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Do you have a "cheat" day?

euphoria

euphoria

Bluelight Crew
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Dec 23, 2004
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I don't know if anyone else does it, but I typically allow myself one 'cheat' day per week. My view of healthy living is balance... as in to be healthy you don't have to live 100% according to the rules all the time. Maybe that's just my personality, but any time I am subject to rules that are too strict, my inherent reaction is to rebel %) One cheat day (usually saturdays) allows me to have that mental reset that I need to keep an overall healthy life without going to extremes. I typically only drink/smoke/do substances on these cheat days, and allowing myself to have dessert or a less than healthy meal. I think to be balanced and healthy you gotta let your hair down once in awhile. Do you guys agree or disagree? What does your 'cheat day' look like?
 
I would call that extremely disciplined if you stick to that. I don't really worry so much about what I do so long as I know I am getting all the building blocks my body needs. My main philosophy is simply to burn what I put in. I don't really have the framework to have cheat days, for me that would be every day =P. I know if I've been eating unhealthy then I usually eat healthy a few days in a row.
 
As far as my eating habits ("diet," if you wish to call it that) go, yes, I have a cheat day. It looks the same as far as breakfast and lunch go, but dinner is normally very different and there are typically a lot more snacks in the evening. For example, most days I'll have a dinner that is of 1/3 or 1/4 cup rice with equal amount beans, and a cup or so of vegetables. On my cheat day, I may have that like I did yesterday, but then I was a lot more active in the evening and ended up having 1/4 of a dark chocolate bar and two sunflower seed butter sandwiches with a bit of honey on them. While one sandwich would've sufficed, I'm not going to stress myself out about it. After all, it was at most 400 calories for that extra sandwich by the time you add in the honey. What's 400 calories one day a week if I'm good the rest of the week? :P

Also, my cheat days don't happen every week. While it is typically on Friday, it's not every Friday. But there's always some wiggle room in my diet. If I want to have something different (like today, my grandma bought me lunch of potato pancakes), I don't stress over how many calories it was--I just make sure I'm good for the rest of my meals. So, on that note, for dinner, I had 1/3 cup rice, with beans and vegetables. I didn't go overboard with dinner just 'cause I may have went overboard with lunch.

You have to live a little. As long as you're not eating yourself into a coma every other night 'cause it's "your cheat day", or because you "failed at lunch so may as well fail at dinner," I think it's fine to splurge every once in awhile and have that extra sandwich. ;)
 
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I typically have one day a week that is a designated 'rest' day - that is, I don't purposefully work out on that day. It can fall on any day of the week, but is typically a day where I have been particularly busy and just can't fit in a proper work-out.

In terms of eating, I generally eat well 80-90% of the time. I allow myself treats occasionally as in my mind, that's one of the reasons why I work out - so I can have the foods I love that aren't good for me occasionally and not feel any negative repercussions.

I don't have a 'cheat day' perse, though. :)
 
I've been experimenting with "cheat" days, but I'm discovering I can't afford them. I have severe rheumatoid arthritis, and two of my joints are "on the brink," i.e. they have just barely enough cartilage left in them to keep the bones from grinding up against each other. The last cheat day I had caused a flare-up that made both my left wrist and left hip start clicking and hurting and going all osteo on me.

I understand I'm a rare case, but if people question my purism, I can clearly explain why.
 
I don't really have 'cheat' days any more - not because of any particular weight loss reason, but because of my GORD - i have a HUGE sweet tooth, my cheating isn't savoury, but when i eat too much sugar, my stomach rails against me. For instance, I had a mini-pavlova on Saturday night with cream and fresh fruit. My stomach was fine - but if I were to keep going with sweet treats, i would have been in trouble.

If i didn't have this digestive issue, i'd definitely be a fan of a cheat day - for people trying to lose/maintain weight, having one day of the week where you can treat yourself is a very healthy way to look at weight loss, imo. :)
 
every day is my cheat day.
Click to expand...

So I've been doing this. I'm also gaining weight. :/ :P
I have to get back into heavy cycling, so that I can eat 4500 kCal a day and maintain a steady-state size.
(born glutton here :P)

ebola
 
Ahhh euphoria, do you have 'ketaday' as well?
Or is that just me lol

As for the eating though, i always eat well all the time, i never binge on sweets or cakes or anything like that.
I just rather eat something wholesome and filling all the time, than junk.

I do have a big sweet tooth, but ive learned to stay away from sweeter stuff.
I used to get 2 colds a month,
I havent had one in about 11 months now :O
 
i try and take one rest day every week, but for me, resting takes more willpower than working out. usually i'll end up just doing like a 30 min jog instead of a serious trip to the gym. otherwise, my diet isn't really rigid enough for their to be anything to cheat on. i more or less eat what i want, with an emphasis on fruits vegetables and meat, and try and make sure i'm tired enough that i don't have the energy to drink for very long in the evenings.
 
I have cheat breakfasts about twice a week. This means butter, coffee, cheese, sometimes even meat leftover from dinner (not MY dinner)
 
My 'indulgence' day (where I don't work out, or have a decadent treat meal) is generally on Fridays or either of the weekend days. I have a strict routine during the week, so it's nice to relax a bit on the weekends. :)

That said, weekends are great for more fun physical activity like long bike rides - that kind of thing hardly feels like 'working out' perse.
 
I'm very OCD, so it's hard for me to take irregular cheat days (i.e. "listening to my body.") without feeling agitated. So right now I'm taking Monday "off" with respect to eating, but not for training. I'm bulking until April or so, meaning 4000 calories per day. Eating like this can feel like a full-time job, especially if I am not eating junk, so I need a day to just eat at a more comfortable pace.
 
^^ haha I had to laugh at that post.

It's Friday nights for me I'm afraid. Not particularly original but there it is. Double whammy because I usually eat snacks and have alcohol as well.
 
The only thing with a cheat day,
is that you when you consume large amounts of food in one go, it stretches your stomach,

So then it will make you hungry sooner, so for harm reduction (lol) i suggest just eating smaller meals throughout your cheat day.

Although on my birthday in september, within one hour i ate:

Large donor kebab
Roast Chicken Dinner
Birthday cake

then i passed out on my bed for 12 hours hahaha
 
I have planned refeeds every week. I stay under 50 grams of fat total for the day and will be about 500Kcal above maintenance all from carbs and protein. I eat my fats on rest days while staying in deficit and have a cheat meal once every 2 weeks..
Sometimes i will let go and just go crazy for a day sometimes two and get right back on track the next day.. Gotta live life and eat whatever at birthdays/holidays and some other moments with friends when hanging out ;)
But i never snack when im alone or doing nothing and make sure atleast 80 percent of my calorie intake is from whole and healthy foods. Processed foods are saved for the other 20 percent if any
 
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