Do you have a "cheat" meal?

natttynoo

I have just started eating healthy and exercising have had a really good 10 days where I haven't eaten or drank any processed/fizzy/unhealthy things.
I have woke up this morning craving pizza. If I have a pizza this evening have I failed or can I just carry on as normal tomorrow and have a cheat meal once a week?

TavistockToad

Eat pizza that fits your macros and calorie goal, then you haven't cheated or failed or whatever else.

There's no such thing as bad food, just people who eat badly.

lieajane

I just had a McDonald's for lunch.
If you choose your pizza wisely and understand that it's not an everyday meal then you can work it into your new lifestyle no problem. It's more likely you'll stick with it in the long term if you don't completely cut out the things you love.

TheVirgoddess

Eating pizza isn't cheating.

The only rule about losing weight is to eat less than you burn. For me that means eating in a way that I enjoy and which meets my nutritional needs. That includes pizza when I want it.

cityruss

No.

I eat pizza, if it fits in to my calorie and macronutrient goals. Same goes for every other food from every food group (user sensibility is obviously employed to maintain a balanced and nutritional intake).

There are no 'bad' foods or 'good' foods, just foods. You 'fail' by going over your set calorie goal, you can do that with apples and carrot just as you can with pizza and ice cream.

samantha1242

I find that if I am craving something there is a reason to why I am craving it. So, I will go out and get what I am craving and have some. This has helped my binging significantly.

Sevendust912

You haven't had anything processed? I don't believe you...

natttynoo

Thanks everyone. Makes me feel alot better.
Sevendus912- I haven't no need to lie I would only be lying to myself.

CObluegrass

can you give up pizza for life? if not, find a way to fit it in. For me, a piece or two with a big heaping side of veggies or a salad works (instead of 4-5 pieces of pizza). I won't give up any food that I love...I just find a way to make it work.

ana3067

I don't cheat because cheating to me means eating things I don't normally eat. But I don't cut foods out. I'm having birthday dinner (lunch?) today, I'm having an individual GF pizza while everyone else is having Chinese. I'm also having a Gf donut for dessert that I'll bring.

The pizza is like 800 calories, fits my day. If I really needed to, I'd just eat only half. I did bank extra cals from last night and just from being a bit under every day (not on purpose) so I'm able to eat almost an extra 150 cals today, which helps fit in the higher calorie, less filling foods.

TavistockToad

natttynoo wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Makes me feel alot better.
Sevendus912- I haven't no need to lie I would only be lying to myself.

You have your own cow for milk?

natttynoo

TavistockToad wrote: »

natttynoo wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Makes me feel alot better.
Sevendus912- I haven't no need to lie I would only be lying to myself.

You have your own cow for milk?

Of course not no need to be pedantic. Was just seeing what other people thought on my subject.

TavistockToad

natttynoo wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

natttynoo wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Makes me feel alot better.
Sevendus912- I haven't no need to lie I would only be lying to myself.

You have your own cow for milk?

Of course not no need to be pedantic. Was just seeing what other people thought on my subject.

I wasn't, I was just trying to explain the comment that sevendust912 made!

lisaw19855

I make pitta bread pizza, it's lush, helps any cravings and for less than 400 calories x

Cheriesaurus

I USED to have cheat days (Resulted in me binging since I cut out so much), now I just have 2 meals a day of whatever I want and fit it in my 1200 calories goal.

Sabine_Stroehm

Nope. I eat. Sometimes I indulge a bit. Sometimes I have treats. Sometimes i eat a little less. Sometimes I turn down treats. Sometimes I eat exactly what I'm craving. Sometimes I modify things. It's all part of "how I eat" aka "my diet".

Sabine_Stroehm

Cheriesaurus wrote: »

I USED to have cheat days (Resulted in me binging since I cut out so much), now I just have 2 meals a day of whatever I want and fit it in my 1200 calories goal.

This is where finding what works for you for the long haul becomes important. I could NEVER do what you're doing. Are you sure you're:
A: eating enough
B: eating food that fuels your body (micro nutrients/macro nutrients)
Just be sure you're not working against yourself/hurting yourself.

mwm158

Some foods are actually addictive. A study showed oreos to be more addictive than cocaine in rats. I know this happens to me, and once I've gone through withdrawal cutting these foods out, it will do me more harm than good giving myself a "cheat" meal.

Sabine_Stroehm

mwm158 wrote: »

Some foods are actually addictive. A study showed oreos to be more addictive than cocaine in rats. I know this happens to me, and once I've gone through withdrawal cutting these foods out, it will do me more harm than good giving myself a "cheat" meal.

What foods are "addictive"?

mwm158

Food filled with sugar, fat, and salt!

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-food-addiction

ahoier

i plan a cheat meal, typically once a week.....if you do some research, there is studies shown that strict calorie reduction (1200, etc) all week, and a cheat meal mixed in.....on one of those days, it's supposed to spike the metabolism......your body goes crazy, like, "omg where did this food come from" and so it goes into overdrive digesting the food (which in turn buns calories too.....)

I typically plann my cheat meal on a day off, and i eat early in the day, and typically follow it by a 12-16 hour 'fast'.....in which i basically don't eat anything until 10-12noon that next day......

99 lbs down and like 20 more to go

ruthinator2009

To each their own. On Fridays I go out to eat with my family. If I know what I'm going to have for dinner (whether it's a cheeseburger meal or a quesadilla), I'll sometimes make sure I hit the gym early that morning so I can have a few spare calories if I need them.

Also, I haven't cut out the things I love...I just find lower calorie alternatives. Like instead of a large fry from McDonalds, I'll get a small.

A friend of mine, her mother, used to weigh around 400. She lost the weight and has kept it off for sometime now. And Saturday is her set cheat day. Although if you do decide to have a cheat day, just remember that it could slow down progress via not losing weight as fast as you want to.

I started my journey at over 300lbs. I'm now in the 230's. I tried cutting out potatoes and pop for a while...I lost a some weight. But since I deprived myself of it, I relapsed badly.

jillianedwards

I just fit it into my day, thin crust pizza helps! I get a thin crust dominos pizza with mushrooms and chicken it is quite tasty! Just enter everything in advance that way you can plan your other meals and snacks around it!

(Edited to add)

EXCEPT Chips mainly Doritos haha i can not let myself have those or i will eat an entire bag i can absolutely not control myself with those! Stupid tasty jalapeno cheddar...Now i just eat Quest chips if i want to have some chips

lemurcat12

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

Nope. I eat. Sometimes I indulge a bit. Sometimes I have treats. Sometimes i eat a little less. Sometimes I turn down treats. Sometimes I eat exactly what I'm craving. Sometimes I modify things. It's all part of "how I eat" aka "my diet".

This is basically how I look at it. I don't have "cheat" meals but I do have more indulgent meals from time to time. It's life; you shouldn't consider that cheating, IMO.

segacs

lemurcat12 wrote: »

This is basically how I look at it. I don't have "cheat" meals but I do have more indulgent meals from time to time. It's life; you shouldn't consider that cheating, IMO.

^This.

"Cheat" is a bad term for me for multiple reasons. It implies that I'm eating something I shouldn't, that I've somehow failed, that I should feel guilty. And it also implies a certain permissiveness that could lead to binge-eating far too many calories.

So no, I don't cheat. But I haven't cut out any foods or needlessly restricted myself, either. I eat chocolate almost every day. I build snacks into my plan. I've had days when I devote most of my calories to alcohol (e.g. a beer festival) or "junk" food (e.g. someone's birthday) and I certainly eat things like pizza whenever I feel like it.

I just make sure to fit it into my day's calories, and into my macros as much as possible -- though I don't stress about occasionally having days when my macros are shot. As long as the calories are on track and I'm getting my nutrition in, the rest is up to me.

No cheating. No guilt. Just food.

DonM46

Don't do INTENTIONAL cheat meals, but for special events, I relax a little. Anniversaries, family reunions, 'pot luck' lunches at church or the office, Thanksgiving, ... etc. I'll try to bracket those meals with a bit larger calorie deficit, but it's not the end of the world if I still exceed my budgeted calorie intake.
But I don't deprive myself of ANYTHING. Pizza? Sure, but only one or two pieces. Donuts? Sure, but just one. My wife's pecan pie? Of course, but just a skinny slice.
If you deprive yourself, you're more likely to binge when you DO yield to temptation.
So, eat the forbidden fruit if you want it; however, just a little (satisfying) bit.

SteveMFP123

I make homemade pizza every week, it hasn't hurt me. Just make sure it fits into your macros/calories.

Cheriesaurus

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

Cheriesaurus wrote: »

I USED to have cheat days (Resulted in me binging since I cut out so much), now I just have 2 meals a day of whatever I want and fit it in my 1200 calories goal.

This is where finding what works for you for the long haul becomes important. I could NEVER do what you're doing. Are you sure you're:
A: eating enough
B: eating food that fuels your body (micro nutrients/macro nutrients)
Just be sure you're not working against yourself/hurting yourself.

My diary is open if you're curious on what I eat ^_~ I'm not entirely sure if I get exactly enough of the right nutrients but I take a multivitamin just in case and I've had blood tests and everything is fine.

I generally eat a variety of food and I feel fine as opposed to other dieting methods like Low carb (Hard for me to maintain forever as I binged on carby foods later on) or 6 meals a day (Made me more hungry/strong cravings as it stimulated my stomach) However now I eat 2 nice satisfying meals at 600 calories each and not feel deprived as I did when snacking. I'm very sedimentary in general but I do go for the occasional walk or use my Wii-Fit which I do add in to MFP (Desk Job + Gamer after work = The struggle be real) I don't need so many calories for energy. I've been losing weight and I can maintain this way of eating for life unlike the other methods I tried.

catita1025

...short answer...do I have a cheat meal? No. Do I have a small snack every day? Yes. I improved my eating habits two years ago and haven't looked back. Why? Because there are medical conditions that run in my family. I'm dong my best to keep those at bay for as long as I can with good nutrition and exercise. That's incentive. Two years ago I was taking four medications for those conditions. Today, I take none of them. I no longer eat certain types of food because my system will no longer tolerate them. Seriously, I'll become sick. It's much easier now to make the choice to say, "No, thanks. I won't eat that." It's a process that you can learn. It takes times and repeated effort. It's worth it. Good luck and best wishes.

Sabine_Stroehm

mwm158 wrote: »

Food filled with sugar, fat, and salt!

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-food-addiction

Okay, so not "food" but food with ingredients you find challenging to control your intake of. "Fat" isn't a food. "Sugar" isn't a food...

Sabine_Stroehm

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

Nope. I eat. Sometimes I indulge a bit. Sometimes I have treats. Sometimes i eat a little less. Sometimes I turn down treats. Sometimes I eat exactly what I'm craving. Sometimes I modify things. It's all part of "how I eat" aka "my diet".

This is basically how I look at it. I don't have "cheat" meals but I do have more indulgent meals from time to time. It's life; you shouldn't consider that cheating, IMO.

Exactly. Indulgences happen. CELEBRATIONS happen. I strive for a diet that's nutrient dense, and then I know that life happens. Wine happens, treats happens.... And that's all part of life. That said, I don't eat stuff simply because it's deemed a "treat"...I make choices. Sometimes I eat the indulgent foods, sometimes I don't. I make choices.