What's your idea of a "cheat day?"

So, I know that a lot of people say that everyone needs a food "cheat day" every now and then. My question is, what do you all consider a cheat day? Is it one day of eating whatever you want (within reason, of course- just not counting calories all day), or allowing yourself one treat...ice cream, piece of cake, whatever.....or having fast food, pizza or restaurant food for one meal? I was just curious! 

I guess that MY idea of a cheat day would be to eat well for breakfast and lunch, and then go out for dinner or dessert, or treat myself to something yummy, like a cupcake or REAL ice cream or something....

I've been doing really well on my diet, but sometimes ya just gotta eat REAL food!

I tend to take mine as those unplanned outings that turn into hi-cal dinners out and drinks, when they have not been accounted for in my calorie log. I forgive myself for the splurge, take off a couple hundred calories the next day, and move on with my life. I hear you on the real food- yesterday I caved and had delicious BBQ for the first time in months- not a great nutritional choice, but man it hit the spot!

my real cheat days which are very very rare, calculated and picked specifically for a purpose (aka my birthday) are days where I eat whatever I want and how much I want.  This usually consists of both lunch and dinner out ...last time it was sushi for lunch and Italian for dinner.  No thought to health, calories, or nutrition is considered. I ate until I felt like I was going to burst.  These are days where I do log, count or anything.  They are FABULOUS! I miss eating.  This is how I used to eat on a regular basis. 

Afterwards I continue on with my healthy food, calorie counting and whatnot.  No cutting things out before or after, I just move on.

Recently, Ive had some meals Im not too proud of.  But its funny, as my latest journal entry states, ive had a bad week calorie wise and then lost 2.5 pounds after a short, semi-plateau....

Hmm, my idea of a cheat day is just like horsinaround23... whenever unplanned outings turn into hi-cal dinners out. My husband usually wants to go out to dinner once a week, and he almost ALWAYS picks a chinese buffet or italian food. I just do my best to eat well the rest of the day, and when we go out I always go after fruits, veggies, lean means, etc. My favorite is when we go to a mongolian grill... I just load up my plate with veggies ( no noodles, no rice) and go easy on the sauces, and get some egg drop soup and wrap those grilled veggies in a chinese rice pancake..... yumm... I tend to go overboard, but its better for me than what I could do!

my cheat day consists of no calorie counting because once i see how many calories is in what i splurged on i will feel GUILTY which sort of defeats the purpose... i will just pick something that i am craving at the moment and eat it without remorse or fear of gaining weight! if you eat well most of the time theres no problem with eating something unhealthy every once in awhile...

it can also be candy, icecream or a dessert after dinner,  pizza or a dish from a restauraunt. and even all of it!

My cheat days I make myself earn. I looooove pizza so about every second weekend I'll splurge on a thin crust pie - but only if I've logged my workouts for the weekend. Weekends are my heavy training time so if I get in all my workouts it's a total of about 4 1/2 - 5 hours of cardio, sooooo if I've burned off over 2000 calories, I figure I'm ok to have the full fat cheesy goodness!

Cheat day! Hm, I guess everyday could be a cheat day for me because I really adore all the foods I eat (which happen to actually be considered healthy)... I guess I could sort of change the question a bit to: What foods get you most excited to eat dinner... and those would have to be sashimi of eel & salmon & escolar... broiled salmon belly... hamachi collars... ground grass-fed beef... baked salmon & clam sauce

I use Saturdays as my splurge days.  I don't call them my cheat days because I don't think of it as cheating.  Cheating means I am doing something wrong or bad and could induce guilty feelings or something.  I hadn't been even counting calories on Saturdays but I have started because I want to keep track of my calorie deficit.  So bascially on Saturdays I let myself eat whatever I want (though I do try to be mindful, watch my portions and not eat to bursting) and then log it afterwards so that I can keep track of my deficit.  If I didn't have a splurge day it would be hard for me to stay on track.

I have one 'cheat' or 'so what' day a week.  I usually go 500-1000 calories over my normal intake and I only log my food if I feel like it.  Normally it means eating larger portions, having some fried food, real soda, or a really fattening dessert.

Had a bit of a cheat day today, or at least was planning to.  Went out to a mexican for dinner with my boyfriend and had my fav rice and meatballs.  We would normally have a shair garlic bread for starter but decided on buffilo wings purly so that I wasn't eating so much carbohydrate.  Was going to have fried ice-cream but didn't have time.  The way I'm see this thing I'm going through is that I'm not on a diet, I'm having a lifestyle change.  I don't want to lose loads of weight and then just go back to eating all the same crap, I want to lose weight and keep it down.  I'm not going to stop myself from having things for the rest of my life, so I might aswell let myself have a few naughty things every now and then over the next year or so.

Well i would say have a "cheat meal" having a cheat meal once a month. I think if you have a full day i would feel guilty. one meal is enough for me!

I have a cheat day or what I call my "off day" once every week to week and half. I usually don't count calories on those days but when I do they are 500-8000 calories higher than normal.

It usually consists of a healthy breakfast, a healthy lunch and eating whatever I have been craving for dinner or having dessert. For example I'll eat a cheeseburger or pizza if that's what I am craving. If I'm not craving any particular food then it's the day I splurge with some dessert. My regular off day is not a total wild day where I can eat anything and everything all day. I've found that without a regualr "off day" I can hit "plateaus" more often. With my off days, I tend to stay on track and not get derailed by any cravings. If I have any special events or dinners out, I plan these as my off days. These types of things happen and I don't feel guiltly about any of my off days......my off days are part of my diet.

My cheat day= one meal out of one day of the week where I get to eat whatever I want without worrying about calories.  I still count them but I dont get upset about them.

Cheat days for me are still staying within my calorie budget but I eat things that aren't nutritional...for instance yesterday I skipped lunch so that I could eat chips during the super bowl. 

Thanks for all of the replies! It's good to know that a lot of people work these "cheat days" into their diets...I think I would go nuts without them! I think that I'm gonna try to stick to one reasonable cheat meal a week :)

I had been wanting to try the new Pizza Hut lasagna, and I did so last night, along with some pizza.  I have no idea what the calorie count is, and I don't want to know.  I'm sure it put me WAY over my allotted 2400.  That's MY idea of a cheat day!

I just started here so it might be a little early for cheat days but I'm taking one anyways!

We made reservations at a few restaurants for our City's Winterlicous program and are going for dinner at Brassaii tonight. It's a prix fixe menu so I will be having an app, main and dessert :D

I am eating well for breakfast and lunch and will only eat til I'm not hungry at dinner, then take the rest home.

Tomorrow I will go back to my regularly scheduled program - including cardio :)

Hi,

I'm a firm believer in the "Splurge Day".  My personal splurge day is Saturday and I get to have this day if I've stuck to my routine of exercise and diet all week long.  the splurge day keeps me going.  On Saturdays I don't count calories, and I have whatever I want to eat and drink (within reason...of course).  If I want a piece of cake...I'll have one,  if I want to have a drink or two or three...then I will, if I want movie popcorn, then I'll have it,  and I always go out to dinner on Saturday...always.  maybe not always to an expensive restuarant...(this past Saturday, we simply had pizza at the mom and pop in our neighborhood), but always dinner out....

My key is that I only eat it if I want it...not simply because it's there...I eat till I'm not hungry anymore...and I don't eat when I'm not hungry....oh and almost just as important...if I taste it and don't really really like it....then I don't eat it.

I eat real food all the time. If I didn't, I wouldn't have been able to keep this up for the past six/seven months or lose 49 pounds so far.

I don't have many cheat days at all, but I had one over the weekend where I had 3 beers and a burrito from a local taqueria where I'd have no control over the contents of the burrito.

When I finally drop that last pound at an official weigh-in, I plan to have fresh, hot chocolate chip cookies. If that pushes me over for fat and calories for the day, so be it.

I also have a full non-diet weekend planned for April in time for my birthday and a trip to Seattle.

Splurging is very stupid. It is the epitome of the same self indulgence that made you fat in the first place.  Usually the types of foods people "splurge" on are unhealthy and strictly for pleasure eating. Splurging with BAD foods is like a heroine addict shooting uu or an alcoholic going on a bender for a day or two.

Fat people don't get  fat because they are disciplined and behave responsibly when it comes to food. It you are fat or have been fat you have had enough goodies to last a lifetime.

BEHAVE YOURSELVES!

That comment was way harsh educator.  Fat people get fat for different reasons.  To imply that you can't have a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie once in a while is ridiculous.  Lighten up, literally!