A few people have told me that it's definitely OK to have one day a week where we can eat what we wish. Is this true or does anyone do this? I have found that since I've "cheated" on only one day a week, I can lose up to five pounds... up from my usual one a week. Maybe it's taking the weight off but isn't good for the body? Any advice?

Go and ask the people around the forum who have successfully lost the big numbers of pounds what they do. I don't think that you'll find that they had "cheat days". Just who is being cheated? You of course. If cheat days worked, wouldn't they be in some LC book? But they aren't.

i would not have a cheat day untill i lost all i wanted to lose.
it takes about three days to start burning bodyfat so you could be wasting four days of weight loss per week. your body is burning body fat on induction dont do anything to stop it now.
good luck you aint got to cheat. having a healthy and hard
body feels better than any food taste! just a mater of how bad you want to lose it. atkins is not hard done right you should never be hungry.

If I had a cheat day, I would never have the will power to stay on this diet.

When I read most postings I see that is how people go back to their old habits.

Be careful, before making a cheat day, something you do every week.

I did do one night a week-but ONLY after I reached goal weight. Never during induction or OWL. Frankly, they aren't worth it due to how my body reacts with all the tummy grumbling, gas and lethargy.

My biggest problem has been the cheat day turning into the cheat week. I have decided that I need to stay away from them until I get closer to where I need to be...

Good Luck!
Mark

Thanks for the help. I will definitely kick out those habits of sneeking in something unhealthy once a week. Thanks again!

Rather than a cheat day, go for a cheat meal. As other people have already pointed out, it's better to wait until you are close to your weight goal first.

Warning:

I had a cheat meal of Church's chicken last night and it didn't agree with me at all. I had gone 2 weeks eating very clean and my body reacted badly to the fried, greasy food (bleh).

If you cheat occasionaly, be aware you may not enjoy it as much as you thought you would .

I think I sometimes want to give in because none of my peers in school are on any type of diet... they eat whatever they want when they want. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out on that food I used to eat, but then again I look at it and realize that's what has driven me to this board. This is the first diet I have been able to stick to for more than a week! (I had no willpower but now it's unbelievable how much I have). Thanks for all the help and hopefully we will all be seeing some great progress soon!

I'm not endorsing going off-plan, but Body For Life does have a "free day" where you can eat whatever you want. There are several threads about it under BFL.

CKD (Cyclical Ketogenic Diet) has a re feed on the weekends but it is designed for weightlifters to gain mass while losing fat.
It is very hard to switch from low carb to low fat high carb for two days. Also you gain 7-10 pounds on the weekend, then you go back to Induction for 5 days. I have been sucessful using this after losing 54 pounds in 16 months on Atkins. I had been stalling and tried CKD. I find it very hard to eat high carbs and really look forward to getting back on LC. It is weird that you think you crave high carbs. But when forced to eat 2 pounds of glucose in two days makes LCing a breeze. Check out the CKD forum if you want more info.
Jag

Instead of a "cheat day" I allow myself a treat about once a month or so. It may be going out with group and having fried mushrooms and a couple of mixed drinks, or eating at a certain mexican or chinese restaurant (both favorites of mine). Of course I don't eat the chips or the rice, so it's not so bad. That usually takes care of my cravings for a while.

Body For Life has a cheat day, but that's a very different diet.

Atkins relies heavily on maintaining your blood sugar, while BFL is your standard low fat diet.

Cheat day sure doesn't sound like a good idea with this. I think that after you tried this you would probably feel awful for a day or two after even if you didn't gain weight. Of course an occasional slip like a single meal might be good to keep it fresh in your mind exactly why you don't want to go back to the old WOL.

the atkins book clearly said there should be no cheat days! atkins wol is so easy to do that you really shouldnt have a problem staying with it. you can do it