My dh and I were having a conversation today regarding 'cheat days' when being commited to a healthier lifestyle.

He has always thought of cheat days being just that - a day that you can eat what you want and how ever much you want. Which, as we both agreed, seems to be counterproductive in the ulitmate goal.

I have cheat days in my plan and my cheat days are days that I just dont write down what I am eating. The basic day is the same and I continue to drink a lot of water but I don't write anything down.

So, I got to wondering, how do you view cheat days?

I was trying that the last time.....they ended up being cheat weeks....LOL. They do work for some people but not for me. If a person can keep it all together and do the cheats then go for it. I just don't have that control in me right now.

Cheat days didn't work me either. I find that one cheat meal per week though works relatively good for me.

I don't do cheat days either. Now I might plan certain meals to be a "cheat meal" but if I did a whole day it would probably turn into weeks & months!

There have been a couple of really good threads int he last couple of months talking about the concept of "cheat" days. I'll link them below.

My thoughts on this are pretty straightforward.

I hate the concept of a "cheat" day. I hate the word "cheat" when applied to what you eat. Because ... really? What are you cheating on? Yourself? Your life? Why?

I don't "cheat". But then I don't "diet" either. I live my life. And my life involves eating healthily 90% of the time and knowing that 10% of the time (or less sometimes) I'm going to eat things that aren't healthy. But it won't be because I'm "cheating". It will be because I've made a choice to eat something I want w/out considering the calories or the fat or the effect it will have on my weight.

That doesn't mean that I'll sit down ever again and eat an entire bag of chips. Just the thought makes me kinda queasy to be honest. But I'll use today as an example. Today, New Years Day, we've spent over at my in-laws. There's not a lot of healthy food around. I had a good breakfast - yogurt and fruit and coffee. But the rest of the day? It's been snacks, cheese dip, pizza, and a couple of beers. I don't consider that a cheat or even a treat. It just is.

And tomorrow I go back to eating my regular food in regular quantities. Because that's just my life. I don't do it once every week. I don't even do it once a month. I have maybe 5 days a year that I really overindulge like this. And then maybe once a week I eat a meal that I don't count calories for - like a dinner out with friends or a lunch at a greasy burger dive.

Anyway, that's my philosophy. You live your life.

Anyway, the threads that dealt with this topic fairly recently:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=158211

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154976

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148147

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That is a great way of thinking. I know for a fact that diets don't work for me because they make me feel deprived. Cheating doesn't work for me because it makes me feel guilty. I gained back all the weight I had lost last year. In trying to understand the reason why I gained the weight back, I've been talking about how this has to be a way of life that will last a lifetime.

I refuse to be so crazy that I won't have a meal out or an extra piece of Dove chocolate every once in awhile. I know that my problem with weight comes from lack of attention and procrastination to achieving my goals.

I don't do cheat days either because I wouldn't be able to stop at one day. It's not to say that I don't enjoy a treat once in awhile, but I TRY to do everything in moderation.

Kathy

I don't do them. I "cheat" enough without actually going out and PLANNING to cheat.

I also have decided not to use the term "cheat." I don't plan for cheating, because I'm not going to think in those terms at all. One thing I have recomitted to strongly is logging every bite in my food journal every day, even when I've gone off plan, whether in a small way or a large one (I use an exchange plan). Often, if I ate something off plan or that I wasn't sure how to count, I would stop journaling for the day. This would often lead to a series of days that I didn't journal and once I got out of the habit, it would get harder and harder to get back into it (and if I wasn't writing it down, it was easier to make less smart choices).

I know there may be days when I don't want to journal, and even days when I might not (I don't expect perfection) - but my goal is going to be to do it every day, and to log every bite, even if I exceed my exchanges for the day.

There may even be days when I decide that I'm going to eat off plan, maybe even days when I think I'm going to eat "whatever I want," but I think that if I write everything down, there's less chance of my deciding that "well, I've blown it, I might as well just keep eating and start fresh tomorrow." Because, if I'm tallying the exchanges/calories as I go, there's more chance (I'm hoping) that seeing the mounting numbers will remind me to stop sooner, rather than later.

I do have "cheat" days which are just days for which I plan a meal at a restaurant and eat something I love, or plan an ice cream cone, or have some birthday cake, etc. I don't go overboard and they are always planned. The key is that they are planned. I think we all need to go treat ourselves sometimes because this is real life. If I knew that I could never again have some of my favorite foods, I don't think I could do this anymore.

Yes, this works for me, too.

Also, something I've noticed is that my "splurges" are not always as over the top as I think they are. As an example - earlier this week, I ate several pieces of chocolate candy at work (one of those situations where even as I was putting the candy in my mouth I was telling myself I didn't really want it and I shouldn't be eating it and I was going to be pissed off at myself after I ate it). I was sure I'd totally blown my calorie limit for the day - 700 or 800 calories at least. But after I logged them, I saw that yes, I'd be going over my calories for the day - but only by 360 calories, if I ate my dinner and evening snack as planned. And looking at those numbers, I realized that 1860 calories is not that big a deal as long as I don't make a habit of it. And actually I wound up not eating my evening snack (a frozen fruit pop) and so saved back 110 of those calories.

In years past what I'd have done is not even bothered to look them up, convinced myself that the handful of chocolates RUINED my day, and used that as a reason to just keep eating really bad, unhealthy food. So knowing what I ate and knowing how many calories over I was, actually made me realize that my bad choice wasn't hideous and there was no reason to just give up and throw the day away.

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Pretty much what Photochick said.

For me eating on plan is eating within my calorie limits. I have several days a year set aside (birthday, Christmas, etc) where I don't intend to count calories but I've found I don't "pig out" really either.

This year I had planned on counting calories while visiting family but decided after I got there without my food scale and with my mom cooking meals that it was going to be stressful to count calories while visiting her. I decided I didn't want a negative experience so soon after starting my eating plan (I started in November) So I decided to switch up my goal for those two weeks and decided to simply maintain. I mentally kept approximate calorie counts and made sure I didn't go nuts like holidays past and I came home weighing pretty much exactly what I did when I left.

Anyhow mainly what I try to do is be conscious of what I'm eating and I don't change my plan in the middle of the day. If I make a change it starts the next day - the reasons for this should be obvious.

I calorie count so it's super flexible - if I end up going out to eat unexpectedly I just do my best to order something that doesn't push me over my calorie limit for that day.

I also don't stress out or consider myself off plan if I'm 300 calories or less over my limit - most days I'm under by 50-250 calories so if one day (out of 10ish) I go slightly over I know in the grand scheme of things I'm still on track.

I don't call it a cheat!! I plan ONE meal per week, and it's called a "pre-planned indulgence" LOL

Oh my goodness! I was going to start a thread on this today! I have done cheat days before. Of course just recently I was on a three year cheat year. LOL! But seriously I thought it would be good having cheat days but recently they have become cheat meals because shockingly I find that if I am craving something, I eat it and I am fine. Now I don't do them often; in fact they are not often at all. I did one yesterday but it was a cheat meal. I just wanted pizza badly and I got a little personal pizza and ate it with an apple. It was very good and it hit the spot. Since I had the pizza I didn't see a reason to just go bat crazy and eat up everything in the house. This is what I used to do and this is why I am on this site and at the weight that I was and working on getting it off. I think you really have to be sensible. I don't do it every week but I totally agree with the poster who said it should be planned. Now my daughter's birthday is this month. I plan on eating because I am taking her out. What I will do it eat right the whole day and then save the cheat meal for when we take her out. To me now, it doesn't make sense to just ruin everything with a whole day of junk. I remember last year or so I planned my cheat meals but because I was on this really strict insane diet I would stay up until 12 midnight and as soon as the clock struck, I already had the junk laid out and would dive right in! Crazy isn't it? I am now on a more sensible, very sensible plan really. I take in 1800 calories and I am no longer starving so come cheat day or cheat meal, I am cool about it. I do think you should treat yourself once in a while. If not I don't think it will be easy. Nothing wrong with enjoying food if it's in moderation and you are keeping your wits about you.

My "plan" is eating 1800 clean calories a day. There are certain days in the year (Christmas eve and day, my birthday) that I might eat over that. I don't do a weekly cheat (I prefer treat) meal, or monthly even... I hold water weight easily so it's not worth it for me. If I really want something I work it into my calories for that day if it's possible or the next if it's not.

They don't have a real place in my plan and honestly? I think that's part of the reason I've lost so much weight so quickly. But if I thought I'd continually go off plan without them then I would add one.

What works for one does not always work for another.