  • carriempls
    carriempls Posts: 326 Member
    Like others, I don't consider anything I do "cheating'. It's all planned. I plan to allow myself more calories on certain days (usually weekends) by eating less on other days and exercising more on the higher cal day.

    it works well for losing and maintaining.
  • lauren3382
    lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
    I might do a cheat meal every now and then, but not a full day. It just makes me feel lousy and more bloated.
  • jenichenny
    jenichenny Posts: 73 Member
    Thanks for the tips! I've never heard of calorie cycling but it sounds pretty much just like what I was talking about. One day a week eating a little more than usual in calories. Not necessary unhealthy food (I have noticed I can't eat anything greasy anymore!) but just extra to boost calories up.

    Would 400 above my normal calorie goal be appropriate?
  • raeleek
    raeleek Posts: 414 Member
    Like others, I don't consider anything I do "cheating'. It's all planned. I plan to allow myself more calories on certain days (usually weekends) by eating less on other days and exercising more on the higher cal day.

    it works well for losing and maintaining.

    Couldn't have said it better!!!!!
  • nataliexxxx
    nataliexxxx Posts: 262
    I do but only go over by about 300 calories I did have a cheat day the other day though and went over by a lot and felt really quilty
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