cheat meals while maintaining

crose093

Hello all, I'm new to maintaining after finally reaching goal weight. I have a vacation coming up and was wondering your thoughts about cheat meals now that you maintain. Previously while on a calorie deficit I didn't worry too much about a cheat meal because I knew the deficit throughout the week cancelled it out. Do you still have cheat meals now that you are at your maintenance level? Do you find your metabolism is able to handle the extra calories without weight gain or do you try and make up for it throughout the week by eating a few hundred less daily? Thanks for your advice!

corischmeed

Hello,
I work with a fitness coach and he states that I should have a cheat meal once a week. I am in the process of reverse dieting, so slowly adding more food without gaining weight or gaining minimal weight. Do you currently work out? I do hiit cardio as well as weight lifting and a cheat meal can help fire up the metabolism and keep your sanity.

mitch16

I don't really consider them "cheating"--they just are... Some days I'm under my calorie goal, and some days, especially if I'm eating at a restaurant, I am over. Log it, move on, and try not to have too many of them or you might have to revert to actively losing again for a spell.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I've been maintaining for 2 years now. Higher calorie days happen. Usually I don't need to do anything to try to adjust for them but I do weigh regularly and a couple of times I've noticed that my weight was creeping up toward the top of my maintenance range, so I just ate a few less calories for a bit until it came back down. (that happened as the result of an entire week of vacation, not just one meal) But most of the time I get a couple of pounds of water weight and then it goes away over the next few days.

I know some people purposefully eat under maintenance by 100 calories or so all week and then on the weekend they have an extra 600 calories to work with.

nxd10

I don't like the phrase 'cheat meal'. You need to average your net calorie alottment or you will gain weight. When you were at a deficit, you could go over 500 calories and plateau. Now you'll gain. I honestly think that's why people have an easier time losing than maintaining.

That said, you only have to AVERAGE your goal. You should be over some days and under others. You can go on vacation for a week and be over and then go on the deficit the next week and it will all be fine.

Go on vacation. Enjoy yourself. Just be conscious of what you're doing, reassess when you get back, and go from there. If you've really changed your eating habits, I doubt you'll see a huge difference when you come back.

feisty_bucket

Repeating the whole idea that one can "cheat" with food is flawed. Food is energy. You run an energy balance; sometimes you eat in advance. Keep it in mind, no problems.

ktmarsden1

I have a day where I eat what I normally wouldn't during the week. For example a burger and fries or a big pasta dish or both. I'm still on a deficit 6 days out of 7 and still eat extremely healthy. When on holidays I have a not so great meal every second or third day for dinner or lunch and eat salads, veg, fruit and fish the rest of the time. My weight does go up but tapers back down towards the end of the week and then the process starts again. If you do a lot of walking on vacation then I wouldn't worry to much about gaining weight. Just make your eating habits balanced and you should be fine.

sijomial

I dislike the idea of thinking of enjoying food as cheating.
Good food and special occasions should be enjoyed without any guilt.

Maintenance really doesn't have to be eating the same every day or even weighing the same every week. Your diet should fit into your life rather than making your life fit into your diet.

Francl27

I eat less every day to make up for those days, personally. If I just moved on and didn't make up for it, I'd probably end up gaining eventually.

dopeysmelly

I don't like the word "cheat" - it implies a test and that you're doing something wrong which you should feel guilty about. You're going on vacation, and you're going to have a great time!

When I eat out (couple of times a month, plus business trips), I generally just eat with moderation, eat the things I like, try to stop before I feel full and make sure I stay active. I do say things to myself such as, is a pina colada is worth the huge calories (that was a "no" BTW), or remind myself that I will go crazy if I don't do quite a lot of activity every day.

I've found that any weight put on generally comes off pretty quickly, both while I was losing and over the Holidays recently.

Paul_Collyer

I prefer to try to maintain without logging, it's good practice and ultimately it should be do-able over time. If things do creep up it's easy to pick up MFP again and get things back on track.

nxd10

sijomial wrote: »

I dislike the idea of thinking of enjoying food as cheating.
Good food and special occasions should be enjoyed without any guilt.

Maintenance really doesn't have to be eating the same every day or even weighing the same every week. Your diet should fit into your life rather than making your life fit into your diet.

This.

melimomTARDIS

ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »

I've been maintaining for 2 years now. Higher calorie days happen. Usually I don't need to do anything to try to adjust for them but I do weigh regularly and a couple of times I've noticed that my weight was creeping up toward the top of my maintenance range, so I just ate a few less calories for a bit until it came back down. (that happened as the result of an entire week of vacation, not just one meal) But most of the time I get a couple of pounds of water weight and then it goes away over the next few days.

I know some people purposefully eat under maintenance by 100 calories or so all week and then on the weekend they have an extra 600 calories to work with.

like heavyacrylics, I also have higher calorie days sometimes. If the scale starts creeping up (as it did after christmas) I eat at a deficit for a while till the number is more to my liking.

Also sometimes I eat less for a few days so I can have an extra big dinner. Today I am way over calories, but my week evens out to my maintenance calories.

middlehaitch

I have been maintaining 5 years, with a 5lb sliding scale, after losing 30lb over a year.

During that year 2 things happened:
I learnt what a portion size for most foods was without having to weigh it.
I found I no longer enjoyed huge meals; my body ( and mind) had adapted.

Rely on what you have learnt while achieving your goal weight, and remember that once you return to your normal eating habits any extra pounds will come off slowly but surely.

Since I don't log on maintenance, unless I am losing, I don't even worry about high and low calorie days.

Cheers, h.

paradi3s

For me, I've never really had a cheat meal. I just learned to eat whatever I want so long as it remained within my calorie goal. Just eat in moderation. If I'm with family and they've got a huge spread prepared, I get a bit of everything and listen to my stomach, if it's full or enough. When it comes to eating out, it's a bit easier since I'm the one who makes the plans, so I know where and what I eat