I have just started back on my journey, but I do plan to have a "cheat" meal maybe once a week. It really depends on what is going on. Maybe I am going out to eat, and there is something I really want, I might let myself have it, within reason.
My plan is simply to shoot for 1,500 calories a day. But, if I have a "cheat" meal and my calories shoot up to, say, 2,000 in a day, then I will restrict myself to 1,200 for two of the other days. That way, it better be really worth it, because 1,200 calories is tough for me to manage.
I am finding, however, that the desire to slip up is lessening every single day. And there really are good alternatives for a lot of cheaty things. If you want ice cream, mix in fruit with Greek yogurt and throw it the freezer. If you want hot wings, grill a chicken thigh with Srirachi chili sauce, then put extra sauce on the thigh after it is grilled, then dip it in Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing. Make nachos with Guiltless Gourmet chips, lots of beans and rotel, and an ounce of full-fat cheddar cheese. Make pizza with whole-grain thin crust and fresh mozzarella. That sort of thing. If you get creative, you may not need to cheat.
The plan I'm on calls for a 'cheat' day every week- and in all honesty it's part of the appeal to me.
But I think it would be better to CC or do WW or something. I just- do not like tracking things. And if I worked a single cookie or two into my plan ever few days, I'd just be sad that I HAD to stop eating at 2 cookies (or whatever).
I like the monotony of eating the same fairly boring stuff all week without having to think about it, and then eating whatever the heck I want on Saturday (also w/out having to think about it). And boy at the start- did I eat WHATEVER I wanted, including 4 chocolate iced cream filled donuts in one day!
As I'm getting close to goal, I actually give myself both weekend days 'off' (which may be an indication that cheat days are bad- heh). But I find I've naturally toned way down on what I eat for cheat days. Probably the same number of calories over 2 days that I was eating in one day at the start. So far, the weight is still dropping at a reasonable pace considering I'm only shooting for a couple more pounds.
But yea- now I just get full and I'm done. I don't try to cram in more just because it's cheat day. The dog is happy- he keeps snarfing my leftovers .
Mentally- this approach just works well for me. I'm stopping eating when I'm full and it's easy to stay on plan during the week cause I'm just so flat busy. And I never really have to think about what I'm going to eat. I eat the same boring stuff during the week and whatever I want on the weekend.
I've only been at it... 5+ months? So I can't swear it's sustainable. But for me it's been a good approach. I'd never recommend it for someone who tends to binge, though. Seems like it would really encourage that.
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I don't give myself entire cheat days, but I do give myself a cheat night. I get weighed in every Wednesday at 6, so after I come home, I have supper and then a night of eating stuff I wouldn't normally eat. Nothing overboard, but usually a bag of potato chips, a chocolate bar, and a small bottle of Pepsi. I don't feel guilty about it, and I've been losing consistently since I joined WW on January 26.
I think it's fine to allow yourself a certain cheat period, as long as you know you have the ability not to let that spill over into the next day, and the next day, and the next....you know?
Cheating or going off plan/way over for a whole day? I wouldn't ever purposely do that! It happens on occasion, but my idea of a controlled higher calorie day is knowing dinner will be at a restaurant and ordering what tastes good, regardless of calories... It isn't doing that for three or four meals straight!
That has the propensity to wipe out my calorie deficit I have worked hard on for the whole week. One meal won't do that, for me, but a day is simply too much (especially if my habits for healthy eating aren't solidified, as was the case in the beginning of my journey, it is less of an issue several years into it, where I am now).
As many others have said, I'm not sure I'd call it cheating but I have meals (or, yes, sometimes days) where I go over my preferred calorie allotment for the day. I try to time it so so I can splurge on special occasions or vacations vs your average Tuesday night but that doesn't always pan out. When I do go over, I just cut back the next day and try to increase my exercise.
I used to do cheat days, and all it did was knock me off track. Some people say it made them feel guilty till they stopped doing them, but all it did for me was make me pack the pounds back on.
the only person you are cheating is yourself - it's not like your body can say "oops, I didn't see that, those calories don't count!" Plus like many people have said, it's a slippery slope to one day turning into two, and two turning into a week, etc.
I think it's ok to not freak out if you aren't 100% perfect all the time, but I don't think it should be a routine, planned thing.
YMMV but I calorie cycle. Generally, I eat 1400-1600 calories a day Monday -Friday by eating pretty clean low fat, low sugar, high fiber and protien food. Saturday I indulge eating about 2500 calories for the day. I figure at least 1200 calories for dinner with hubby (mexican, steak, italian - cupcake dinner on my birthday . On Sunday I also relax with about 2000 calories which is maintenance. Then back to deficit mode. This along with exercising 6 days a week helped me lose 45 pounds in 6 months without feeling hungry (much) nor deprieved. I believe in moderation in all things - including weight loss. Do I call my Saturday a cheat day? No, because I planned for it all week. Helps me to resist cravings during the week knowing I get that decadent meal/treat in just a few days.
For me, I never cheat. The only 'cheat' meal I have planned is for my birthday, which is six months away. It's not so much eating freely, either. It's going to be fit into my overall caloric intake appropriately, prepared for by rationing calories in the days prior to the event.
I think that having weekly cheat days greatly increases the risk of falling off the healthy wagon, especially if a lot of the foods you're choosing include heavily addictive ingredients like fat and sugar. That kind of food is drug-like and most of us cant just binge and stop on a weekly basis. One day will lead to two, two will lead to incorporating it into your diet on a daily basis.
How about you plan to have something special two months from now instead of a week? Stick to the healthy plan and at the end of the first two months, re-evaluate your initial ideas about weekly cheat days. The longer you stay away from crappy food, the less you'll crave it. Two months from now, you just might PREFER a healthy vegtable lasagna over a deep-dish-double-stuffed deluxe heart attack pizza!
I don't even plan "cheat" days.. but if I'm out with friends or on a date and get to a restaurant, every once in awhile I'll allow myself to just get what I want. That's how life goes! You can't plan things in life so I don't try to plan "cheat" days either. I just let it happen But I ONLY let it happen if it hasn't happened anytime recently, and if I'm in a good emotional state. I would never, EVER think of doing that if I was feeling like "oh, what's the use..."
Let me explain a bit more about how I handle treats and such.
Most of the time, my treats are low-calorie enough that I just integrate them easily into the day's calories. Very small pieces of dark chocolate, for instance, say 3g or 5g. I'm small and inactive, so I don't have many calories to play with, and I try to stick to the 1100 (deficit of 400, though I'm losing 1lb/week so I'm starting to wonder if I underestimate what I burn) fairly closely. If I go over it by 30 or 50 one day, I'll usually be under by 30 or 50 another day and will make sure it balances out by the end of the week, though I try not to go below 1000 in the interests of nutrition. It may be helpful to know that as I'm mostly housebound, I very rarely get out to restaurants or friends' houses.
There have been four days that I can think of that were a bit more unusual, over the 10 weeks that I've been dieting so far.
1) My five year anniversary with my partner. We were going to go out for dinner, but he ended up doing his annual review report all day, poor thing, so we ordered pizza. I knew a big meal was coming up so I lunched lightly. I did some research on how much the pizza was likely to be in terms of calories (vegan pizzas are lower calorie, thankfully), got a 10" instead of our usual 12", and I think I ate 3/4 of it or a bit less. We also got pakoras, as our local Italian restaurant randomly makes great pakoras, and I had a couple of those.
2) The next day, I had the leftover pizza and pakoras for lunch, along with, erm, don't remember now but I'm guessing a small salad. He finally finished the report that evening, so we went to an Indian restaurant. Being vegan and crap with chillies doesn't give me much choice at that place, and we had the take-away menu at home, so I worked out what I wanted before we left and calculated the calories. Over the next few days, I ate a bit less for calories, and it was easily made up.
3) Last weekend, I went to a friend's garden party, and again lunched lightly before going. I nibbled a few things when I was there, a light meal's worth of calories, though I also used more energy than usual in going out. When I got home, I was shattered but still needed supper, so I had a light supper. I think I ended up about 150 calories over for the day, and that's easily paid back by having 50 calories less for three days.
4) Although then I got killer migraine the next day, took 2 tramadol in desperation, spent most of the day thoroughly groggy and nauseous, couldn't eat much, and threw up twice (really not a good time to run out of anti-nausea meds). So I ate very little that day, alas. I allowed myself to go over my calories a bit for the next couple of days, and after that went back to normal. Let's hope this doesn't happen again, I don't function well on skipping meals.
Is that helpful? I am actually really glad I've done these things, as I feel more assured about handling changes in my routine now. I'm thinking of doing something nice this weekend, maybe pizza again, or perhaps I'll do my speciality Japanese meal where I make sushi, teriyaki tofu and a sort of vegetable fried rice thing.
Like so many others have said, we have to accept the fact that we have to change our lifestyle for the rest of our life - not just be on a "diet" that will end in six months and go back to old habits. We have to retrain ourselves to eating healthier -- but I think most of us realize that to eat a slice of cheesecake once in a while, or have chips and dip once in a while, etc. is not cheating -- it's life == and nothing to be ashamed of. On a day to day basis I try to eat three meals, have two snacks - and use portion control. I'm not going to deprive myself of anything - but I am going to be sensible about what I eat.
I don't like the idea of 'cheat days'. For me it defeats the purpose.
I have no desire to cheat lately because when I eat something junky or indulgent (chocolate, ice cream etc.) it just makes me feel ill. Plus, a 'treat' can easily turn into a binge and I'd rather not give myself the opportunity by starting back on the crap food.
Even when travelling I try to keep to the healthiest options available purely because I feel better for it.
I am re-educating my body to tell me when it's full and LISTEN to it instead of ignoring it and eating more just because it's there.
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. On Sunday I also relax with about 2000 calories which is maintenance. Then back to deficit mode. This along with exercising 6 days a week helped me lose 45 pounds in 6 months without feeling hungry (much) nor deprieved. I believe in moderation in all things - including weight loss. Do I call my Saturday a cheat day? No, because I planned for it all week. Helps me to resist cravings during the week knowing I get that decadent meal/treat in just a few days.
