"Cheat" Days?

Hello :)

I was just wondering if any of you out there have "cheat" days, or cheat meals?  Tonight is my cheat dinner, but I have no clue what to have.  I want it to taste good and I want some cheat comfort food?

Any ideas?

Hey!  I say go for it but don't over do it.  It's okay to enjoy a "higher" cal meal every now and again.  Enjoy in moderation, they say, and keep workin' out!

Jordan

Hi Jordan :)
Not sure what you like but yes I have 1 cheat dinner every week.  We go out to our local sports pub and I have nachos, chicken wings, and BEER!!!  Like 5 light beers!!!!  Have a great time.

~H~

I haven't added cheat days into my program yet... but i do eat whwat i want as long as it is within my daily cals limit.. well thats not true because last week i had a family gathering out of state and didnt count cals for like 5 days.. but i did exercise... but usually i eat but within my limits

Yes, I too go out and/or eat what I want that would normally not be within my calorie range. And then I have a great dessert, too! Usually it's only once every few weeks that I go "all out" like that, but if I eat out--which is still relatively rare--I'll sometimes eat something over my count but not over my burn. On my "vacation" days (I don't like to call 'em 'cheat' days; I think of it as a vacation from my usual routine), I will go over my burn if I want. That's why they are more rare.

So, if I eat out more than the vacation day, I'm still within my calorie count but maybe don't have much of a deficit. So far, all of this has worked fine for me--losing steadily at about 1-1.5 lbs/week and not having any trouble with cravings or binging. I'm not prone to those, but I did worry when I first started if I would feel deprived. I don't.

Good luck.

I have them, but they are usually around my work schedule...say if I have to fly to DC...I obviously can't take my food with me and sometimes...those wings or whatever just call my name

it happens and I've still lost weight.

Original Post by karmavb30:

Hello :)

I was just wondering if any of you out there have "cheat" days, or cheat meals?  Tonight is my cheat dinner, but I have no clue what to have.  I want it to taste good and I want some cheat comfort food?

Any ideas?

 

Sunday is my cheat day. That's when i usually go to restaurants! I don't count calories on that day but i don't go way overbaord I probably go up to 2000 cals. But I still workout afterwards so its not a completely lax day.

I give myself one cheat day a week, usually Saturday.  This is when I go out for breakfast, lunch and then I just snack for dinner.  I usually don't go over my alloted calories though.  Even if I do it isn't usually very much.  I still lose about 1 -2 lbs every week even with my one free day each week.  I've found that this is the best way for me to keep my sanity!!!  If I told myself that I couldn't ever have my fav's again I would never lose weight!!!!! 

I go to the gym 5 days per week for 1.5 - 2 hours each day and wear a pedometer to make sure that I get at least 10,000 steps in each day which helps the scale to continue to go down even on my cheat days.

Good Luck!

i don't have cheat meals or cheat days. i'm mostly recovered from an eating disorder and i've taught myself to allow myself little treats every day. somedays my treat is a diet soda, somedays it's a fudge bar, and some days it's hot chocolate. i don't feel deprived any day.

I have cheat days, sometimes 2 in a row. I think that having cheat days or not having cheat days is a matter of figuring out yourself and your body. Can you recover from them and still lose weight? Do they make you more or less likely to get back on track the rest of the week? Like most other things there is no one right answer for everyone. If you can do them and they help you then great!

Today I'm cheating up a storm but I just got back from an 8 mile hike so I figure I'm not hurting myself terribly. I'm making home made pesto, home made gnocchi, and steak for dinner and some chocolate chip cookies. Hmmm...maybe I'll do a half hour on the exercise bike later!

Original Post by haley_2008:

Hi Jordan :)
Not sure what you like but yes I have 1 cheat dinner every week.  We go out to our local sports pub and I have nachos, chicken wings, and BEER!!!  Like 5 light beers!!!!  Have a great time.

~H~

Hi!!  I just wanted you to know your beloved beagle was in my thoughts and prayers!  I will post some pics of my "beagle friend" to keep you strong Hun!

Jordan

I personally do have cheat days...For instance, if it's mine or someone else's birthday (or some other special occasion) and we go out for dinner and I'll just order whatever but the next day it's right back on track....plus I try to "prepare" for these days for about a week before hand with some extra running or working out...

<3 Olivia

Original Post by michael2323jordan:

Original Post by haley_2008:

Hi Jordan :)
Not sure what you like but yes I have 1 cheat dinner every week.  We go out to our local sports pub and I have nachos, chicken wings, and BEER!!!  Like 5 light beers!!!!  Have a great time.

~H~

Hi!!  I just wanted you to know your beloved beagle was in my thoughts and prayers!  I will post some pics of my "beagle friend" to keep you strong Hun!

 

Jordan

 omg thank you and i'd love to see your beagle pics.....God only knows how much I miss her.  I cry everyday :(

~H~

Original Post by etahbear:

I have cheat days, sometimes 2 in a row. I think that having cheat days or not having cheat days is a matter of figuring out yourself and your body. Can you recover from them and still lose weight? Do they make you more or less likely to get back on track the rest of the week? Like most other things there is no one right answer for everyone. If you can do them and they help you then great!

Today I'm cheating up a storm but I just got back from an 8 mile hike so I figure I'm not hurting myself terribly. I'm making home made pesto, home made gnocchi, and steak for dinner and some chocolate chip cookies. Hmmm...maybe I'll do a half hour on the exercise bike later!

 Home made pesto and gnocchi - how delicious!  Two of my favorite things.  I can make pesto - it's pretty easy - but I've never tried gnocchi.  I always have it at my aunt's house who is a great cook.  Good for you.

Everyone has a different perspective.

I've heard "cheat days" likened to a former drinker having a drink (or smoker having a smoke). Some former "drinkers" might still be able to have a drink every now and then. Some might totally fall off the wagon after a drop. Maybe you can handle it. For some, abstenance is the only way.

For health reasons I've had to really go commando about my diet. It's not about losing or maintaining weight anymore, for me, it's about managing my health. 

Instead of dreaming about "cheating" myself or wishing I could eat something I literally cannot, I concoct versions of my favourite vices that are suitable to my diet. There are loads of recipes on the internet that will provide "cheat"esque meals to accommodate practically any diet in existance. An entire book was just written about low calorie versions of "junk food" (Hungry Girl).

My dinner tonight was filet mignon topped with brie & sauteed mushrooms. Dessert was a huge bowl of mocha cream cheese pudding: 1 pkg gelatin made with 1/2 cup sugar free davinci's vanilla & 3/4 c boiling water, 1 Tbsp instant decaf coffee, 1 Tbsp cocoa powder blended with 2 oz cream cheese. It was totally delicious, fit my diet guidelines & was well within my calorie intake for the day.

Oh, yeah.  Saturday is our cheat day.  We go out to eat and have whatever we want.

I figure it keep our metabolisms confused so it won't think we're living through a famine or something

I count everything, though (as close as I can in a restaurant) and the weekly anaylsis is still below the alotted calories for the average.  Tonight may well have blown that, though.

I had to buy some smaller clothes, so it seems to be working just fine.

(Not sure what I will do in a couple of weeks when we go on vacation, though.)

I don't have designated cheat days (like the folks who plan "cheat Saturdays").  I don't want to deny myself something I'd like to eat during the week because it's not "cheat day" and then force myself to indulge because cheat day has arrived; I just try to make room in my normal routine for some of the foods I want by going easy on the calories elsewhere.

But if, for example, I have a day where nothing I eat has any nutrition information available (restaurant food, usually) or I've got no way to measure accurately ... well, yeah, I'll definitely cut myself a little slack that day.  It usually doesn't happen more than twice a month, so it's not worth driving myself nuts over.

I also never count/log during TTOM ... I'm always, like, three pounds heavier during, and then I finish and I end up having lost weight.  And in the meantime, sometimes I'll be starving and sometimes I'll have zero appetite, so I don't even try to predict whether I'll come in at the right number of calories or not!  It evens out in the end, I think.

Cheat days or meals don't really seem worth it.  What I do is simply count calories.  I eat whatever I want but it has to fall within the daily limit of 1400.  That way if I'm having a craving I can satisfy it.  I've wanting healthier foods simply because it means I can eat more in a day. 

Anyways, why work so hard all week for something to ruin it all in one day?  You still need to cut 3500 calories per week by either limiting food or increasing exercise to lose ONE pound!  One pound! 

Saturdays are my cheat days but I stay within the calorie range. I can still have three pieces of cheese pizza, 4 or 5 Coors light , a few chicken wings and pace myself that I don't go over the Calorie Counter. The weight watcher plan also allows a cheat day but I'm not one to go crazy. I still manage to pull out a B+ in nutritional value, eating sensibly before we go out. When dining out, it's not necessarily the food you're eating that racks up the calories, but the way it's prepared. If you can't find nutritional values on this site of certain restaurants, google it and you'll find most of them. Eateries such as Red Robin, Unos and Romanos Macaroni Grille are online. You would be shocked with the calories in some of their offerings. Everything in moderation usually works.

I'm logging my cheat day from yesterday right now!  And I hate doing it.  But I've noticed when I have a cheat day, I sometimes end up logging up to 4000 calories!  But I look forward to it, I do it mostly once a week, to every other week.  Most of those calories are from beer.  And I do pay for it the next day.  Ever since I have put on muscle mass, I get more bloated the following day.  It's my punishment I guess.  But it's my lifestyle, and I enjoy it.  I enjoy life.  But, like other posters have said, you have to do what works for you.  For me, to have a cheat day, it's SO easy for me to get back on track today.  All I crave for the next week is health food, and eating right, and exercising.  

I don't have cheat days. I used to give myself cheat days or meals and I always ended up going overboard. I guess I lacked the discipline not to keep indulging. So now I find that if I give myself up to 200 calories a day to eat or drink whatever I want and that works for me. I can have a little bit of sweets everyday that way. I have been doing great with not over indulging anymore and I haven't binged in a long time.

But I do however, eat 4-8 servings of veggies and fruits, 3 servings of protein, and 2 servings of whole grains everyday. I drink about 48-64 fl oz of water a day as well.

I really congratulate anybody who can have cheat days and have it work for you. That takes a lot of discipline and determination. That in itself is awesome and for those of you who can do that, should be very proud of yourselves.