Quote:
Originally Posted by time2lose
Most higher calorie days are planned and I account for the extra calories before the day. If I know that I want to have an 1800 calorie day, I would lower my calorie limit from 1500 for a few days so that my weekly average is still 1500 a day. I hate it when I have unplanned higher calorie days and feel the need to lower my calories for days afterward.
I don't have a planned "cheat day" but I have some days that are higher calorie than others. "Cheat day" is kind of like "going off my diet" in that it implies that a healthy eating lifestyle is something we will eventually be able to stop doing once we lose weight. Normally my higher calorie day would be the (planned) pizza lunch that I have with friends every Monday. I see some chicks talking about their "cheat day" and it distresses me because what they're talking about is a free-for-all binge, not simply a slice of pizza or a margarita.
Yesterday I went to an event at a friend's house. It was simple; a glass of wine while we were bottling it, then some hard cider tasting, then a potluck lunch. But I drank too much, ate too much, and ate several off-plan things. I counted my calories as best I could because a lot of it was home-made, but I was at least 6-700 calories over what I have been eating to lose. It was a fun day but I probably could have had just as much fun while skipping the cheesecake.
Going off plan to this degree means that I'm up 1.5 pounds this morning. I feel swollen from sodium and alcohol. It's a good reminder why I shouldn't do that, and it's possible that I could pay for this with no loss at all this week. So for me, a cheat day (that really means a "way, way over my limit day") isn't really as much fun as it sounds. I like my planned pizza lunch day, though.