Cheat days

dana82 · 12-Jul-06, 04:38 PM

How many here give themselves one cheat day a week where they can eat what they want?

**maverick** · 12-Jul-06, 04:40 PM

i get one or two cheat MEALS.

**Firehawk** · 12-Jul-06, 04:59 PM

I just changed my diet after 3 yrs of eating very very low calories and having a "binge day"...I know, many people here told me to change it a long time ago but i had to have that cheat day...

Here is what i was doing...and it worked, but it was very tough to make any knid of progress on the weights...

I ate 2300 calories 6 days a week, and took around a 7-9000 calorie cheat meal. Yes i know, it's ridiculous, and i became quite fat eating really really bad and being lazy through my teen years...shame shame.

I lost 74 lbs in about 11 months eating the way i mentioned...but the strength was very tough to come by.

I have changed it to about 3000 calories a day, allowing 2 cheat meals which get worked into the calories...so my total weekly calorie intake from the old way is exactly the same as the new way...i dropped 2 lbs the old way...so it should work out..it does mathematically.

I feel way better ni the gym (still not optimal, because yes, i'm still cutting)..but I am feeling alot better already. I've only been doing this for a week now though so I can't tell you how well it works...but it's way more logical. I have a bad habit with binging and hopefully this will be a way to break it.

dana82 · 12-Jul-06, 05:16 PM

See I was thinking of having 1k-1,200 cals per day but then having one cheat day of 2000 cals...but if its going to hinder my progress maybe I shouldn't?

When I was in the best shape of my life I used to eat 800 cals everday and then every 2 weeks I gave myself a weekend off having whatever I wanted ( but I don't know if that was the healthiest thing to do) but it did work for me and I had a very low bf ....

**gymgirl** · 12-Jul-06, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dana82

When I was in the best shape of my life I used to eat 800 cals everday

wow all you ate was 800cals a day? were you working out? that seems extreamly low.

i allow myself a few cheat meals on the weekends. i call them cheat 'days' but it's not really a full day of eating crap. i ususaly eat tortalini and some bread on a friday night with wine, and then on saturday i may have something else i wouldn't normally eat. so normally if i cheat i will cheat on breakfast, or dinner, but not all meals and snacks in one day. does that make sense? if i'm going to a social function i will eat well all day and then let myself have whatever i want at the dinner event...

also when i cheat, i try to cheat with as much 'real food' as possible. if i want mac n' cheese on a cheat meal i will make it from scratch and pass on the boxed stuff.

i'm sure minime will be by to comment on this thread.

it seems to work well for me

dana82 · 12-Jul-06, 06:10 PM

yeah...I ate like 800 cals a day of all natural foods. I got my protein from eggwhites, soy meat, and spirutein protein shakes. I did pilates for 25 minutes 6 days a week, did cardio for 45 minutes a day and weight training 3 times a week but I don't think I really pushed myself with the weight training and I was very new to weight training then. I did more things with only my body weight....I was maintaining at 113

**Lady C** · 12-Jul-06, 06:16 PM

Dana - I think you focus too much on what the scale reads. You should focus more on being healthy and the mirror or tape measure will be better indicators.

You eat too little, workout too much and make little progress.

Eat more (especially protein) and work out HARD not really long. Be consistant. Don't sweat a cheat here and there. Move on and be happy.

CF-OC_gal · 12-Jul-06, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dana82

yeah...I ate like 800 cals a day of all natural foods. I got my protein from eggwhites, soy meat, and spirutein protein shakes. I did pilates for 25 minutes 6 days a week, did cardio for 45 minutes a day and weight training 3 times a week but I don't think I really pushed myself with the weight training and I was very new to weight training then. I did more things with only my body weight....I was maintaining at 113

Maybe that is the reason why you ended up the way you are now! You maintained then shot up to 128lbs because it wasn't maintainable over the long haul.

CF-OC_gal · 12-Jul-06, 10:33 PM

In answer to the post, I don't have cheat meals.

I'm on maintenance and able to hold onto an acceptable amount of conditioning so generally speaking, I can eat very spontaneously. I'm not craving anything.

**midgetcop** · 13-Jul-06, 03:34 PM

dana - 1000 to 1200 calories? Hon, that ain't enough (unless you're 4'10" and 90 lbs)!

I'm sure you already posted this somewhere, but what your basic stats again? (height/weight etc)

dana82 · 13-Jul-06, 04:34 PM

I'm 5'2, 24, weighing 128 wearing a size 6 I want to be a get to about 111 lbs. Its just when I eat like 1600 cals I don't seem to loose any weight.....

**midgetcop** · 13-Jul-06, 05:36 PM

Yeah, but are you losing weight now by starving yourself? 1600 calories is reasonable....and it's a lot better than 800-1200!

You have to take some advice from people on these boards nutrition/routine-wise and stick to it. You have to understand that you're *not* going to lose weight necessarily by consuming less. You have to create a 200-300-ish calorie deficit coupled with a decent workout routine (one that includes weights). And also keep in mind - the pounds don't come off overnight.

Don't aim for a particular scale weight. Use tape measures/clothing sizes to judge weight-loss. Don't hung up on numbers, because it's just a number. You can get down to 111lbs and still not like the way you look.