Cheat Meal....yay or nay?

lulalacroix

I don't love the cheat word. But if someone wants to have a higher calorie meal, I say go for it.

Personally I eat what I want every day. So I don't have to "cheat " to eat what I want. I also generally plan ahead of time for a larger meal, for example Valentine's and Super Bowl. So I bank calories or exercise a bit more to make an allowance for more calories.

Tacklewasher

Decided we were all eating too healthy at work and needed a pizza day. So I bought 3 for lunch today and ate 1/2 of one of them. Not a major chain so I had to log as best I could and just had some veggies for dinner.

Had one person ask if I could eat it and my answer was *kitten* yes.

Guess what. It wasn't a cheat meal. It was pizza for lunch.

WickAndArtoo

Tacklewasher wrote: »

Decided we were all eating too healthy at work and needed a pizza day. So I bought 3 for lunch today and ate 1/2 of one of them. Not a major chain so I had to log as best I could and just had some veggies for dinner.

Had one person ask if I could eat it and my answer was *kitten* yes.

Guess what. It wasn't a cheat meal. It was pizza for lunch.

I agree with the way you look at it Also I agree with how you eat pizza!

Macy9336

While I agree the whole cheat meal concept is unhealthy because it links emotions to food, I completely disagree that labelling foods as good or bad means you have an unhealthy relationship with food. For example, salt preserved meats cause cancer. So to me, I will label it bad and cut it out of my life period. There is no "cheating" because to my mind I literally start thinking of this "bad" food as a "foodlike substance" or "non food". I literally have no cravings, zero emotions for any "bad foods" nor do I care if I am at a social function and avoid said food... I view food in a very Vulcan fashion. Too, things like pizza are not unhealthy..if you make it from scratch at home. It's only "bad" when bought from a fast food place because they do things like douse them in cheap cooking oil to make them cook faster and add sugar to the sauce to make it taste sweeter. To say that there is no such thing as "bad foods" is actually unhealthy to my mind because it encourages emotional eating. The whole "eat what you want" and "comfort foods" idea is mysterious to me...does not compute.

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Macy9336

Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »

Macy9336 wrote: »

While I agree the whole cheat meal concept is unhealthy because it links emotions to food, I completely disagree that labelling foods as good or bad means you have an unhealthy relationship with food. For example, salt preserved meats cause cancer. So to me, I will label it bad and cut it out of my life period. There is no "cheating" because to my mind I literally start thinking of this "bad" food as a "foodlike substance" or "non food". I literally have no cravings, zero emotions for any "bad foods" nor do I care if I am at a social function and avoid said food... I view food in a very Vulcan fashion. Too, things like pizza are not unhealthy..if you make it from scratch at home. It's only "bad" when bought from a fast food place because they do things like douse them in cheap cooking oil to make them cook faster and add sugar to the sauce to make it taste sweeter. To say that there is no such thing as "bad foods" is actually unhealthy to my mind because it encourages emotional eating. The whole "eat what you want" and "comfort foods" idea is mysterious to me...does not compute.

You have kind of gone out of context with it here.
People placing labels on foods as good or bad are not doing so because they think said foods are going to give them a disease. They labeled them simply to label them because they think those specific foods are the reason they are fat and nothing more. These people DO crave those foods and DO have emotions towards them, they do find it hard to avoid them at social functions..

This is an entirely different mind set for an entirely different thing.
I don't like liver and i have no problems avoiding it but its not a "bad food".. Its just something i dislike for whatever reason. That would usually remove any stress from avoiding to eating it. No different then people not liking veggies or fruit.

You can demonize a food all you want to for its oils or sugars.. but unless everyone labeling these foods thinks the same way you do and they don't because otherwise they wouldn't be putting them on the list of cheat meals in the first place and going out and eating it.. it isn't going to change the fact that for most people labeling pizza from a take out establishment as bad is going to go hand in hand with shame, guilt and self hate later on once they ate this cheat meal and totaled the calories they consumed.

People have their own personal health goals and reasons for them, but regardless, the average dieter jumps into a diet with a list and plan that is usually unsustainable because its based on banned foods and too many rules and as someone who was 300 pounds highest weight and never skinny and an insulin dependent diabetic for over 15 years and i am now 135 pounds and diabetes free and i achieved that despite oils, added sugars, carbs, fats, Etc and am very healthy i think the best way to succeed is to eat to a calorie goal first.. get that routine, learn about foods, weigh things, eat proper portions and when you are comfortable in your routine if there is something you wanna cut out of your life for your own personal goals then go for it, but don't jump into the pool with a rock around your ankle and expect to float.

I don't think I went out of context at all. You're saying "most people" and the "average dieter" are of the bad food/guilt trigger mindset that you've described. You're saying people only label food as bad for one reason and one reason only..because they think it will make them fat. How do you know most people are that way? You are just generalising. I just posted and said "to me" and "I"...to explain that I am not that way. To me a bad food does not cause a cycle of cheating and guilt and self hate. To me. You've extrapolated your personal experience to say that "most people" have the same mindset and relationship with food that you did and therefore what worked for you is "the best way to succeed." There is no one best way to succeed at being a healthy weight. Different strokes for different folks and all that. Yet you for some reason have decided that because I am different, my experience is somehow not applicable? It's almost as if you are arguing that there could never be a subset of the population where the bad food/good food labelling could possibly assist a person in their approach to maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle. Well the good food/bad food labelling works for me...and yes I do label ALL fast food as bad food because it will make me fat and no, I have no cravings, no cheating and no guilt like you describe. I have a whole list of "banned foods" in my mind and they are there for all kinds of reasons....(unhealthy, carcinogenic, unethical, etc).

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JustAnotherGirlSuzanne

I don't have cheat days. I have maintenance days. I'm currently at a daily 500 calorie deficit. So if I "cheat" I only add on an extra 500 calories to my meal. It's quite generous and doesn't mess up with all my hard work.

deannalfisher

found this article (written by one of the guys I am working with for my training nutrition)

https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/how-to-incorporate-cheat-meals-into-diet

Nikion901

Nay ... NAY ... Nay for cheat meals. They don't work for me. I'd rather honestly eat at maintenance or even a up to 100 calories over than have a cheat meal or day. I plan my calories as a week's total and know what the daily intake should be to get there.

PS ... I like the aricle posted above ... that's the way I like it.

trigden1991

Nikion901 wrote: »

I'd rather honestly eat at maintenance or even a up to 100 calories over than have a cheat meal or day.

This where the issue lies. What you have outlined is a "cheat" day in some peoples eyes.

It all comes down to definition of what cheating is.

Macy9336

trigden1991 wrote: »

Nikion901 wrote: »

I'd rather honestly eat at maintenance or even a up to 100 calories over than have a cheat meal or day.

This where the issue lies. What you have outlined is a "cheat" day in some peoples eyes.

It all comes down to definition of what cheating is.

Agree. I think IF non fast days could be viewed as built in cheating by some.... the word "cheat" has so many meanings.

credle071207

My cardiologist told me that I had to find a way to eat and exercise that I could sustain for the rest of my life and that is what I did. I am pretty much in maintenance mode now. I personally don't like the concept of a regular cheat day. When I hit my goal weight, I tried not logging for Month. I picked up 2 or 3 lbs. I started logging again. I may occasionally go over my calories, but there are still certain foods that I will not eat. To me, eating healthier has become a full time, life long commitment. I will never have a cheeseburger fries and a milkshake again and I don't miss it. When you are 55 years old and your doctor tells you that if you don't find a new way of living and lose weight, you may not see 60, it forced me to make a permanent change to how I think about food and exercise. I have lost 142 lbs and am running my first half marathon in April. I can never go back to where I was. This is why cheat days won't exist for me. Of course this is what I have had to do for me and am in no way saying that to be successful that you have to do it like me. I was addicted to food. Drinking a milk shake once a week would be like an alcoholic having one drink a week for me. But this is my personal journey and not everybody has to look at it as extremely as I do.

laceyslabaugh

I don't consider it cheating - but I do log everything that touches my mouth. If I have an under day, over day or a waayyy over day ... it is what it is. I don't feel guilty and just jump back on the ship the next day!

joemac1988

cbl40 wrote: »

Hey there! What are your thoughts on one meal a week where you don't log and eat whatever you want? I don't have much, if any, weight to lose, trying to get leaner and stronger, hence eating to meet macros. However, I didn't follow that night of Super Bowl and ate crap (not a ton of it, but enough) and the scale went up 4 pounds. I know it wasn't smart to weigh myself a day or so after bad eating but is that normal? I'm thinking it's not worth to mess up your hard work with one night of bad eating. What are your thoughts on cheats?

Don't do a "cheat meal", have a "refeed day". Track it but have higher carbs and fat.

KiaraShay

I personally had to come to a realization for myself food is food. I refuse to call it cheating personally, I tell myself this food at this time simply doesn't alighn with my goals or it's does. I struggled with binge eating for so long, I would lose my mind because a cheat meal had such a negative connotation since I deemed those foods a no-go, so when I did, all hell would break loose. I had to stop myself and take a new approach to food and realize I can have these foods any time I want in moderation, so no need for a cheat meal, because to me NO food is off limits, it keeps me sane, and has helped immensely. If this is life long and sustainable, a girl can't live without chocolate. Also some people think dairy is bad, or chocolate, or bread, or peanut butter, people view "cheat" foods so differently. It's so stupid to me, to label effing food bad or good lol some have better nutrients and such but food is food to me. I feel like labeling food gives it too much power. Just my thoughts!

devrinator

I wouldn't call it allowing a cheat day, but allow yourself a set number of meals or days where it's okay if food out of the routine comes your way so you stay balanced. That way if Mom or Mother-in-Law insists you try her fried eggplant or homemade mac and cheese, you can indulge (be polite) and go about your week. In other words, don't intentionally cheat, but allow for one or two days a week where you CAN digress without guilt if the opportunity is difficult to avoid.