I was sitting around yesterday by the pool and thinking (wondering actually, it is hard to think with the half-nekid hotties wondering around South Beach) do people favor having “cheat days” on days that they do not hit the gym or rather feel safer doing it when they train? Some of us are of the mindset that it is a day off or rest day, is it a day off from everything, thus Ben & Jerry’s and pizza is ok, however, some get guilty in this mindset, how about you?
Yes, I think its a good idea to have at least a cheat meal. I think if we follow the basics, as given by the editors on the good foods in yesterdays’ update, we can take liberties once a week. Actually, even on a rest day, I find myself feeling hungry if I had a real hard w/o the previous day.
Big Red
Doug: I prefer the “cheat” day to be on days when I’m NOT in the gym (usually on weekends) or when I’m doing “active rest” (maybe bike riding or something). It gives me not only a physical but a MENTAL boost…
I like to go at LEAST 2 weeks without a cheat day. Mentally I beleive the longer I go the more fat I lose.
I also cheat on days that are total off days to just relax have fun, fill muscle glycogen, & HAVE UN WITH FOOD! (or on say a one week vacation I will hit 3 MRPS and then eat whatever the group I am with is eating-vacation is suposed to be FUN!)
A good example is my annevesiry with my girlfriend was on a Sat but we did it on Sun so I could just take one cpmlete day off from cardio, training, & diet.
I never schedule cheat days. That way I don’t have too many. However, if I have one, it’ll be on an off day. The overall break is often what I’m after so I generally don’t train. Sometimes, I can’t train on cheat days because I want to take a break from eating. I’ll just spend the day eating bran buds and other high fibre foods to “clear out” so to speak. Not a lot of fun, but sometimes I need a break from the constant feeding.
Nevertheless, we’ve got something called Pizza Pizza up here in Toronto. Just as popular as Dominos is in the states. Anyway, they’ve got this creamy garlic dipping sauce for the crust. I find this stuff addictive. When I want to binge, I eat pizza with this dipping sauce until I’m ready to burst. As result, I can’t train on those days because I can’t move!
For me if I train on a cheat day I feel real tired, i dont know if anyone else gets this. I am so carefull with my food combos/calories etc when I ‘cheat’, and cheat I do i feel well tired , but in a good way - probably getting a good rush from the food and endorphins. I find i associate cheating with generally hanging around, being lazy and pigging out so i keep that mindset to almost force me through guilt to be clean so often!! I often feel so bad i train like a motha the next day!! And as BigRob says, I generally like to fill up on pizza( i sympathise with the garlic dipping sauce, I agree it is - ‘the nuts’.)
I used to keep training days separate from cheat day, but lately I’ve been experimenting with a postworkout cheat day. For example, last Saturday, I woke up early and trained really hard. Then I had surge, and then 2 hours later I just ate whatever I wanted for the rest of the day.
Psychologically I do better if I cheat on a workout day, preferably after a big workout. I think of it as a reward. Plus I like to think it helps me recover better.
I have a cheat meal every sat night…and i train on sat mornings… But then again i don;t eat pizza or ice cream or stuff like that…i usually Eat LARGE quantities of meat… Sometimes ribs, sometimes steak, but it is always a large quantity, and i keep it within the protien/fat quidelines…which is pretty simple to do with meat.