Does cheat days actually work (in weightloss)?

So, I am wondering whether cheat days actually work for weightloss....does it really prevent a plateau? What are your experiences regarding cheat days? Do you still lose weight if you do have a cheat day, or does your weight stay the same, or do you actually gain weight? If you keep eating constant calories and constant exercise, how helpful or hurtful would cheat days be? This is just a general question to satisfy my curiosity and so any tips/experiences/etc is appreciated!
:)

I think it's important to be as consistent as you can about exericse and food intake.... if for no other reason that you are developing a good routine that you can keep to for the length of time it takes to lose the excess weight.   But I have found, personally, that a day where you eat more than normal every 2 or 3 weeks or so is a good way to a) stop a weight-loss programme from becoming too rigid, b) to keep weight-loss lively and c) keep in good spirits.

I never like the word 'cheat day' because that implies something deceitful and dishonest.... far too negative!!!   But if your total energy needs are 2300, you have a weight-loss intake of 1600 and you have a day every so often where you get 2300 as part of your weight-loss strategy then that's a deliberate & positive thing and not an underhand 'cheat'.   Don't weigh yourself straight afterwards..... only weigh in once or twice a week.

NB.... These days can't be too frequent for obvious reasons. Some people take 'weekends off', for example, and then wonder why they don't lose weight... LOL!   Too many extra food days and you're just developing a bad habit

I have what I personally consider a cheat day on Saturday every week, but realistically it's just a maintenance day.  It sure feels like cheating though, because I allow some of those extra calories to be from treats, like last night I had a couple of chocolate chip cookies.  Sometimes I let myself go over maintenance calories by a couple of hundred.  Really, though, it's probably even less of a cheat day than I think it is because I'm always up really late that night, so I'm burning extra calories, and I tend to sleep in the next day and usually miss breakfast.  (Except today, I seriously have no idea why I got up at 7 this morning.  Strange.)

My weight usually goes up on Sundays, but it's only temporary.  I'm up 1.6 lbs today, but I KNOW I didn't eat anywhere near that much.  It'll be back down tomorrow or Tuesday, and on those days are when I usually see a significant drop in weight.  Then for the rest of the week, my weight will come off very slowly. I also find that I don't feel so terribly restricted as I would if I had to still be super careful when we have friends over or go out on Saturday nights.  It keeps me from feeling like I'm dieting, or like food is controlling my life.

Honestly, I think it works well for some people, and not well for others.  it's really just something you have to try and figure out for yourself.

I like the idea of "cheat days" for the reasons said above and and usually just indulge, within some sort of reason, one a week.  Its nice when you feel comfortableto apply this belief to holidays and restaurant meals.

I was never a believer that eating too little would cause plateaus and always thought the less I ate the more I would lose (hence developing an eating disorder), but in my recovery I have been experimenting with eating my recommended intake and having cheat days. By following this philosophy I finally broke a month long plateau and have dramatically reduced my binging episodes.  So yea, I'm all about "cheat days," they work.

i take one weekend off a month. works great for me! its a sanity thing. note: i have no emotional bonds with food, nor do i binge. its just food. i eat what i want but dont overdo it. i call them no count days not cheat days. i cheat nothing.

I ate horribly during the long weekend. I mean completely binged. I was 138 pds on that Friday and 144 on Monday. After getting back on track this week, my scale now says I am below 138, so I guess it worked for me.It was the first time I've ever cheated though.

I try to eat my goal-weight maintenance calories on the weekends - which is less than my maintenance calories would be at my current weight, so I'm still good.  Weight loss has been fairly consistant at about a pound a week.   There is no routine for me on the weekends, so trying to hit my weight loss calorie goals is a challenge.

I can tell you that one meal at a restaurant can set the scale back a couple of weeks - but only for a few days.  Bloat.  Arg. 

There is mainly one goal of a "cheat" or high-calorie day (I don't like the word "cheat day" because that infers you can pig out and eat any type of junk that enters your field of vision. That's not what you want to do and that will hurt your weight loss.)

An ideal "cheat day" consists of about 500-1000 calories ABOVE your maintenance level, consisting mostly of simple carbs and low in fat (That means you still want to avoid the cookies, donuts, fried foods, etc).

Also, you should lift weights on this day if you're trying to preserve muscle (you should be).

Now, the whole reason for this is to increase levels of a hormone called leptin. Leptin is an "energy hormone" if you will, that regulates your appetite and energy expenditure. Higher leptin levels tell your body you have fat you can burn. Lower leptin levels (Which will inevitably follow calorie restriction) tell your body to more carefully regulate and preserve energy (making it harder to lose fat). Gaining fat will increase leptin levels. And yes, on your cheat days, you will gain a small amount of fat (we're talking fractions of a pound here; the change you see on the scale is stored glucose and the water that comes with it). However, that will help you maintain your metabolism while dieting for longer than if you ate lower calories every day.

How often to "cheat" or refeed depends on how much weight you have to lose. If you're more on the heavy side, it can be every few weeks or possibly not at all. If you're very close to your goal, you may need to do it ~2 times per week for it to be effective.

I take wensdays as a cheat day. i still workout just some friends gather at the chinese resturant for lunch and catch up time. i have noticed i still watch how much i put on my plate and what i put on my plate. and i only go one time to the buffett. Never for seconds.

I follow my exercise plan every day, no matter what.  I log all my food every day, no matter what -- although sometimes it is hard to be completely accurate.  I have "maintenance" days (when I target to eat up to my maintenance for my goal weight, my upper limit would be maintenance for my current weight) for special occasions like birthdays, holidays, parties.  It works out to be about once every 3 weeks or so. 

I am about halfway to goal and I have lost on average 1.5 pounds per week.  The longest "plateau" I had was less than 2 weeks with no real loss on the scale, but I started morbidly obese and am still obese, so that may change as I get closer to goal.

This really helps me to view my new habits as a "lifestyle", not a "diet". 

But, I hate the term "cheat day/meal" because it makes me feel as if I am back in grammar school.  I am not cheating anybody, I am just trying to live a balanced life while I slowly get to a healthy body.

I don't have cheat day but I have 1 day off a week (usually Saturday). Where I eat what I want and not think about counting calories without going totally overboard, it works for me, it tends to confuse my body and I often lose a lot more than I would normally without a day off.

I believe "cheat days" are necessary!

Give yourself 1 every week or every 2 weeks! I usually cheat on Saturdays, I try to make the right decisions but it feels good to go over.

It's hard to keep up with a strict diet. I find in my case that if I don't cheat, I'll just fall off the wagon and it's so much harder to motivated one-self to get back on!

Sundays are a maintenance day for me.  I eat healthy and don't overdo it, but I don't deny myself something I really want.  I go out to eat with my family and generally pick something healthy from the menu that sounds tasty.  Because I am on 1200 calories the rest of the week, having a no-count day makes the rest of the week easier.  However, I don't use this as an excuse to binge or try to stuff myself full of everything just because it is Sunday.

Add me to the list of people who believe a free day can be a healthy part of weight loss. I don't consider it carte blanch to eat however I want, but instead try to eat around maintenance.  I find that when I have those days once or twice a month, but still lose weight it gives me confidence that once I take the weight off I can keep it off.  The free days gives me a better idea of what life after weight loss is going to look.

i second everything everyone else said! LOL! have a day off! i dont go overboard.. in fact, here's a menu of what i ate on my day off on friday. im 19, and walked a lil amount.

Breakfast: went to a Japanese restaurant: 2 small bowls of miso soup with tofu and seaweed in them. one had a lil tempura as well. teriyaki chicken over steamed rice, a side salad with a lil ranch dressing over it.

Lunch: 9"inch cold cut combo on wheat with lettuce, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, pepperoncini, spinach, olives, extra onions, extra extra jalepenos, pepper jack cheese and honey mustard.

Snack: mango chile lollipop and these 2 lil mexican chile candies.

Dinner: 3"inch of my sandwich. a cup of noodles with tapatio picante sauce and lime.

may look like i did super cruddy, but it's not as unhealthy as it looks lol

:) day off.