Please stop calling it a "cheat meal!"

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  • WendyLeigh1119
    WendyLeigh1119 Posts: 495 Member
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    I can them "normal" days aka the weekend. As in people who eat normally don't count calories or macros and just exercise common sense and a little discipline in food and beverage choices.

    It doesn't mean I don't log food or eat crazy... it just means I'm going to eat more liberally and not worry about restricting myself. I'm drinking a rum smoothie (homemade) right now loaded with strawberry, mango, raspberries, and blackberries. I'm sure it's about half of my 1200 calories for today. But am I going to skip dinner and ice cream later? Of course not. I'll simply lose less this week and move on with my life if I don't make it up restricting/exercising during the week.
  • Muana1005
    Muana1005 Posts: 172 Member
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    If you've committed yourself to a diet plan in order to lose weight and you decide to throw it aside for one meal/one day/whatever, then you have cheated on the diet plan, it's really that simple.
    Call a spade a spade, why hide from what you're doing? Do you want someone to congratulate you for failing to stick to your resolve?
    Then next time you're about to cheat, ask yourself do you really want to stay fat?


    A lot of people get to the really high weights because they don't have much portion control. For them it's healthier to stick to a diet, have a day off, then get back straight on the horse. The mentality must be that one off day won't derail the end goal & no you won't stay fat if you start restricting again asap.
  • BigMamaLynsey
    BigMamaLynsey Posts: 390 Member
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    I just call it a treat day if I had one
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
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    If you've committed yourself to a diet plan in order to lose weight and you decide to throw it aside for one meal/one day/whatever, then you have cheated on the diet plan, it's really that simple.

    Who are you to decide the parameters of someone else's commitment? I decide what my rules are, and they don't preclude eating more for a particular meal or day or whatever. I don't call it cheating when I do it, because I don't have a rule against it.

    I haven't decided the parameters of anything - commitment is a word with a definition that you can look up if you're not sure of the meaning.
    I said "IF you've committed..."
    If you haven't committed to it, then you can't expect much.
    Do half a job, expect half a result.
    Suck it up or stay fat.

    Thanks, I met and surpassed my goal using my rules, not yours.

    You have decided that a commitment to a diet plan precludes eating more for a meal/day/whatever -- you have a preconception of what a diet plan must be, and you label anyone who doesn't adhere to your conception a cheater and someone who will "stay fat."
  • MontyMuttland
    MontyMuttland Posts: 68 Member
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    If you've committed yourself to a diet plan in order to lose weight and you decide to throw it aside for one meal/one day/whatever, then you have cheated on the diet plan, it's really that simple.

    Who are you to decide the parameters of someone else's commitment? I decide what my rules are, and they don't preclude eating more for a particular meal or day or whatever. I don't call it cheating when I do it, because I don't have a rule against it.

    I haven't decided the parameters of anything - commitment is a word with a definition that you can look up if you're not sure of the meaning.
    I said "IF you've committed..."
    If you haven't committed to it, then you can't expect much.
    Do half a job, expect half a result.
    Suck it up or stay fat.

    Thanks, I met and surpassed my goal using my rules, not yours.

    You have decided that a commitment to a diet plan precludes eating more for a meal/day/whatever -- you have a preconception of what a diet plan must be, and you label anyone who doesn't adhere to your conception a cheater and someone who will "stay fat."

    Yep, totally... I must have missed all those diets out there that include cheat meals/days/etc in them!
  • HealthyGoalie1
    HealthyGoalie1 Posts: 74 Member
    edited July 2017
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    It's not a diet, still eating whatever desired but being more mindful about portions, total calories,.. how it fits in macro's over time..

    Including foods which keep satisfied the most.

    77b04cfd6d7d42fb329a3c8a53a5eab1--marry-you-food-quotes.jpg

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,995 Member
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    If you've committed yourself to a diet plan in order to lose weight and you decide to throw it aside for one meal/one day/whatever, then you have cheated on the diet plan, it's really that simple.

    Who are you to decide the parameters of someone else's commitment? I decide what my rules are, and they don't preclude eating more for a particular meal or day or whatever. I don't call it cheating when I do it, because I don't have a rule against it.

    I haven't decided the parameters of anything - commitment is a word with a definition that you can look up if you're not sure of the meaning.
    I said "IF you've committed..."
    If you haven't committed to it, then you can't expect much.
    Do half a job, expect half a result.
    Suck it up or stay fat.

    Well, I lost weight to my goal nearly 4years ago and have kept it off since then.

    Happy to admit I did 'half a job' - I logged loosely and I had meals/ days, occasionally even weeks,when I did not log at all.

    So, if you use the terminology, you would say I had chest meals, days, weeks.

    But I did not stay fat or get half results - obviously because, averaged over time, I kept to my appropriate calorie amount.

    Point being: everyone who doesn't do it your way does not fail.



  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    I have pig out days, love them.
  • InkAndApples
    InkAndApples Posts: 201 Member
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    I don't call it a cheat meal because I don't think I have anything to cheat on. I'm not following a set of rules or a specific way of eating. I haven't made a promise to anyone. I'm just eating stuff, less than I was before. I eat different amounts every day and use a weekly calorie goal so I'm not even sure I could identify a "cheat" day - they all work out under the weekly goal in the end.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    kavahni wrote: »
    Can I get an amen?
    Food sustains us. Food delights us. Food bedevils us. But food is what powers our bodies. As humans, we are not meant to eat the same number of calories every single day of our lives. It's not normal, it is not natural. Allowing ourselves to eat the wonderful things that we love is not "Cheating." We are not bad.
    Just sayin'.

    "Cheat" in this sense is a metaphor. All metaphors break down at some point. I don't see a reason to get upset about the use of the word.
  • Jdismybug1
    Jdismybug1 Posts: 443 Member
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    I personally just have not ruled things out or call them cheat. It makes me feel like I'm too restricted.
    It didn't take me one day to put the weight on, doesn't take one day to take it off.
  • Rammer123
    Rammer123 Posts: 679 Member
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    I don't call it a cheat meal because I don't think I have anything to cheat on. I'm not following a set of rules or a specific way of eating. I haven't made a promise to anyone. I'm just eating stuff, less than I was before. I eat different amounts every day and use a weekly calorie goal so I'm not even sure I could identify a "cheat" day - they all work out under the weekly goal in the end.


    Your rule is to stay under your daily/weekly calories. What if it put you over, would it then be a cheat?
  • Wtn_Gurl
    Wtn_Gurl Posts: 396 Member
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    natashab61 wrote: »
    Call it what you want. Why is this an issue? Live and let live. You can't control others. :) cheat day or not it's just people trying to eat what is pleasurable. Let's stick to those positives :)

    "Cheat meal" or "cheat day" has a lot of mental implications and your attitude about food. some people feel like cheat meal means they will be able to survive a diet long term. to others, a cheat meal seems like a devil-inspired device to make one's diet collapse. it has emotional implications. To be avoided or looked forward to, depending on your definition and attitude of it.

  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
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    Wtn_Gurl wrote: »
    natashab61 wrote: »
    Call it what you want. Why is this an issue? Live and let live. You can't control others. :) cheat day or not it's just people trying to eat what is pleasurable. Let's stick to those positives :)

    "Cheat meal" or "cheat day" has a lot of mental implications and your attitude about food. some people feel like cheat meal means they will be able to survive a diet long term. to others, a cheat meal seems like a devil-inspired device to make one's diet collapse. it has emotional implications. To be avoided or looked forward to, depending on your definition and attitude of it.

    And as to the original quote, I feel like calling myself a "cheater" (or implying that) would detract from my enjoyment of the food. The word "cheat" is negative in its intent- something undesirable, regardless of how much people might enjoy it. I don't consider eating high-calorie or otherwise great-tasting food in the context of my overall plan a bad thing.

    But listen, it's not like I expect people to stop using the term. I know I just have to suffer through it. 99% of the time, I do so silently... sometimes I get to vent a little on a thread like this. ;)
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    I don't call it a cheat meal because I don't think I have anything to cheat on. I'm not following a set of rules or a specific way of eating. I haven't made a promise to anyone. I'm just eating stuff, less than I was before. I eat different amounts every day and use a weekly calorie goal so I'm not even sure I could identify a "cheat" day - they all work out under the weekly goal in the end.


    Your rule is to stay under your daily/weekly calories. What if it put you over, would it then be a cheat?

    Nope. It would be a choice.

    I went to Montreal for two weeks, immediately before and during Passover. The dietary restrictions wreak havoc with my satiety levels. I adopted a 'do my best but be realistic' attitude and chose to take a maintenance break. In other words, I made a deliberate decision to raise my daily/weekly calories so that I wouldn't be stressing and feeling guilty every time I found myself dealing with hunger. One of the smartest moves I ever made. Do I consider it cheating? I mean, it is kind of like shooting an arrow first and painting the bullseye around it afterwards, no? I did move the goal-posts, after all. And in the past, doing so would have felt like cheating in my mind. But this time it meant that I wasn't stressing and obsessing about what I was eating or feeling guilty about eating more. I felt like I was doing what I had to in order to stay on-track, I was just taking some sharp winding curves a little bit slower.

    ...I didn't derail.
  • tomorrowistoday0000
    tomorrowistoday0000 Posts: 125 Member
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    I call it a cheat meal and my relationship with food is fine, and i have made progress with my weight that im proud of.

    I agree. We all have different labels of what constitute "cheating" but at the end of the day, if this word is derailing your progress or lifestyle, you probably have deeper issue that can't be resolved by merely changing the word. To me, cheating is eating "excessively" out of my target and this may be calories or macros but it does not and has not derail my progress. Sometime they may be planned and at other times, not but no big deal, I carry on with my routine the next day. Also, if you don't have a goal (because you simply don't care about your health, reached maintenance, or etc.), then cheating or it's alternative form doesn't exist in your world. Please keep in my mind though that some of us are still working hard towards a particular goal that may require certain restrictions so you cannot project this eating without being mindful is the best way to go for all.
  • MomReborn
    MomReborn Posts: 145 Member
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    According to my diary, it's called "Night Shift Break" :D
  • InkAndApples
    InkAndApples Posts: 201 Member
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    I don't call it a cheat meal because I don't think I have anything to cheat on. I'm not following a set of rules or a specific way of eating. I haven't made a promise to anyone. I'm just eating stuff, less than I was before. I eat different amounts every day and use a weekly calorie goal so I'm not even sure I could identify a "cheat" day - they all work out under the weekly goal in the end.


    Your rule is to stay under your daily/weekly calories. What if it put you over, would it then be a cheat?

    Not really. I'm choosing not to go over my calorie target, that's a neutral decision. If I choose to go over that's a neutral decision. Cheating to means getting something you don't deserve or winning by sort of sneaky means. I'm not cheating, the definition doesn't fit for me.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    edited July 2017
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    I don't call it a cheat meal because I don't think I have anything to cheat on. I'm not following a set of rules or a specific way of eating. I haven't made a promise to anyone. I'm just eating stuff, less than I was before. I eat different amounts every day and use a weekly calorie goal so I'm not even sure I could identify a "cheat" day - they all work out under the weekly goal in the end.


    Your rule is to stay under your daily/weekly calories. What if it put you over, would it then be a cheat?

    Not really. I'm choosing not to go over my calorie target, that's a neutral decision. If I choose to go over that's a neutral decision. Cheating to means getting something you don't deserve or winning by sort of sneaky means. I'm not cheating, the definition doesn't fit for me.

    What I'm seeing is a language barrier... some of us want to use the given meaning of a word, and some want to attach their own meaning to it. ;)