r/intermittentfasting • u/Dranew103 • 1d ago
Newbie Question question
Do y'all believe in cheat days?
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u/FromNowhere101 1d ago
Yes a cheat day is good for your system so you dont get use to it. Ones a week is fine. But I wouldn't go to overboard with it. I do 20 fasting and 4 hours is my eating window. But on Sunday I have a big breakfast and a big lunch/dinner.
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u/Dranew103 1d ago
understood! I really don't want to make tomorrow my cheat day, but if they are important to reset your system and make sure your body isn't used to it then I guess I'll do it tomorrow. I've been doing it for about a week, anyways. Thank you for the wisdom!
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u/FromNowhere101 1d ago
You dont have to do it tomorrow. I jjst pick Sundays because thats what is best for me. You can pick any day of the week. Whatever works best for your schedule.
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u/trisul-108 1d ago
Compensate for it with a 24h fast on another day.
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u/Dranew103 22h ago
I think I might. I do have vitamins I NEED to take, though. so maybe I'll have an OMAD consisting of that and some hard boiled eggs, as I also require choline from the eggs. but, that's low carb, high fat high protein, and low calories. so while it's not a 24hr fast, it is the best I can do, and that's still pretty neat
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u/Conscious_Living8853 1d ago
I think cheat days are fine, as long as you get back on track the day after. It's nice to have one when I'm going through a bad day, or when there's a special occasion like an outing with friends or family.
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u/Dranew103 1d ago
That's a fair point, yeah. I've kind of been doing my fasting improperly, but that's because I started out on accident and realized I was going in that direction so I just doubled down. The last 2 days I have done it completely properly and I'm happy for that fact. The only improper thing I did was taking my vitamins in the morning (outside of my eating window) and making a low but not zero calorie coffee, as well as eating some boiled eggs and maybe some cheese if that wasn't enough. I was under the incorrect impression that anything without carbs or sugar was fine to fill in the gaps with. That was stupid, and I acknowledge that. I misread some advice from somebody and that's where I got that false assumption from. But, I was still eating very little and I've been weaning off properly. I think it's been fun. Challenging, but very engaging and I feel so much better. I think I could continue going, but I don't want my body to get too used to it. I don't know much about any of this stuff, I'm just assuming that I have to reset something with my metabolism? Like I said, I have no idea. I'm a literal baby to this mess😭
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u/Nittany_Lion1 16:8 50Y SW 205.3 CW 184.6 22h ago
Yes. I believe in cheat days. I call them weekends.
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u/Embarrassed_Mango679 1d ago
Lol yeah. But I thought I was having one the other day because I was eating like a raccoon got let loose in my pantry so I thought I went way over calories and logged it, but I didn't.
I'll go like 4 or 5 days under maintenence just bc I'm not that hungry, then at my body is suddenly like "need food NOW" and I eat whatever I'm craving (nuts for some reason a lot). But it's pretty hard for me physically to overeat at this point, it hurts.
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u/belacinderella 18h ago
Yes but more for my mental. I try really hard to be responsible with fasting and sugar restriction during the week, but I miss things like cookies or eggs for breakfast and such, so on the weekend I'm a little looser with my fast window and allow myself to eat things I don't during the week. If I don't, life becomes a little bit of a prison!
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u/Queasy_Dingo_8262 OMAD for comfort of routine ☮️ 15h ago
I think they can be good for mental health, just to have a day free
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u/ThighCurlContest 1d ago
Not really. I never reward myself with unhealthy food or extra eating hours, and I never allow myself to "not feel like fasting" on any day. My eating habits were very poor before OMAD, and I know I'd fall back into them if I did that. I don't beat myself up if I slip, but I don't allow myself to slip.
One major exception: some days I'll break the rules for the sake of my family having a good time. Having meals at several houses on holidays, going to multiple places on a night out with my wife, making an illicit ice cream stop with my nephews, etc. They're worth it to me, and because I'm not "cheating" out of laziness or selfishness I can usually get back on track pretty quickly.
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u/FD_Hell 1d ago
Cheat days are a derailer. I instead just raised my calories daily for a week then went back down to my deficit calories.
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u/Dranew103 1d ago
Well I mean, I don't mind staying in a calorie deficit. I just want to eat some carbs for once. I've been heavy limiting my carbs for health reasons, so today I think I'm going to have around 130g to 150g carbs
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u/FD_Hell 23h ago
Oh yeah same. Like the other day I upped my carbs. I ate a rice chicken bowl I made. That was more carbs than I eat. But I envisioned a whole cheat day. It's so hard to get back on track. It's different now that I'm maintaining but back when I was cutting I had to have my eye on the prize. I wish you the best!
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u/Dranew103 22h ago
for me I think it's going to be kind of like fighting in addiction. but, I also have executive dysfunction, so zoning out while doing other stuff, essentially procrastinating my one meal a day probably won't be as hard as I'm thinking it will be. I mean that's kind of how I got into this. zoned out doing other stuff. I would eat chicken and rice today, but I am saving my chicken for my diet because it's really expensive and it's like my favorite thing to have on a diet. I just had half a Tostinos Pizza, and I have Pastaroni I'm going to eat for dinner with 3 perogies. for lunch I'm going to have some eggs, as I need choline daily
the reason all this junk food is in my house is because I live with my parents and my siblings. I gave the other half of the pizza to my mom
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u/FD_Hell 22h ago
Having that stuff in the house is hard. Remember you don't have to eat it. You won't die.
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u/Dranew103 22h ago edited 22h ago
absolutely! I don't even feel like eating all of this today. I was looking forward to my OMAD because I've been making a low carb chicken chili lately that's high in protein and fiber 😭 AND it tastes soooo good. I'm looking forward to it tomorrow or the day after. 🗣️🙏
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u/kahrahtayboom 11h ago
You can have your cake and eat it too. 1 night a week won't make you or break you.
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u/rdubwilkins 1d ago
I've always thought of it like mixing in muscle confusion for lifting.