Do you have cheat meals/weeks?

Options
jbean1990
jbean1990 Posts: 69 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've religiously stuck to 1660 calories for months now, exercise every day and lost a considerable amount of weight. Me and my partner have had no cheat meals/days at all and we're both starting to crave now! Does it have a huge negative effect having a 'bad' day? Or bad meal? Or is it s good idea to have one, get a fox and then go a while again without? I think I'll feel bad for eating out and going over!
«1

Replies

  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
    Options
    sure, all the time! just work it off/
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited June 2017
    Options
    I stick to 1550-1650 daily but some days on the weekends I'll go up to 2500 if I want to have a nice dinner out, a nice pizza in, or an event etc. My TDEE is 2300 so my deficit is pretty aggressive. Aggressive enough that if I do have a 2500 calorie Saturday, mathematically, I will have lost 1lb of fat that week anyway. On even more rare an occasion, like upcoming Ribfest where I plan to smash 5K, the numbers mean I will set myself back 1 week of not losing weight because that day will wipe out my weekly deficit. It's a math formula, you decide how much it sets you back or doesn't

    That all being said, macros swinging in such a way will make your glycogen and water go crazy so trust the numbers; you've been at this long enough that you know them. It may look like you set yourself back 7lb after a Ribfest but you actually broke even, or gained very little actual fat.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Options
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    No. I fit what I want into my day/week.

    You can't cheat on food... it's just food.

    This
  • cgrout78
    cgrout78 Posts: 1,679 Member
    Options
    If I really have a craving for something I have some of it. For me usually a few bites of something is enough for me to be fulfilled that I don't need to go overboard. I'll steal a couple of my kids' french fries or have a couple bites of my husbands pizza and I'm satisfied. However, only you know what works best for you. I know that i'm ok with a few bites of something. For some people it might trigger a week long binge. It's really a matter of you knowing you and what you can handle and what works best with your lifestyle.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
    Options
    jbean1990 wrote: »
    I've religiously stuck to 1660 calories for months now, exercise every day and lost a considerable amount of weight. Me and my partner have had no cheat meals/days at all and we're both starting to crave now!

    Does it have a huge negative effect having a 'bad' day? NO
    Or bad meal? NO
    Or is it s good idea to have one, get a fox and then go a while again without? YES, if that will help keep you on track for the long term.

    I think I'll feel bad for eating out and going over!

    I fit the food I love into my current calorie allowance. I may eat at maintenance one day to fit in a cheeseburger, or save up calories through the week to afford it on the weekend.

    I would freak out, binge, and give up forever if I couldn't ever have chocolate, ice cream or cheeseburgers ever again.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    Options
    I don't call it cheating. Sometimes I fall off the program and eat too much. When that happens I get back on the program the next day. I suspect that it keeps my NEAT from exhibiting adaptive thermogenesis. This weekend I'm having an annual picnic event with extended family and it won't be an accident.
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Options
    Since weight loss isn't linear and your body doesn't reset at midnight, perhaps take a longer look at your intake. Perhaps if instead of 1660 per day you looked at it as 11620 per week, that may help. That is kinda what I do. I log my food but I don't agonize over every calorie every day. I look at it every few days and if I am trending high I will dial it back for a few days. Conversely, if I know I have a function/gathering/meal coming up I will trim a little ahead of, and after to make it up. Like all things, balance is the key word. Balance life, health. diet, exercise etc. Good luck to you!
  • shelbykerin
    shelbykerin Posts: 1 Member
    Options
    You should be able to have a "cheat meal" once a week! or if youre on vacation - treat yourself! 1 meal or even 1 day will not ruin your progress! depriving yourself is a recipe for disaster and binging. Just know that the next meal or next day is a brand new start!
  • Penthesilea514
    Penthesilea514 Posts: 1,189 Member
    Options
    Nope, I just log it and work my day/week around it. And if it is off the deep end calorically, I log it and get back to my normal eating the next day. That stuff just happens from time to time.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    Options
    Nooooope. I work it into my day. I may have a very special occasion and for those I just try to cap myself at maintenance.
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    Options
    I dont blow the whole week's deficit, but I will eat at maintenance or a little above one day for an event or just because I can.
    But then I make sure the next day(s) I work a little harder and smarter.
    The daily 12am-12pm is great... but I also look at my intake/output for the week or at the least over several days.
  • cgrout78
    cgrout78 Posts: 1,679 Member
    Options
    prattiger65 wrote: »
    Since weight loss isn't linear and your body doesn't reset at midnight, perhaps take a longer look at your intake. Perhaps if instead of 1660 per day you looked at it as 11620 per week, that may help. That is kinda what I do. I log my food but I don't agonize over every calorie every day. I look at it every few days and if I am trending high I will dial it back for a few days. Conversely, if I know I have a function/gathering/meal coming up I will trim a little ahead of, and after to make it up. Like all things, balance is the key word. Balance life, health. diet, exercise etc. Good luck to you!

    I like that idea, I have some days where I'm a couple hundred higher, but if over the week i'm under a couple days I figure it all evens out in the end. Life's too short for me to overly stress.
  • ManBehindTheMask
    ManBehindTheMask Posts: 615 Member
    Options
    I had a cheat 30 years
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    Options
    ManBehindTheMask wrote: »
    I had a cheat 30 years

    I cheated 54.
  • Bry_Fitness70
    Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
    Options
    I'm in maintenance and I'm only trying to eat in a disciplined manner 70-80% of the time. That allows for several "cheat" meals per week.
  • haroldrios1692
    haroldrios1692 Posts: 90 Member
    Options
    When you start properly following a meal plan especially on a cut or fat loss program...yes a cheat meal (only one) is nice not because you need it but because mentally it gives you a break from being strict. When I had my cheat meals it was on Saturdays after I did my weigh-in. It consisted of a four hour window I could eat as much as I wanted of anything..pizza, wings, Chinese food you name it I ate it...lol It worked for me as my body fat kept dropping week after week. Hope this helps..
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    Options
    I've had a maintenance break, but still tracking food and hitting a calorie target, just a larger target. (I went back to my parents for Passover. Passover means no grains except quinoa and no legumes. I'm a vegetarian. My protein sources were down to eggs, dairy, and quinoa; my starches were potatoes and matzo. I knew satiety was going to be a problem, and I'm a stress eater, so I figured that giving myself more calories would alleviate some of the stress of sticking to a plan when there were going to be large holiday meals. It worked!)
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
    Options
    never

Categories