Are Cheat Days Dangerous?

[Wrestler5229]

Question may be stupid. I've read a lot of articles "In defense of cheat days" and stuff like that, but I'm curious.

If one maintains a pretty strict diet six days a week, and then cheats on one day, does this not affect their blood work significantly? And if so, do you guys think that this causes long-term damage to the blood vessels, and/or internal organs, fighting to re-regulate?

Does anybody have any articles on this side of the cheat day thing?

[MortyMars]

Cheat days can be real good as long as you don't overdo it.

Everything in moderation.

[Serpentarius]

Dont worry about your health on the inside, cant flex your heart man.
There is no such thing as a "cheat day", only calories.

[DarthInvadeHer]

Dont worry about your health on the inside, cant flex your heart man.

lol

[Jazsi]

A cheat day can often result in a binge and cancel out all the progress you have made during that week. Instead of dedicating a day to eating like sh*t, eat the sort of foods you'd eat on a cheat day throughout the week and in moderation, making sure to stick to your calorie/macro goals.

Incorporating a controlled weekly/bi-weekly refeed could also help you maintain sanity/boost metabolism a little.

[torpstar711]

Nothing wrong with cheat days OP, because unless you have control issues it'll keep you sane and give you a break from eating the same stuff.

Try IF though, everyday feels like a cheat day to me when I'm on it

[Tommy W.]

You want to count calories on a weekly rather than daily basis. If a cheat meal allows the deficit you want then it doesn't hurt anything. The problem is a 1,000 calorie day over maintenance is easy to do and a 1,000 calorie deficit day to counteract it is difficult. 1 1,000 cal over maintenance day wipes out 3 500 cal deficit days. So basically a good cheat day wipes out half a weeks dieting, a 2,000 cal over maintenance cheat day can easily wipe out almost whole weeks work in many cases

[P1NBACK]

I think it depends on how much your deficit is. But, for me, I benefit highly from a good cheat day every other week or so.

A) Keeps me sane throughout my cut days and I have some daylight to look forward to, B) Usually it's a social event, so I can kind of get in the mindset of really working out hard and sticking to my calorie deficit so that I can show off my weight loss and C) I usually have a little boost of strength for a day or two after (though this may just be placebo effect), so I'm super motivated to get back into my routine.

Keep in mind, I'm at a pretty harsh deficit, so a cheat day doesn't harm my overall deficit too badly (I might lose 1.5 instead of 2 lbs that week). And, I usually still try to workout on a cheat day and often I'll try to do something like a nice hike in the morning.

Edit to add: I've seen people's "cheat days" on here and they are more like BINGE days. I wouldn't recommend that. Just eat at or a few hundred calories over maintenance. I'm at about a 1,000 calorie deficit normally, so a cheat day where I eat at maintenance or maybe +500 calories is kind of huge for me (most of that will be booze).

[DasPhilosopher]

Cheat days are bad. You are cheating. Not srs. Do whatever you want.

[blacksage83]

I go by weekly calories as well. If I am pacing for something crazy like a 9000 calorie deficit, I'll have a maintenance day or go over a bit.

BUT...I forgot who it was but there was a member with an 8K calorie cheat day which is insane to me. I had a few big meals and dessert and put down about 3K calories and went into a food coma.

Keep your weekly deficit in mind and do not erase 4 days of a 500 calorie deficit by going 2K over maintenance in a day.

[Bender1990]

Look at it this way - Your cheat day could set you a week behind in dieting. I never understood the means for a "cheat day",a better way to do it is to eat what you crave in moderation and fit it into your macros.

[Megajord]

I find it best to have 1-2 cheat meals a week rather than cheat days. I never feel great from cheat days as it means snacking on crap you don't really care about. Instead get hyped for a takeaway meal or pizza or something.

[torpstar711]

Look at it this way - Your cheat day could set you a week behind in dieting. I never understood the means for a "cheat day",a better way to do it is to eat what you crave in moderation and fit it into your macros.

Are you stupid?

Let's say someone with a tdee of 2500 who is cutting on 2000 cals a day decides to have a cheat day of 2500 calories.

TDEE per week = 17500 calories
One week w/o cheat day = 14000 calories
One week with cheat day = 14500 calories

So this person burns 1lb of fat a week without a cheat day. With a cheat day they burn .86lb of fat per week.

For 12 weeks without a cheat day this person will burn 12lbs of fat. For 12 weeks without a cheat day this person will burn 10.30 lbs of fat. Oh wow missing out on that 1.70lbs of fat in 3 months is the end of the world according to you right?

And before you say something like "Oh well I said it would set you a week behind and according to you it'll put you 1.7 weeks behind for 3 months aha!". No, you said it would set you back a week in dieting as in there would be no fat loss for that week.

[Serpentarius]

Are you stupid?

Let's say someone with a tdee of 2500 who is cutting on 2000 cals a day decides to have a cheat day of 2500 calories.

TDEE per week = 17500 calories
One week w/o cheat day = 14000 calories
One week with cheat day = 14500 calories

So this person burns 1lb of fat a week without a cheat day. With a cheat day they burn .86lb of fat per week.

For 12 weeks without a cheat day this person will burn 12lbs of fat. For 12 weeks without a cheat day this person will burn 10.30 lbs of fat. Oh wow missing out on that 1.70lbs of fat in 3 months is the end of the world according to you right?

And before you say something like "Oh well I said it would set you a week behind and according to you it'll put you 1.7 weeks behind for 3 months aha!". No, you said it would set you back a week in dieting as in there would be no fat loss for that week.

Thats not how it works, most of the people having cheat days are eating thousands and thousands of extra calories, and can erase multiple weeks within literally minutes and hours of eating. Read this:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=162472851

[Robin13]

I'm finishing hitting my calories with some nice scrummy maltesers following my iifym and enjoying my food and little treats ! Would never have a cheat day not needed just fit it in your calories once your happy reach your numbers ?

And before you ask nope I've eaten them

[chessboxxn]

I think the idea of cheat meals / days is what is potentially 'dangerous.' As mentioned, and personally noticed, this can often result in binge eating and even promotion of additional eating disorders. Cheat meals in themselves means different things to different people, not even speaking to 'refeeds,' and it's hard not to see people treat them as glorified gorging sessions. There are certainly people using such feeding frames to success / without issue, but some use it as a bit of a crutch for their overall goal. Can be a tricky thing for some.

[Tricon7]

Rather than a cheat day, why not a cheat meal? Pizza with a yummy dessert can ring up some calories, but not like an entire day's worth of cheating. And a cheat meal doesn't mean eating cr*p until they have to roll you away from the table. Remember - you're trying to get rid of fat, not gain back all those hard-earned losses.

[Sarumyan]

Yes, it is very dangerous. Coming back to dieting is hard after eating whatever you want.

[Sarumyan]

Are you stupid?

Let's say someone with a tdee of 2500 who is cutting on 2000 cals a day decides to have a cheat day of 2500 calories.

TDEE per week = 17500 calories
One week w/o cheat day = 14000 calories
One week with cheat day = 14500 calories

So this person burns 1lb of fat a week without a cheat day. With a cheat day they burn .86lb of fat per week.

For 12 weeks without a cheat day this person will burn 12lbs of fat. For 12 weeks without a cheat day this person will burn 10.30 lbs of fat. Oh wow missing out on that 1.70lbs of fat in 3 months is the end of the world according to you right?

And before you say something like "Oh well I said it would set you a week behind and according to you it'll put you 1.7 weeks behind for 3 months aha!". No, you said it would set you back a week in dieting as in there would be no fat loss for that week.

Are you stupid? Majority of population can't control itself when it comes to eating. For people who love to eat(like me) cheat days can be 5000-12000 calories.

[Tommy W.]

Until you're down to around 10% BF cheat days are a very bad idea for many reasons. Like a junkie that just wants to shoot a LIIIIITTTLE after being clean for awhile

[TrustyMutsi]

The only way a cheat meal would work for me is if I still counted calories. It's benefit would be eating something yummier than usual. My only fear of a cheat meal for me is not getting the full 120g of protein.

[torpstar711]

Are you stupid? Majority of population can't control itself when it comes to eating. For people who love to eat(like me) cheat days can be 5000-12000 calories.

Well there's this new invention that was just created, it's called self control. You should try it.

In my original post I was very clearly referring to controlled cheat days which I believe are the only real sort of cheat day, what you described isn't a cheat day, it's called binging

[alexarias798]

Cheat days are good, as long as you have a weekly caloric deficit there is no problem my man

[Tommy W.]

Cheat days are good, as long as you have a weekly caloric deficit there is no problem my man

Make that a big enough caloric deficit to reach your goals

[koatliki]

Cheat meals are fine if you actually plan/control them and don't go overboard. Cheat day is probably a worse idea. I think too many (not so lean) guys treat it as their ticket to eat everything in vicinity. ("I am restarting my hormones, bro") You will not believe how easy it is to wipe out entire week's diet progress even with one meal (especially if you are dieting with 500 calories deficit per day).

If you go to all-you-can-eat wings place you could probably not only erase entire week's progress, but actually have calorie surplus for that week.

My approach has always been: don't treat diet like a diet, treat it like a life style change and make sure it is sustainable without having to have all-i-can-eat days or be miserable. If I know I am going to be a really bad boy on a particular day I just don't eat anything that day and indulge a bit more during dinner.

IF ftw

[Serpentarius]

WTF is a cheat meal anyways? If you are still under your calorie maintenance how is anything a "cheat"?

[koatliki]

WTF is a cheat meal anyways? If you are still under your calorie maintenance how is anything a "cheat"?

/agree
If it fits your macros imho that's not a cheat meal, but I bet at least half of the guys gorging themselves in a buffet would call it a 'cheat meal' too.

[AGreekOR]

When I do "cheat day" it doesn't involve binging like 5000 calories over. I'll treat myself to a pizza or something in substitution for one of my main meals and it will be worked off by the next day.

You don't have to be fat the entire day.

[reagansquad]

It can be if you swing too hard. I gave myself this one time - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440847/ - Basically was cutting to near PSMF levels for weeks, then I ate a huge ****ing pizza. Scariest night of my life.

[Big Slim DaDDy]

Making it a weekly thing is probably counter productive. I think going 2 weeks straight in a deficit then having a day where you eat a bit more would be a lot better than being 6 days in a deficit then every saturday you go full retard and turn into the cookie monster.


I think eating 100% clean 100% of the time is something else that can drive a person insane. IIFYM for me is often I eat good for the majority of the day and at some point I might get a coffee and a donut. Just 1 little daily treat can calm your dieting stress down a lot. Fitting small good testing things into your macros can be easy if you plan out your daily diet well.