To cheat day or not to cheat day....

[aandd]

In my goals I had allowed myself two cheat days, one on the 15th and one on the 31st. I have/had every intention of living it up on my cheat day. This is my itinerary:

Breakfast buffet at Golden Corral.
Cupcakes/cookies at my son's school carnival
Lunch at Whataburger (LOL)
Dinner at the Chinese Buffet.

Easily a 5k day. LOL.

Anyway... my goal is 18% bodyfat by 10/31. It can be 18.99995% if it wants, as long as the first two numbers are ONE and EIGHT. I'm currently at 20.2%, and I have 19 days to drop a minimum of 1.3% and HOPEFULLY 2.2%.

So - do I take my cheat day, or push it out. I'm really doing fine without cheating, so far (my day spent craving a burger and fries notwithstanding). Didn't miss it much last week at all. Since I'm so close... would it be prudent to just skip it to make sure I make goal? I'm not in pre-comp or anything.... just determined to reach goal.

What say you all?

 

[Miss24k]

Why have a whole cheat day. I'm sure you'll feel terrible after you eat junk all day long.

Why not have a cheat meal?

 

[aandd]

Why have a whole cheat day. I'm sure you'll feel terrible after you eat junk all day long.

Why not have a cheat meal?

because I couldn't pick one to give up. LOL. Isn't that terrible? I want them all equally bad. I could probably leave out the whataburger without too much regret. But man oh man am I looking forward to eggs benedict and french toast for breakfast and sesame chicken for dinner.

 

[Sweet_Bitch]

Look at it this way-if you have your cheat day and you miss your goal, you'll be pissed at yourself for keeping your cheat day and not pushing it out. At the same time, you could go for just the french toast, one cup cake, and only one plate of sesame chicken. Not 5k, not exactly what you wanted, but still something. You're so close to your goals-19 days is nothing in a lifetime. Besides, think of the cheat day you can have once you reach your goal!!


(Jesus, I should take my own advice...funny how it's so easy to give and so hard to practice!!!)

 

[DieselGunz]

listen to your mind and body if your burnt out and need a pick me up endulge in some treats. It will give you new vigor to really hit it for the reast of the month.

Modearation tho, no reason to go crazy just enough to be satisified

O by the way you will fell like crap after just to let you know Keep by the bathroom

 

[Sassy69]

By the time you get to your scheduled cheat day, you may only want one of those items listed. Don't get too deep into planning for shit like that - part of excellent dieting is that you lose your taste for all your favorite cheats and they are less & less gratifying.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

I agree with Sassy - don't overplan it too much. Plan on having a cheat day on the 15th, but let your body guide you that day. Don't eat something simply because you had "planned to". You might find that after the breakfast, you are done.

OR..... Since some of it could go, why not plan to eat the breakfast, then eat clean the rest of the day, and have the Chinese for dinner. Sortof a "half-day cheat". Dinner also doesn't have to be BUFFET, just order the one dish you are craving and stop at that. Might be more expensive, but you will feel better overall about it.

Cheats are good for you, but are not meant to be free for alls ..... their purpose is to REFEED the body. The cheat should actually be mostly CARBS and not fat.

 

[superqt4u2nv]

IMO a whole day of cheating is too much one meal with all the fixings so appetizer, main course and desert. Also plan your training around your cheats. The day after a cheat meal should be a hard core workout cause of all the glycogen do legs or another major muscle group.

 

[aandd]

Cheats are good for you, but are not meant to be free for alls ..... their purpose is to REFEED the body. The cheat should actually be mostly CARBS and not fat.

Funsucker.

By the time you get to your scheduled cheat day, you may only want one of those items listed. Don't get too deep into planning for shit like that - part of excellent dieting is that you lose your taste for all your favorite cheats and they are less & less gratifying

Actualle, I think this is what is happening. I have had my cheat day planned out since like the 1st of October... and here I am thinking I might not even do it. I'm not feeling the desire to have my cheat day anymore. I have actually been even thinking about making a low carb or healthy version of eggs benedict and french toast rather than eating out.

 

[BOWTECH]

Why cheat? You are only cheating yourself. Cheat days are for those who just can't say no. Once you give up the garbage food after a couple weeks you won't even want it anymore. Give it a shot you will see better results.

 

[jenscats5]

1) Check out the Recipe Thread for a healthier recipe for French Toast - should be on one of the last pages.........

Here: http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5397118&postcount=281

2) I did a Google Search: check out these eggs benedict recipes:

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/lc_breakfast/article/0,2041,DIY_13999_2277630,00.html

http://www.24hourfitness.com/html/nutrition/recipes/breakfast/egg_bene/


http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/EggBenedictLowFat.htm

I personally see no reason why you CANNOT have the "mouth-feel" of the flavors you want, albeit a healthier version. Just as tasty - just as yummy - but without the TON of fat & calories as the restaurant versions.

And, ummmmmm, not to rain on your parade but here's a weird article on the Risks of eating eggs benedict. Who knew??

http://mosaic.echonyc.com/~jkarpf/eggs/medical.html

 

[Miss24k]

Why cheat? You are only cheating yourself. Cheat days are for those who just can't say no. Once you give up the garbage food after a couple weeks you won't even want it anymore. Give it a shot you will see better results.

Oh come on, are you trying to tell us you NEVER have a cheat meal?

As I've said before it should be considered a "reward meal" there is no need to feel bad about eating something that isn't exactly the best for you every once and awhile. I don't think you should be having an all out cheat day, but one meal out of the 5 or 6 will not hurt you every week or every 2 weeks.

I personally do not have a "planned" reward meal any longer, I keep them for when I have a family function to go to, or a special dinner with my huney. So sometimes that means I may have 2 in a week, and other times I'll go a few weeks without 1.

 

[jenscats5]

Here's a recipe for a decent looking French Toast:

http://1stholistic.com/Recipes/recipe_french_toast.htm

And here's a site with a ton of different types of French toast:

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/1642/0.shtml

So see! You can still have your cake, erm toast & eat it too!!

I slay me!

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Why cheat? You are only cheating yourself. Cheat days are for those who just can't say no. Give it a shot you will see better results.

That is not true one tiny little bit.

If you are on a very carb restricted diet, then REFEEDS are a very SMART idea. They can help boost the metabolism by raising lepetin levels. Strict dieting will casue lepetin to fall, therefore causing metabolism to slow. The refeed can help boost lepetin levels, and therefore "jumpstart" the metabolism back.

But, like I said, (the funsucker, lol) refeeds should be carbs - not fat.

Not to mention, if someone is not competing, then there is NO reason why they cannot eat normally every now and then.