Do you have 'cheat days'? Are they worth it?

The problem is the word “cheat”, it demonises food and creates negative relationships with it. Having a day off counting calories isn’t cheating, it’s just normal. To lose fat (not weight because you might gain muscle and look different but weigh the same), you need to be in a calorie deficit overall. If your target is weight loss I suggest you weigh yourself everyday at the same time for a week and then average it. Then next time you want an update do the same, say a month later. Door focus on short term ups and downs, the key is long term consistency and an approach that is sustainable. Most of all, don’t be obsessive.

It’s not the eating 2000 calories a day that I find worrying. It’s your reaction to it and what you believe it has done to your body and appearance.

People at all sorts of weights and BMIs can have EDs

I can't think of a time I have ever eaten a whole bag of family size crisps and I haven't had cake since Xmas I still think the OP has an unhealthy relationship with food to count calories to the extent she has described in the opening post.

My husband has cheat days, and his diet is pretty popular with men.

I hate his form of cheat day though - he just ploughs down UPFs.

My version of a cheat day, when I'm on a regime that needs one, is to stick to my usual breakfast and exercise, but to have a more indulgent lunch or dinner and maybe a few drinks. The same meals and mealtimes, and free choice from the menu.

Sorry I never answered your question OP.

I don't count calories because I find it extremely time consuming. We cook meals at home and don't eat out much. It is how I was brought up too. Trying to measure calories whilst cooking is soul destroying if you rely on instinct for quantities. I did educate myself on which additions are more calorific to try keep things balanced. I also try follow the guide on hand size portions of each meal which should be protein, carbs, fat etc and bulk up on veggies whenever needing more to fill me up.

I don't do cheat days as such because I am also of the belief that food is not sinful but someone once advised me that always think about how food makes you feel later. I have noticed food that falls under the umbrella of junk/upf etc makes me feel bloated and sluggish, I often struggle to open my bowels the next day and generally feel worse. This is plenty incentive for me not to gorge on it. If a take away pizza has been offered, I may have a small slice then I am content.

My BMI is very slightly higher than yours and I know that I need to be really strict and consider counting calories if I want to lose the last bit of belly fat. I also am very aware that if I did this, it would work in the short term and then I would not be able to sustain it so I have decided to embrace it for what it is.

Eating something unhealthy but nice, isn’t cheating. Food isn’t sinful. Make allowances for the extra calories over the days following, as you have done, and accept that a carb/salt heavy meal will result in some temporary water retention.

No, I just eat whatever I want 🤗

No I don’t have ‘cheat days’ or count calories. Yes I’m about a stone overweight but in the grand scheme of things that’s the least of my worries. Things like this are born out of misogyny - do men ever talk about ‘cheat days’ or being ‘naughty’ for having a chocolate bar? There isn’t a war on food, eat what you want within reason and don’t think further about it.

She literally posted she dropped her calories by 200 a day proceeding the offending pizza and chocolate. That’s calorie restriction is it not.

You’re 100% correct I know absolutely nothing about the poster except what they’ve stated. So I can only go on what they’ve posted and to me it’s completely obsessive

Not sure why people who disagree with her stance are automatically gluttonous and gorging on crisps and cake. I 100% believe in calorie counting done correctly (and it’s how I live day to day) but wouldn’t be loosing my mind and considering never having a treat day because I gained a lb

I'm just going to put this here, OP, because you have a misunderstanding of how your body works. As do the people who believe one 'cheat' day will affect your weight.

www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2023/07/05/its-time-to-bust-the-calories-in-calories-out-weight-loss-myth.html

OP is not normal to worry about food in this way. Worrying your jeans are a little bit tighter when you're definitely not overweight in the slightest isn't healthy.
By all means don't eat crap but to think about it in such a caloried way to is a bit of a red flag. You can deny that by picking out the one poster that agrees with you if you like but that doesn't mean it isn't an issue or could trigger into an issue.
If you have children please please don't speak to them about food or this way.

I agree with the majority about it being disordered eating and not because of the number of calories she is aiming for - it’s how she analyses her weight and body after she’s eaten a ‘cheat’ meal. Food does not convert to fat that quickly and as others have said, bodies fluctuate by 2-3lb based on time of day, hydration, time of month, whether passed stools! So focusing on the 1lb gain the day after eating something perceived as a cheat to the extent they are convinced they look bigger is disordered.

And no, I don’t fit into your category of eating cake daily or eating family size of snack bags

I'll have occasional meals out but try to balance it across the day rather than having a 'fuck it' day and going crazy.

So if I know I'm out for dinner then I'll have soup or a salad for lunch to give myself a bigger allowance in the evening.

But yeah do allow myself to sometimes not hit calorie goal, I thinknitsbimportantbjnbtge long run to learn how to moderate and have balance.

Except that she is not restricting calories. She eats 2000 calories a day, presumably, to maintain her weight. Posters know nothing about her circumstances at all. She may be an athlete needing to meet competition class or a bodybuilder who needs to gain at a set weight percentage per week to build muscle mass in off season. I just find it bizarre that people who eat a slice of cake every day and put away a family size bag of crisps for a snack are the ones who think people who count calories have unhealthy relationship with food.

I don't think cheat days/takeaways are worth it at all. I used to do them at a weekend but then always regretted it. Not because of weight gain but because they were never actually that nice and I felt nauseous, bloated, groggy etc.
Before I got my coil in I did used to eat worse in the run up to my period though, really bad cravings for sweet stuff.
I only weight myself once a week first thing ij the morning, if I do it more often it does fluctuate a lb here or there.

Not triggered at all. But someone who thinks they’re visibly bigger overall because they’ve gained a lb and has reduced their daily calorific intake to compensate for some pizza and chocolate is bizarre.

Shes stated she has a BMI of 20 so seems obsessive at such a “healthy weight” and not sure at a 20 BMI you should have any goal if you’re that focused on restricting calories

OldTinHat the OP hasn’t said how tall she is

If your bmi is 20, you have no need to lose weight. Staying stable isn’t about staying exactly the same weight from day to day, it’s about staying within a range, say 2-3 lb either way. I aim to stay within 8st 7lb to 8st 11lb to allow for a natural fluctuation. If I go below 8st 7lb, I add in extra food for a few days, things like an extra slice of cheese in a sandwich, or a bit more butter on bread, or yoghurt with muesli instead of milk, and if I go above 8st 11lb, I watch the calories for a day or two.

Probably the pizza had a really high salt content and is slower to digest.
For context I weigh about 3lbs more in the evening than I do in the morning so I don't think a pound will make any difference to how you look.

I'm just here to say make sure you drink at least 2ltr of water a day 😊 if you're drinking loads of coffee, that won't be helping you.

I'm your height and 15st. Was 17st until I rescued a dog at the end of September!

My BMI is 20. I try to keep it there as weight always goes on my stomach first and that BMI gives me a healthy waist measurement.

No.
Don't need any.
👍

@Catza because she has a BMI of 20 and is obsessing over the fact she had some pizza and thinks she looks "visibly bigger" then posters like you come along validating that kind of obsessiveness. No it's not healthy.