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

[Whoareyouanyway]

I'm starting to think no for me.
3 days ago I had a takeaway pizza and a cake, this is something I might have every few weeks, i usually count calories every day. Calculated I'd eaten around 900 calories more than usual that day, so the last couple of days I've been eating 200 cals few fewer per day and eating well.
Despite this the scales are showing as 1lb heavier and I'm visibly bigger overall. My legs are retaining more water and I genuinely look and feel bigger overall.
I know I haven't eaten 3500 calories extra and if I've eaten 400 fewer that brings it down to 500, so 1/7th of a lb.
I don't think its in my head, but to still be feeling like this days later is a nuisance. Do you have these cheat days and does it affect you in the same way?

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'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.

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

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'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

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

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.

No, I just eat whatever I want 🤗

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.

It probably is slightly misogynistic, however there are sections on Reddit where men discuss cheat days. I know realistically I'm not going to gain much at all from a one off day, the bloating for a couple of days after is frustrating though which is why I think I should just have one cheat meal as opposed to a day. When you get older it's harder to maintain weight sometimes so counting calories helps me.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.