I only have anecdotal info, no studies or data, but the once a week cheat meal for me did not seem to help much. Maybe when you eventually hit a plateau, but for the start of things, I avoid it, as it seems to lower my inhibitions toward the junk-ier type foods. All or nothing for me was needed in the beginning.

Go one month without and then one month with the cheat meal and see f you notice a difference. Many people forgt that each body will respond differently to different conditions, so what works for a guy in "Muscle and Fitness" may not work for me or for you, and visa versa.

 

Renegade, I think the main benefit of a cheat meal is to keep you sane, and allow you to stay strict longer.

From personal experience i've found it gives me something to look forward to, so I will stay strict all week.

I will have my "cheat" meal, and then immediately after get right back on track. I usually feel bad, or gross after a cheat meal, as my body is not used to the food or spike in calories, which is also another motivator to stay healthy for the next week.

 

So the whole week I was weighing myself every day and didn't lose anything even though I was eating less and spinning...Then yesterday, I pissed out at night complete with a desert made for two and ate by just me...lost a pound and a half...so I guess it works...

 

A once a week cheat day is essential in losing weight and maintaining muscle. It's hard at first to make yourself do it but if you don't, you're not losing weight as fast as you potentially could.

I'll do one day a week where I might eat 5,500 calories and then back to 2,000 or so. It keeps the weight coming off. Without the cheat day you have great loss for the first week or two and then it starts leveling off. With the cheat day it does not level off as quickly.

Oh, and that calorie calculator seems a little off. It shows 2,169 being my maintenence level but at 2,000 calories I'm dropping 3-4lbs a week.

 

Yeah I've been cheating a good amount recently and have lost weight with less exercise...it's no myth.

 

That calculator says I need 2327, and I know I've been eating less than that...mostly. It's hard to count cals at night due to my wife cooking. And weekends are totally crap. 1200 cals, I might die.

I haven't been to the gym in ages, due to time. I've been trying to make better choices recently, but it's difficult. Guess I need to make even better choices.

 

Found out that it doesn't work if you cheat all weekend...

 

It's a resting rate--all of the exercise you do goes on top of that. I have seen that calculator before.

 

One cheating day every 2 weeks here.

I aim at 1650Cal/day for the other 13 days. I read labels and measure with a precise digital kitchen scale. If I exercise (5-6x/week), I allow myself one beer (+110Cal)

Lost 72.5lbs so far, at a rate of 2-2.5lbs/MONTH. I am lighter than I was at 15 yo. No stress whatsoever for the rate of the weight loss as long it works.

That recurrent cheating day is the reason why I succeeded so far.

At maintenance, I will still count calories, maybe with a cheating day per week. I plan to do this for the rest of my life, like a diabetic would control his diet. Just be it.

 

Only one beer? I'd rather ride longer and run further to enjoy as many beers as I can drink.