What do you consider a cheat day?

So I know that cheat days are important because they can prevent your metabolism from slowing, but what do you actually consider a cheat day? Is it:

~ a day when you eat more calories than you normally would, but still have a deficit

~ eating at maintainance

~ or eating above your maintaince level?

above maintaince level

I'm above maintaince as well.

way above maintenance....like beer and wings night

~H~

I still have a deficit. Sometimes even bigger than on normal days! O_o

way above maitenence. like ranging from 400-3000 calories extra : )

way above maintenence!! lots of chocolate and processed sugars....

 I must admit this was not what I was expecting, LOL. I thought just eating at maintainance would be classified as a cheat day.

A cheat day for me...pizza, wine, chocolate, chips, bagels, all without exercise!

For me it's no exercise and/or eating things I normally avoid - cheese or cream sauce or a cookie.  I do allow myself a couple of glasses of wine a couple times a week, but I always stay under maintenance.  For me it's all been in the exercise - trying to do a minimum of an hour of something six days a week and keeping my intake under 1500 cals a day.  I've lost 9 pounds in just under a month this way. 

Eating whatever I feel like... usually costco pizza... yum!

anything over 1499 cals/day is a cheat day... usually my "carb load" night before running the next morning. If I don't take in around 200g carbs the day before (normally I take in 100) I seem to lack the energy to run 10-12 miles...

Hahahaha... what's a cheat day?  YESTERDAY.

600 cals for breakfast and lunch, doing good, then onto an 800 calorie dinner with about 400-500 calories worth of snacks.  It was a maintainence day, but it was not good.  And I feel like a lard.

Well I had a cheat day today and I went way over maintainence. We will see if this helps with the weight loss! I am trying not to feel guilty though.

Today is my cheat day.  I consider a cheat day eating at maintance level.  Today, I actually did more exercise than usual!  I ate Taco Bell for lunch, and am eating most everything I want tonight.  Have most of it logged already and I'm still showing a 800 calorie defict!  I'm actually trying to eat more, but I really am not hungry enough to eat that much these days.  Maybe I will make some mac and cheese!  :D

how often do you guys have cheat days??

Original Post by seashellx24:

way above maitenence. like ranging from 400-3000 calories extra : )

 OMG. I just realized that you wrote 400-3000 calories extra. I was reading 400-300 cals!! Do you really go over by that much?? Does it affect your weight loss at all?

Today I am guessing that I went 500-600 cals over (I had a big dinner planned but I went overboard with the snacking) and I feel soooo guilty, like all my hard work for this week is gone, even though I know it isnt true, I cant help but feel that way.

A cheat day for me is taking a break on my nutrition balance. I may eat more fat, carbs, added sugar, sodium than normal. I color outside the lines, so to speak.

But I still usually excercise on these days and very rarely exceed maintenance. 

I have two cheat days, Saturdays i have mom's home food for dinner, greasy Cuban food, love it, and on Sundays I either eat lunch somewhere or eat my aunt's bad food. but i always stay within my cals but never pass maintenance cals.