What's a better name than "cheat meal"?

Losingthedamnweight

Cause I'm sick of hearing it. Sick of saying it. Sick of it even being a common word used in our forums. What we are doing is part of a lifestyle to be healthier. That doesn't mean we are going to turn into gigantic prudes and on thanksgiving tell our families "I only have 10 calories left in my budget. Just enough to smell the turkey and maybe lick a slice of it 1 time". Most of the time we stay within our calorie budgets but on certain occasions, sure. Stop worrying so much about 1 meal because I don't want to be old and retired and looking back on my life someday with regret thinking "I could've enjoyed my life more at different times". If I have the self discipline to not go on a 3 day binge from just eating a big meal 1 time, then "cheat meals" are fine.

But cheat? How am I "cheating"? I'm making a conscious decision to eat a little more 1 time and burning it off after. I'm not cheating anything. I'm living. So what's a better name for it?

natboosh69

Erm, how about just 'meal'? That was quite a rant.

Losingthedamnweight

natboosh69 wrote: »

Erm, how about just 'meal'? That was quite a rant.

It's been awhile since I've gotten to rant. Long overdue!

percolater

I would much rather read an interesting rant than a smug little statement that starts with a derisive "erm."

"Cheat meal," is a term long used in magazines and diet books to refer to a day planned to go off your diet and eat whatever looks good. I agree that it's not a good term.

A few alternative suggestions:

Free Day.
Feast Day. ( Particularly good for celebrations with religious roots like Easter, Passover, Christmas, etc.
Mental Health Day)
Date Night
Replacement Day. ( I believe, for some people, cravings are due to a deficient in the diet. They may crave cheese because they need calcium. Replacement days might actually be good for them.)

Liftng4Lis

You eat, you log, you move on. Sometimes you eat more. It's that simple.

allenpriest

Dinner.
Thursday.

You get the drift.


Anything but cheat day.


I don't care if it is in 100 books. The premise is wrong for me. I'm not dieting as that implies deprivation. I'm changing the way I live and eat. Permanently.

Soopatt

Tonight I shall call it : Dinner.

I can see how some people might need a term, because you might want to mark out or plan those days in your diary, in that case, I like the "replacement day" suggestion above or anything completely uncharged and neutral where you are not labeling yourself a crazed food lunatic loosed on the world for having a larger meal within a more standard deficit.

Non Standard Day?

I look at my week rather than my day, so naming a meal or a day would be strange to me. Also, why should I single out the big meals when I am not singling out the small ones? Some days I have tiny meals in anticipation of a hearty meal later in the week. I don't call those "starve meals" or "deprivation days".

nordlead2005

Don't bother with cheat meals and you don't have to call it anything. Stop making your plan so rigid and you don't need to cheat on it.

I eat more on Thanksgiving, birthdays, vacation, etc... All of them fit in my plan which has come along quite nicely over the last 7 months. What I don't do is go off the rails and cheat on myself.

abatonfan

I call mine a treat (meal). It implies that what I'm doing isn't something that should happen everyday but it is something that I can incorporate into a balanced diet. I ought to enjoy the meal, but I don't want to say that I am necessarily being "bad" for deviating from my normal diet. Heck, most of the time those "treat meals" fit perfectly into my calorie goals.

MikeLeTwigg

I like feast. Not something you do too often. Does not imply guilt or reward.

LivingtheLeanDream

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

You eat, you log, you move on. Sometimes you eat more. It's that simple.

+1

GillianSmith2

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

You eat, you log, you move on. Sometimes you eat more. It's that simple.

this^^

kristen6350

A cheat meal means you are doing something wrong. Or naughty. Which I hate, because this whole losing weight thing isn't about punishment. So enjoy the foods you'd 'cheat' with in small quanities all the time.

Before I lost 50lbs my diet consisted of bagels, donuts, chicken nuggets, french fries and an amazing amount of potato chips. I still eat those things, just in my smaller quantities. Nothing SHOULD be off limits, you just have to learn that you can't eat a whole bag, unless that's all you want to eat today - and since I'm hungry every 2-3hrs NO MATTER WHAT I ate, the whole bag thin doesn't work for me.

JohnBarth

Splurge meal.

ndj1979

i call it eating….

dkingdom1

I call it a day where I just "happened to eat more than my calorie goal". It always happens to me and that's life. I try not to emotionally attach myself to these kind of ideas of cheat meals and treat meals and such.

pondee629

"But cheat? How am I "cheating"? I'm making a conscious decision to eat a little more 1 time and burning it off after. I'm not cheating anything. I'm living. So what's a better name for it? "

But if you are "burning it off after" you would be staying within your caloric limits (including exercise calories) and therefore not "cheating". This would be a meal.

I always considered a "cheat meal" be to one that took me over my calorie limit for the day. In that case, enjoy it, log it and move on. Such is life. I prefer to look at my daily weekly averages for a truer picture of my adherence to my limits. One day, one meal, really doesn't mess things up too badly. Even Thanksgiving week was under my weekly caloric limit. Not by much, but under ;-)

Cheat meal, Feast, Banquet, Over doing it for the fun of it, Moment of weakness, Splurge meal, treat (meal). Call it want you want. Don't call it anything at all. What's in a name, that by which we call a rose, by any other, would smell as sweet.

ChiliPepperLifter

Maintenance day!

ninerbuff

Personally, I just don't bother calling it anything.

For example tonight: I'm going to see STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS and at every movie I eat- 2 hot dogs, a nachos, a small bag of buttered popcorn, a Milk Duds and a diet Pepsi or Coke. About 1600 calories worth of food. Best choices? Nah, but it's part of my lifestyle when I go to the movies.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

jackidoll

your high calorie meal, when I know im going out for a big dinner i replace my breakfast and lunch with protein bars and drink lots of water so i can eat the big dinner and actually have enough calories

IAmTheGlue

JohnBarth wrote: »

Splurge meal.

^this.

It's a splurge. Much like buying yourself a little luxury you can afford. Nothing wrong with that, just fit it in your budget and move on.

ForeverSunshine09

Honestly, I never got why Ppl make such a big deal out of a word. I use cheat meal because it quickly describes to most Ppl what I mean. I don't restrict myself really from anything but, sometimes I want an entire box of butter pasta and no amount of moving things around is going to make it fit. I stopped letting words like that control my feelings. Call it cheat day, Maintenance day, refeed, treat, splurge, or the last supper for all I care. It is just words. If this a lifestyle change and not a diet this word is going to be the smallest of obstacles to overcome.

JustSomeEm

If you must call it something, why not an 'indulgent meal' or 'day of indulgence'? Or 'Super-mega-awesome-deliciousness'?

RiverMelSong

If I have to call it something, I say treat meal. I'm not cheating but I am treating myself.

Lounmoun

I don't call it anything. It isn't a treat or a cheat. I'm not being good or bad if I eat a certain number of calories or avoid certain foods. I haven't made some pledge in blood never to go over my calorie limit.
If I choose to go over my calorie goal for the day but I am still at or under my maintenance level of calories then I suppose I could call that day a maintenance day. If I go over one day but stay under my weekly calorie goal then that larger meal hasn't had an impact at all. If I have enough maintenance calorie days then obviously my weight loss will slow down or stop.

We could collectively call it a "stop being so dramatic and just log it and move on" meal.

ndj1979

ForeverSunshine09 wrote: »

Honestly, I never got why Ppl make such a big deal out of a word. I use cheat meal because it quickly describes to most Ppl what I mean. I don't restrict myself really from anything but, sometimes I want an entire box of butter pasta and no amount of moving things around is going to make it fit. I stopped letting words like that control my feelings. Call it cheat day, Maintenance day, refeed, treat, splurge, or the last supper for all I care. It is just words. If this a lifestyle change and not a diet this word is going to be the smallest of obstacles to overcome.

because food is neutral and is neither good, bad, cheating, angelic, etc, so it should not be assigned moral values.

sallygroundhog

Planned Caloric Surplus Meal

sallygroundhog

Surplus Calories Integrated Meal, or SCI-Meal. Emphasizes the science in new lifestyle.

Slashnl

percolater wrote: »

I would much rather read an interesting rant than a smug little statement that starts with a derisive "erm."

"Cheat meal," is a term long used in magazines and diet books to refer to a day planned to go off your diet and eat whatever looks good. I agree that it's not a good term.

A few alternative suggestions:

Free Day.
Feast Day. ( Particularly good for celebrations with religious roots like Easter, Passover, Christmas, etc.
Mental Health Day)
Date Night
Replacement Day. ( I believe, for some people, cravings are due to a deficient in the diet. They may crave cheese because they need calcium. Replacement days might actually be good for them.)

Agree! Love your name and avatar, too, by the way!

sinbadfxdl

Anything I want day!!!

cityruss

Nothing.

Nothing is needed.

It's just food. The nomecoleture of which has no bearing on its calorie and macronutrient content.