To state that you cannot lose weight..

[HowToBringABlushToTheSnow]

...if you have a weekly ‘cheat day’.

I’ve been trying to shift half a stone for a good couple of years. I’d lose the weight and then indulge at the weekend (nothing too ridiculous though). Decided to cut out my beloved couple of (large) glasses of red and chocolate (say half a large bar) and sweets (half a bag) and toast and bread, rice etc that I’d eat on a Saturday and the weight has been dropping off since I made this change. I haven’t changed anything else, I still do HIIT and lift weights.

Despite not being thrilled that I’ve had to relinquish these lovely things, the joy at stepping on the scales and seeing the pounds disappearing is worth it.

I’m 46 and very peri meno, plus I’m on HRT, so I have everything against me 😡😂

Everyone has different things that work for them. It's not a 'one size fits all' approach. I personally found it helped to allow myself a treat day/day off once a week and I lost a stone in 5 weeks without feeling like I was depriving myself constantly. I needed something to look forward to, but just because that worked for me, doesn't mean it would be good for everyone else.

It depends what you mean by cheat day and what your diet normally is, I prefer to have a cheat meal or 2 where I eat whatever I want but try to stay within my weekly calories limit by having smaller meals elsewhere, but not a whole cheat day otherwise I tend to go mad on snacks and sweet things.

Tbh that's why I have a problem with the term. I teeat it like a day off work. Not cheating. Which also doesn't make me feel like I need to eat everything I normally wouldn't to make the cheating worth it. I am still mindful, but just enjoy things I wouldn't do the rest of the week.
I can highly recommend changing an outlook on these things. Like good and bad food. I take it as every day and sometimes food. Nothing bad on pizza.😁 It's just a sometimes food.
Haven't felt like I am depriving myself this whole time. I am actually enjoying it all👀

My husband has lost 2.5 stone on the slow carb diet, with an absolutely outrageous weekly cheat day. Stuff his face with junk and alcohol every Saturday, no carbs, fruit or dairy through the week.

(unfortunately this diet hugely triggered bad side effects for me!)

I find that every ten days for a cheat day was my sweet spot, with a milder "no defecit" day in the middle.

slow carb diet

The best typo. Immediately started going in my mind through possible carb slowcooker recipes

I lost 30kg - went from 80kg down to 50kg. I have a cheat meal every ten days. I averaged a daily calorie burn of 2500 calories and an average calorie intake of 1250 calories on non-cheat days. On cheat days, I'd burn 2750 and eat 1750 - with at least 1000 being consumed in a one hour period. By doing that, I pumped my body with energy which meant I moved a lot without trying in the few hours afterwards, it also caused something called thermogenesis where I burnt loads of calories afterwards because my body temperature increased in response to the food intake. It helped me have something really yummy to look forward to and if I were ever struggling with the diet on a non-cheat day then I could just put whatever I was craving on the list for my cheat day. A cheat meal can also "trick" your body into not accurately assessing your calorie deficit - some people, when in calorie deficit, will experience issues like hair loss or dry skin etc as their bodies attempt to claw back as many calories as it can. A cheat meal can prevent this.
A cheat meal has to be consumed within a short space of time - a whole day of cheating is a BAD idea. I also, personally, think once each week is too much. Avoid cheat foods that will carry over (like alcohol or caffeine). Even if you're having a cheat meal, you should still have a calorie deficit for that day.

It might not work for you, so yes, YABU to "state" that you can't lose weight by having a cheat day - I lost 5 stone years ago, and I've kept it off and lost more since, whilst still having a cheat day once a week.