"Craving" a cheat day.
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I fit my cravings in every week. I love using the nutrition tab in the app to see how my weekly deficit is doing. I pre log what I plan to eat each day and make sure I meet my weekly goal. Like others have said, if you eat less on other days you can always eat at TDEE one or two days a week and still lose weight.0
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iamagodess998 wrote: »I've been doing so well for the past month. I haven't started working out - yet - but I'm down 8 lbs by watching the calories.
I've been really craving a cheat day, though. Some pizza, maybe some Pepsi, some chocolate cake. Yep. Definitely want that. So, in your experience is it better to give in this time and then get back on track or push through?
Where are you in your menstrual cycle? You sound like you have either been undereating or are premenstrual. When my appetite goes up premenstrually, I eat at maintenance for a few days, which makes foods like pizza easier to fit in.0 -
You can also make low calorie pizzas with a tortilla, and the oven set on broil. Here's my favorite method of making them. A whole mini pizza under 200 calories!
I don't eat dairy anymore due to an allergy, so I substitute with using less "cheese" (Daiya) - and mine are around 150 calories.
I try to figure out how to make my favorite things with healthy food. These flourless black bean brownies are to die for. Low fat, gluten free, and dairy free. I take them everywhere, and people can't believe they're made with a black bean base. (I swear, you can't taste anything but chocolate!)0 -
ClosetBayesian wrote: »Pizza is the main thing I crave too, sad that it's one of the highest calorie items you can get!
At a 2lbs loss per week I guess you've got quite a low allowance so it could be tricky to fit pizza PLUS chocolate cake into one day (even with exercise). So you might want to look at your week as a whole and be a bit lower on other days so you can fit it into the week's calories.
I'm not sure where you're coming from with that claim about pizza being one of the highest calorie items you can get; 1 slice (1/8) of a large cheese pizza at Domino's is 290 calories; one Lender's brand bagel, by comparison, is 230 calories. The pizza is probably more satisfying, thanks to the protein and fat (35g carbs, 12g protein, 11g fat, as compared to 48g carbs, 8g protein, 1g fat). 4oz of ground beef (1/4lb hamburger) is 287 calories by itself; eat that as a lettuce wrap, and you have more calories than that slice of pizza. I can make a salad with more calories than that slice of pizza.
/Mind boggles at the thought of stopping at just one slice of pizza./
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You can also make low calorie pizzas with a tortilla, and the oven set on broil. Here's my favorite method of making them. A whole mini pizza under 200 calories!
I don't eat dairy anymore due to an allergy, so I substitute with using less "cheese" (Daiya) - and mine are around 150 calories.
I try to figure out how to make my favorite things with healthy food. These flourless black bean brownies are to die for. Low fat, gluten free, and dairy free. I take them everywhere, and people can't believe they're made with a black bean base. (I swear, you can't taste anything but chocolate!)
I too make lower calorie versions of high calorie foods I like such as pizza, nachos, lasagna, etc. But that doesn't stop me from wanting and indulging in the higher calorie versions now and then.0 -
A little different view, possibly dangerous (plus it's long, and has math in it!):
I think of the weight loss process as, in part, a time to learn how to eat healthily for the rest of my life. I don't plan to give up pizza for the rest of my life, so I need to figure out how it fits in.
I never have had a cheat day - the concept doesn't even make sense to me! Cheat who? How?
But I do eat over my weight-loss calorie goal sometimes . . . occasionally substantially over. And I log every bit of it as accurately as possible (even if estimating is required), so I know the impact. Sometimes, I do extra workouts, or - if it's a predictable special occasion - eat slightly lighter for a few days in advance to make some calorie room, and eat lightly at other meals that day.
But mainly, I just do the arithmetic to see the impact, and learn from it. What if I eat (making up a realistic example) 1000 calories worth of pizza, and 500 calories of craft beer, and I've already eaten normal breakfast & lunch?
When my daily goal was 1400, at around a 0.5lb/week loss rate, I probably would've eaten around 900 calories before dinnertime even arrived. So, the day's total eating would be 900 already eaten + 1000 pizza + 500 beer, or 2400 calories.
My maintenance calories (neither gain nor lose) at that point would've been around 1900 a day (1400 calories I was eating + 500 daily calories of weight lost ( because (roughly 3500 calories in a pound / 2 because I'm losing only half a pound a week) / 7 days in a week) = 500 calories loss a day).
Therefore, I've not lost any weight on pizza day (because I ate at least at maintenance) and I've even gained a bit (I ate over maintenance).
What's the impact? You can look at that in terms of gain, or delay in achieving your ultimate goal.
Gain: Because maintenance calories per day are 1900, I've gained about (2400 eaten - 1900 maintenance) of fat, or 500 calories worth. That's 1/7 of a pound.
Delay: Clearly, I don't lose any weight on pizza day. I have that 500 extra to lose. How long will that take? At my 0.5/week loss rate, my daily deficit is 500 calories, so I don't lose anything the day after pizza day, either (except the excess pizza/beer weight). So I've delayed reaching my ultimate goal by two days.
Is 1/7 pound of gain, or 2 days delay, a problem? That's an individual choice. Clearly, I can't do it often, or I'll never get to goal. Can I do it once a month, especially if it's a special occasion like my birthday or when out-of-town friends visit? Maybe so. The point is that I can evaluate the choice rationally.
The big risk here is the most of us want to be "nice" to our current self more than we want help our future self be healthy, so it's easy to trade off a long-term goal for short-term pleasure. But if you can deal with that rationally, this is one approach for weighing (pun intended) the impact of over-goal days.
P.S. I'm at goal weight, 5'5", weight in low 120s, having lost 1/3 of my bodyweight since April 2015. I've had at least a dozen or more substantially-over goal days along the way. This approach can work.
E.T.A.: I will always see a water weight gain from an over day, potentially 2-5 pounds on the scale, but I've found that that disappears within a couple of days, for me. My mental math as per above has always tracked very well with my actual scale results, after the water weight is out of the picture.
tl;dr: Learn how to do weight-management arithmetic in your head. It's easy, supports rational rather than emotional decision-making, and is a powerful approach that can work forever.
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Work them into your plan without it being "cheating."0
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Words have power. Instead of having a cheat day, have a treat day. Negative connotation... gone.
Second, cravings is your body asking for something but it might not be a good thing. When cut I wheat and processed foods from my diet, I was craving baked goods. Mad, crazy for baked goods. Then I got paleo flu. Then I got over it. Not to say the soda machine in the office has stopped calling my name (in that small, quiet voice that sounds like redrum) or the ice cream shop has some sort of magnetic pull on my soul. I don't feed those temptations and their pull has diminished but they are not gone.
I work in a treat meal once a week, but I don't fall off the wagon when I do it. I stay true to the principles of my diet and carry on. For instance, I will go out to the steak house and kill a prime cut of meat, a large salad with a sensible dressing and a sweet potato (no butter, no sugar). Probably a 1,000 clean calories. We go to italian restaurant, I stay away from the pasta and get something else done right. Mexican, get fajitas just stay away from the tortillas and those tasty chips.
It can be done. You just have to look at it a bit different.0 -
I get the Dr. Oetker thin crust pizza's. You can have half the pizza for between 380-440 depending on the kind. Then we have a nice big side salad to go along with it. So satisfying and easily fits into our daily calorie goals! Its usually our friday or saturday night meal as it really feels like a treat after having a good week!
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I'm having cravings too. I'm trying to ignore them. I'll try to snack on fruit or something not heavily loaded with calories like pizza. It's tough. I fight against 'cheat days' as they really slow down my weight loss.
Also, like the previous poster, Dr. Oetker thin crust pizza is a great alternative. I have eaten the whole pizza for myself and been within my calorie goal for the day.0 -
It's a cheat meal. Not cheat day0
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kshama2001 wrote: »ClosetBayesian wrote: »Pizza is the main thing I crave too, sad that it's one of the highest calorie items you can get!
At a 2lbs loss per week I guess you've got quite a low allowance so it could be tricky to fit pizza PLUS chocolate cake into one day (even with exercise). So you might want to look at your week as a whole and be a bit lower on other days so you can fit it into the week's calories.
I'm not sure where you're coming from with that claim about pizza being one of the highest calorie items you can get; 1 slice (1/8) of a large cheese pizza at Domino's is 290 calories; one Lender's brand bagel, by comparison, is 230 calories. The pizza is probably more satisfying, thanks to the protein and fat (35g carbs, 12g protein, 11g fat, as compared to 48g carbs, 8g protein, 1g fat). 4oz of ground beef (1/4lb hamburger) is 287 calories by itself; eat that as a lettuce wrap, and you have more calories than that slice of pizza. I can make a salad with more calories than that slice of pizza.
/Mind boggles at the thought of stopping at just one slice of pizza./
I know right! It's up there with 1/2 a cup of icecream :noway:
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I do allow myself a cheat day here and there. It gives me something to look forward to. One thing I've noticed is I don't go as crazy as I used to; I hate how gross it feels to be too full now.0
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I cheat every weekend with treats and booze, I just work harder during the week, works for me.0
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Congrats on the weight loss!
For the long haul, having planned controlled portions of almost any food you enjoy on occasion should be OK.
For me, with pizza I would go to my favorite place that sells by the slice and get ONE slice of cheese pizza (because they make amazing pizza). Do I like pizzas loaded w/ 10 ingredients? Yes, but if my craving is for pizza, I am going to go for the full effect of the best piece i can get, and don't want any other ingredient interfering w/ the "pizza-ness" of it- and i'm going to eat it slowly, savoring it.
If you must have real soda with the pizza, I'd limit it to set number of ounces, say 8oz, and add plenty of ice, and sip slowly.
I would probably do the cake another day, and personally would go to a great bakery and pick up a cupcake and share it with someone. That way i could enjoy the full decadence & portion control, but not have leftovers haunting me.0 -
Also if we're talking about pizza... My favorite kind of take away pizza to get is one with veggies (I suppose you could do with any toppings, if you know a bit about the calories in them) and no cheese. That way I can eat the whole pizza and I'm usually somewhere way under 700 calories for the whole thing. I would definitely recommend this for really bad cravings!0
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endlessfall16 wrote: »I used to like bacon but it grosses me out now.
i will never give up my bacon . NEVER !!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!
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Dr Oetker thin crust pizza all the way. The toppings are tasty and I prefer thin crust pizza anyway now after living in the south of France where thin crust is the standard way to have pizza.0
In only this realm, can arithmetic give me the warm fuzzies, lol 
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