Obsessing over this week-end's cheat meals..
Replies
-
I wholeheartedly agree that 'planned cheat meals/days' are a setup for failure. I don't see the point of deliberately sabotaging myself. To me it's a question of purpose and mission.
This is not to say that I don't sometimes cheat, I just don't plan it. When something really good comes along, I can choose to eat or not eat, and adjust my day accordingly. I'm getting better and better at seeing what is truly a high quality cheat/treat, and what is just compulsive crap.
2 -
zazamania59 wrote: »courtneyfabulous wrote: »Ah I see.
Here's a tip that helps- try to just do 1 cheat day if you can, and on cheat days only eat up to your maintenance calories. That way you won't gain any weight, you just won't lose any that day. I do 1 maintenance/cheat day a week and I feel like it not only keeps me sane but also boosts my metabolism a bit.
Hmmm. I think your "strategy" is interesting and could we worth trying.
Do you manage to lose a decent amount of weight each week ?
Yeah I lose every week and the single eating at maintenance day doesn't seem to affect my overall loss. I do tend to plan a good intense workout for the day after though since I have extra the energy anyways and want to put those calories to good use.
I'm on kind of a slow weight loss rate though, intentionally- I'm not trying to lose the most weight I can as quickly as possible, I'm trying to lose slowly so I maximize fat loss and minimize muscle loss. I also come from a past of anorexia so if I do too deep a deficit I feel deprived and it reminds me of that restricting feeling. I lose an average of 3 pounds per month.
The "strategy" is actually based on something body builders and physique competitors do- I didn't just make it up. They call it "refeed days", it helps them stay in a caloric deficit longer when cutting (losing body fat to reveal their muscles) without damaging/slowing their metabolism as much as a constant caloric deficit would.
It's funny I looked to the weight loss community for tips on how to lose weight for a long time with little success- lost of conflicting information, "lose weight quick" stuff, crazy diets... it wasn't til I started lifting weights and started researching that and discovered the fitness community that I actually found weight loss techniques that really work! That's how I found myfitnesspal - they all use it to track their macros & calories.0 -
vikinglander wrote: »I wholeheartedly agree that 'planned cheat meals/days' are a setup for failure. I don't see the point of deliberately sabotaging myself. To me it's a question of purpose and mission.
This is not to say that I don't sometimes cheat, I just don't plan it. When something really good comes along, I can choose to eat or not eat, and adjust my day accordingly. I'm getting better and better at seeing what is truly a high quality cheat/treat, and what is just compulsive crap.
Couldn't agree more. Of course we cheat. Everyone cheats from time to time, I certainly do, we're only human, but I log it and go on. Cheating isn't the point, scheduling failure is the point, and you and I agree, giving ourselves 'cheat meals' or 'cheat days' is counter productive. If you're going to do that, they why not just drop your weekly weight loss goals lower and not have to do something that will leave you wondering why you're gaining weight and hungry all the time during the rest of the week.0 -
If I do a cheat day, what I do is instead of eating the MFP weight loss calorie goal, I give myself the benefit of being able to eat at Maintenance for the day. This gives me a little extra wiggle room to have a dessert/alcoholic beverage and not lose any progress.
1 -
You're 18. You were probably still under maintenance. No worries at all.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.8K Introduce Yourself
- 43.9K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 15 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions