Weight-Loss Cheat Days

Weight-Loss
Yeah every diet plan should have a cheat day. I do it so that i will not be too fixated on that much loved cookie or any sweets because when i do cave in i would wolf down almost the entire jar. But when i started my cheat day, i find that i can control myself more and eat sweets less.
 
I think cheat days are a good idea....at the very least I think everyone should be able to eat their favorite foods in moderation. Have a bite here and there and track the calories to fit them into your day, if you don't wanna splurge too much on one day alone. Lets face it...who's going to go forever and never eat the foods they love the most?? Eventually you'll get tired and feel deprived. Moderation is the key :)
 
I ate a lot of chocolate and chocolate ice-cream, biscuits, and besides this, apple, banana...ugh i didnt feel so good. This morning I binged too, I hope I'll get back on track!
 
I don't really do "cheat" days....or at least I don't call them that. I stick to a certain number of calories per day and I use my heart rate monitor to determine how many calories I've burned. If I know that I'm going to be socializing (as opposed to eating my carefully selected and prepared food at home), then I eat fewer calories with my other meals and work out more that day. I also will pick "healthier" options even if I'm eating somewhere that is not very healthy. I make sure to log everything that I eat (and drink) so that I know how many calories I'm working with.

This allows me to occasionally eat foods that are not part of my regular routine. For instance, for Mother's Day, I had one half slice of deep dish pizza with my mother-in-law. I knew she wanted pizza and I knew I couldn't eat a whole slice without ruining my calorie count for the day. So, I lowered my caloric intake earlier that day, added 10 more minutes on the elliptical machine that morning and only had a half a slice of the pizza that evening. Doing this kind of thing keeps me sane and reminds me that you can pretty much eat what you want in moderation. You just have to be smart about it. Despite my deep dish pizza (and a couple of glasses of wine), I still ate to lose 1.6 pounds per week. Not bad on a "cheat" day!

Best,
Bree:waving:
 
sometimes I go crazy on my cheat days. Last Sunday I ate a whole chocolate cake to myself. I felt bed after so I went to gym to do some cardio.
 
Hi - so can you tell me when you switched to 6 to 7 meals a day how many calories were each meal?



AllCdnBoy said:
Hi All.
I've been asked a few times about cheat days, so I will try to explain it.

how to cheat
Once a week, you can go a little crazy with your "diet". For example, each Saturday, you can have a huge pasta dinner with your favorite desert.

how does this work
Our bodies love balance. The longer you are at a certain weight, the harder it is to move from it (up or down). This is why a lot of people go on crash diets ... they want fast results. As soon as they go back to their old diet, the weight comes firing back on because that's where the body is confortable (or even higher because it's preparing for another crash diet).
Your body needs time to adjust and become happy again. "Diet" is a lifestyle, not a 5 week plan to lose weight. The only one that is going to be successful is one that you can stay committed to.

Warning
The only real exception is if you aren't getting enough calories. What happens here, is your body will store any extra food over your recommended intake as fat because it is in starvation mode.
It shouldn't be how much you eat, but what you eat. I've heard this many times "eat more to lose weight". It's obviously not that cut-and-dry, but it does make sense for those people that are not eating with their goal to lose weight.
When I switched to my 6-7 meals / day, I started losing weight after about 6 weeks and it's been easy to keep off because that's where my body is happy now. My metabolism is going hard all day and melts any food I eat with ease.

summary
Eat healthy for 3-4 weeks and then start your "cheat days". The cheat days are quite important for your body too. It needs time to adjust and you will find that you will have some pretty huge cravings if you've made some drastic (but needed) changes to your diet. You need to satisfy them to a certain degree to keep yourself steady on that path. Over time, your body will lose those cravings and the food you eat on a regular basis will make you quite happy.

Cheers,
Sean
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AllCdnBoy said:
Warning
The only real exception is if you aren't getting enough calories. What happens here, is your body will store any extra food over your recommended intake as fat because it is in starvation mode.
It shouldn't be how much you eat, but what you eat. I've heard this many times "eat more to lose weight". It's obviously not that cut-and-dry, but it does make sense for those people that are not eating with their goal to lose weight.
When I switched to my 6-7 meals / day, I started losing weight after about 6 weeks and it's been easy to keep off because that's where my body is happy now. My metabolism is going hard all day and melts any food I eat with ease.

Cheers,
Sean
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I have oh so learned this the hard way. As my other posts have mentioned I have been trying to change my lifestyle (exercise as well as food intake) for about 17 months now, seeing no results.... until recently.

I know, looking at my pictures most people will find it very hard to believe, but previous to the last couple weeks I was barely eating; I was "lucky" if I ate 1k calories/day.
The past couple weeks I started eating more meals (small meals plus snacks) throughout the day. I have been eating the same foods because like I said, I had made some major changes well over a yr ago. BUT, by adding in more snacks (healthy ones of course) I have been eating 1,200-1,800 calories/day. I am increasing my energy level & stamina and am able to do so much more throughout the day. My "naptimes" have lessened a lot (still have naps though because of serious sleep problems).

That (increasing calorie) is the ONLY thing that I have changed within the last couple weeks and I am actually starting to see results.
Ok... I can't actually SEE the difference between this weeks picture & last weeks picture, but
- my weight has gone down
- my measurements have gone down
- clothes feel a bit more loose
- my energy level is higher
- my stamina is increasing so I can do more for longer periods of time

4/7 at last Doc appt weight was 335 (or 340 - I can't remember)
5/29 when I started the account here, weight was 317 (this is where I started increasing calories)
6/8 for June challenge weigh-in weight was 314.2
6/11 weight this morning was 308.9 -- which I know can (probably will) fluctuate between now & the "June challenge" weigh-in on Tues (the 15th) But hoping that the numbers drop even more by then.
 
Cheat days have never worked for me personally. I would be REALLY good the whole week, and my whole mindset would be focused on that one day where I could cheat. That's ALL I would think about, and when the day would come I would totally go overboard and binge like crazy. Then the day after would be hell, and I wouldn't feel like eating well again.
I like to just eat what I want in moderation, it's so much easier that way. If I want chocolate on Tuesday, I'm not going to deprive myself and go chocolate crazy on Friday, it doesn't work for me. Good concept, but I guess when I want something, I just want it NOW hehe
 
My diet involves no cheat days because I can eat whatever the heck I want as long as the grand total is 1000 calories for the day :3 I generally prefer home-cooked meals so I'm pretty much out of fast food's way.
 
I don't have cheat days and I haven't really felt the need for them, either. When I have extra calories for the day and I feel like having a small snack, I let myself indulge. But it's a choice to indulge, not giving into a craving. I've found that after almost a month of healthy eating, my cravings for unhealthy foods have pretty much disappeared. It allows me to decide to indulge at an appropriate time.

It really, really helps that I eat continuously throughout the day. 6 - 8 small meals rather than 3 large meals keeps you full all day long and helps control cravings (because when you're full, you're less likely to want food in general, let alone unhealthy food). My stomach has been shrinking, as well. I find myself getting more full on smaller amounts of food.

And this is after only 3 and a half weeks. My body is very, very happy this way, even though I'm eating 750 - 1000 calories per day less than I used to.
 
Ha ! Maybe for somebody else.....

But for me, it's like this;

I have had a serious food addiction for most of my life. It's no different than alcohol, or cocaine, crank, whatever.

So tell a crack head, "Okay, your going to live in a crack house, and have access to all the crack you can smoke..... However, you can only have 5 hits on Wednesday's. The rest of the time, you just have to watch".
Oh sure. That's going to work :(

Here's the thing, after 45 years of this addiction, I know myself very well. If I have just a little fast food, or fried food, or pizza, or chocolate, or pie.... it will lead to just a little more.... and just a little more..... and before I know it, I'll be eating 6000 to 8000 calories a day, every day, just like I have for the last 20 plus years.

I finally decided I was going to do whatever it took, to lose all the weight I needed to..... And I did it ! 72 lbs in 9 months !

Honestly at this stage in my life, I feel like if I ever let myself go again, it really could be an issue of life and death.

Now that I feel as great as I do, I think I'd prefer a little bit more of this kind of healthy life, before I check out.

Zero cheating for me. If I need a little more carbs, or cals, or proteins, etc, I'll make a sensible adjustment to my daily food plan, monitor the changes, and take it from there.

Peace,
Fish
 
I have cheat days because I want to have fun. Generally they are the days we are having 'girls night' at the pub, or similar.

On my cheat days I still count my calories, and usually up my intake from 1400cal/day (losing 1.5 pds a week) to my maintenance intake of 2100cal/day. So even if i'm having a cheat day, i'm still not gaining weight. For me a cheat day is not a free pass at binging.. its a lax of the diet.

I agree with above poster.. I prefer to call it a day off than a cheat day. I'm not cheating myself.. i'm enjoying life.
 
Toutoule said:
I guess we all have our own philosophy when it comes to cheat days.
I read a good article that helped me develop my philosophy.
I will try and find the link and come back and post later.
Click to expand...

Sorry man....links arn't permitted. There are strict rules that we have on links, but links by newbies are especially not permitted. Feel free to check out the thread regarding linking in the newcomers section.
 
i love cheat days! i'm still on cheat day though for the holidays lol. but on my cheat day, i still eat minimally of my favorite thing to eat
 
I've never really done cheat days but that doesn't mean I deny myself. If I want a particular food I'll eat it but in moderation or a low-cal version. Like yogurt. If I want a burger it'll be home made.

I think so long as you don't slip back into old habits by eating poorly every day I'm sure it does no harm.

A nutritionist/trainer at my gym believes strongly in 'cheat day' every week. He says he'll eat 6,000 calories on a Sunday to kick start his metabolism for the week.
 
Cheat days so far have worked well for me. When cheating only the finest foods from my favorite restaurants or the best home prepared foods will do. Junky store bought doughnuts or hot dogs are not worth cheating for.
 
I like the idea of calling it "treat" instead of "cheat,"it kinda takes the guilt out of it. It's pretty obvious that different things work for different people. One approach that I've seen work with clients is that some of them will 'behave' at all times when they have control over their food, then save the "treating" for all of the special occasions and meals out. That way they can relax and not be thinking, "uh oh, what am I gonna order... I've already cheated this week!"
 
it is easy to cheat our days to stuck our balance diet proper use of vegetables and simple food like burger and pizza.i myself done that and also cheat the days.
 
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