Cheat Meal
Trex5009
Posts: 171 Member
When was your last cheat meal ? What was it ? I just had a cheat meal for lunch at Texas Roadhouse. Had a 12 oz. steak and a salad
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Replies
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Cheating myself is not part of my plan!11
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I follow IIFYM, I don't cheat.6
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Steak and salad is something you could easily eat everyday. How is that cheating? What are you cheating on?
I don't cheat either. Even if I don't log something (special occasion, fancy restaurant meals) it's not cheating.12 -
Treats are great I make them fit my calories and goals.
Cheating nope I am not cheating5 -
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The word 'cheat' is negative and negativity gets you nowhere! Change the word to 'treat'.
3.5 years ago I did a 360 on my eating habits and how I think about food.
I incorporate a 'treat' each week - something I really enjoy. Sometimes it's food, sometimes it's clothes, the movies, an extra glass of wine. I know I've worked my *kitten* off for it so why not?
I've gone from 217lbs (at my heaviest) to 112lbs and will never look back.
Like a few have commented... steak and salad is healthy. But that can, of course, depend on what the salad has in it!10 -
Sounds like a treat not a cheat?
Personally I wouldn't use the word cheat when I was dieting and when maintaining it sends out all kinds of wrong messages.
If you do nothing else at least change the language you use to describe your relationship with food.
If people can't eat enjoyably and without guilt at goal weight then I'm pessimistic for their long term success.
My last treat meal was last night, went out with my wife and daughter, had a delicious meal including calamari and pizza then went on to a wine tasting. A lovely evening with the two ladies in my life where good food and drink was a big part of having an enjoyable time.
Next treat is this evening when I'm cooking a steak meal for my daughter when she comes home from work, more of a treat for her than me as she cooks at work.
Will I go over my calories this weekend? Probably. (I don't log food anymore.)
Will I gain weight (fat) this week or month? No.9 -
First what's IIFYM ? As to cheating, I follow a 1200 cal' diet, some most evenings I am a little under my 1200 cal's, other evenings I'm a little over. Plus there's the odd time when I'm a lot over, When that happen's I forgive myself and get on with my diet and my day.0
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I don't do cheat meals. If I eat more than normal at one meal then I make up for it later, though not necessarily during the same day.0
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I don't cheat, but sometimes I treat myself to meals which are higher calorie and less nutritious - trickier to fit into my calories and carb allotment (I'm a diabetic so I have to count carbs.) The most recent one was pulled pork BBQ, baked beans, cole slaw, and battered sweet potato fries. I ordered it with no bun, scraped off most of the sauce, ate half, put back half for later, and had just one (giant sized) fry from my husband's plate. I guessed the amount of carbs I could manage just perfectly - I don't like my blood glucose to go above 140 and this meal took me to 139. It was on a day when I did a huge amount of exercise so the calorie part worked out fine too. Having a blood glucose meter keeps me from cheating since even if I can justify it to myself somehow, the meter tells the true story.2
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When was your last cheat meal ? What was it ? I just had a cheat meal for lunch at Texas Roadhouse. Had a 12 oz. steak and a salad
Looks like you aren't getting the type of answers you were expecting here. Personally, I don't like the concept of cheating, neither in food, nor any aspect of life.
Regarding your situation, what is your MFP recommended daily calorie level? How many calories did you log for that meal? What were your total calories on that day?1 -
Reward day for me today
Mine is French fries...I crave them all week. Sundays, I get my fries and I do go a bit over my limit, but I am a very low calorie count through the week.1 -
ACanadian22 wrote: »Reward day for me today
Mine is French fries...I crave them all week. Sundays, I get my fries and I do go a bit over my limit, but I am a very low calorie count through the week.
In your case you could look at your total weekly calories instead of daily, and you'll probably find it's okay to include that.1 -
Like most of the others I don't cheat. I do however eat what I want in amounts that fit my calorie goal. Occasionally I eat over my calories, but that almost always balances out with the days that I eat a little under my goal. Are you in maintenance? I can't imagine anyone having a 1200 calorie maintenance goal. I had sushi Thursday, but did not go over my goal. I also had pizza and McDonald's on Friday and Schlotzky's and pasta yesterday. I stayed at goal all of those days. It was easier for me because I am not eating at a deficit. But if I had been I could have had all that stuff I would just have had less of it.1
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ACanadian22 wrote: »Reward day for me today
Mine is French fries...I crave them all week. Sundays, I get my fries and I do go a bit over my limit, but I am a very low calorie count through the week.
This is a bad strategy. Rewarding oneself with food (particularly 'naughty' foods) perpetuates a cycle where one places excess value (and, often, moral judgements) on specific foods. If you want to have a treat, have it. If you've got room in your calorie 'budget' for the French Fries, by all means. But as a reward for good behavior? Not a good plan.
As for the cheating:
When I was a kid and put on diets by my parents, I would often cheat. Because a set of eating rules was being imposed on me by an outside force over which I had no control. So the only way to get in foods I wanted that weren't within the rules was to violate the rules. It was only when I decided that managing [and losing] the weight was important to me, that I took ownership of the decision making. Including figuring out when to splurge (or treat myself) and how to incorporate those decisions into a successful plan was part of the deal.
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It's food. It's not a relationship.
And... this is my lifestyle. I don't/can't cheat on a lifestyle.
I indulge from time to time. That's part of life!
A 12oz steak may be a bit larger than the steak you normally eat. I'd call that an indulgence, or a treat. Enjoy it!7 -
When was your last cheat meal ? What was it ? I just had a cheat meal for lunch at Texas Roadhouse. Had a 12 oz. steak and a salad
Looks like you aren't getting the type of answers you were expecting here. Personally, I don't like the concept of cheating, neither in food, nor any aspect of life.
Regarding your situation, what is your MFP recommended daily calorie level? How many calories did you log for that meal? What were your total calories on that day?
My recommended daily calorie level is 2460. I logged 860 calories for that meal. In addition to my other meals I had 740 remaining for the day. I considered it a cheat because the steak seemed to have a lot of fat in which I don't have. And the salad had a lot of ranch in which I don't have either.
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Oh my God, if you don't cheat good for you but you can really just move on from a post that doesn't apply to you.
I baked a chocolate cake with buttercream icing last night, that was my cheat. Amazing.11 -
Oh my God, if you don't cheat good for you but you can really just move on from a post that doesn't apply to you.
I baked a chocolate cake with buttercream icing last night, that was my cheat. Amazing.
Glad you enjoyed your cake. Many on here wouldn't consider that a cheat. Others, like myself, don't eat cake.
We're all individuals on different paths to the same goal.
The OP asked for opinions. He got em. It's how this all works.
Cheers!8 -
I will chime in.....
I really do not like the term 'cheat meal' - for lots and lots of reasons. In short, it shows the completely wrong mind-set. Well, might offend some with this post....truly not my intent....truly not the spirit of this post. But, if it does, well maybe that is a good thing. Get people thinking about their true mind-set.
I follow - and I realize that everyone is different....thank the good Lord - a flexible diet. The way I do this it is really more of a structured flexibility. The thought of "cheating" is no where near this thought process. I know what my caloric intake for the day is and I know how that value looks (in the form of protein, carbs, fats).
Because I am the way I am, I have no problem eating the same 10 foods (or whatever it is.....eight, nine, 10, whatever) and I know how to fill in the proteins, carbs and fats (which, in turn, fill in the caloric value).
If I want to have a piece of Apple Pie, so be it. If I want a huge *kitten* helping of Lasagna, so be it.
My calories and macros are - at least the way I do it - a budget. Just like money.
I am also more interested in a weekly total - of all four (Calories, Proteins, Carbs and Fats....and, yes, I do include Fiber in that.....so, to be honest, of all *FIVE*). THIS IS KEY!!!!
I know what my daily values are and if I have that Apple Pie - and if I am doing that then I am likely going to have a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and some whipped cream....I mean, if you are going to do something then dag nab it freaking do it, right? - then I might have to be a bit more mindful on another day (or two!).
But, for me and how I do it, there is not the slightest bit of "cheat" in that. I guess that you can say, "Dude, you overate on Day X so you need to 'pay it back' on Day X+1 and possibly on Day X + 2". Okay...sure....but I - as mentioned - am more interested in the weekly totals than in each day's total. And, that is not 'cheat'. That is all about 'budget' - at least how I see things.
Anyway, everyone is different. Everyone looks at things from a different angle. I am not suggesting that my way is better - or worse, for that matter - than anyone else's way. I am just sharing my mind-set......
Hopefully this adds to this post!8 -
On Fridays we have pizza, I still stay within calories but eat them all! Always go to the gym first4
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To complete my thought.....it is all about sustainability. If you can not sustain a plan, then you are going to fail. And, with how I define things, you only fail when you quit. So, if you know that something is doomed for failure then why in the heck start? Total waste of time. And time is the one thing that NONE of us can get back.....
I want to be doing this for the next how many decades? At 50, I do not know how much longer I have on this planet. But, no matter what that number is, I want to be able to maintain this lifestyle. It is not an accident that I live this way. It works for me. And, again, thank the good Lord, everyone is different. So, find what works for you ........ what truly works for you .....and do that!
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When was your last cheat meal ? What was it ? I just had a cheat meal for lunch at Texas Roadhouse. Had a 12 oz. steak and a salad
Looks like you aren't getting the type of answers you were expecting here. Personally, I don't like the concept of cheating, neither in food, nor any aspect of life.
Regarding your situation, what is your MFP recommended daily calorie level? How many calories did you log for that meal? What were your total calories on that day?
My recommended daily calorie level is 2460. I logged 860 calories for that meal. In addition to my other meals I had 740 remaining for the day. I considered it a cheat because the steak seemed to have a lot of fat in which I don't have. And the salad had a lot of ranch in which I don't have either.
You can reset your macros under settings to something more suited to your preferred way of eating, if you want to. You will lose weight if you are in a caloric deficit. Macros don't affect weight loss, and there's little good evidence to support MFP's default settings. In particular there's evidence that fat has been unfairly demonized in the past. MFP's sodium setting is also inappropriately low, according to modern research which associates extreme low sodium diets (which their setting is) with an increased risk of death.
Because fat is so calorie dense, when you restrict calories, it's quite easy for fat to become a higher percentage of your diet. As long as you are getting adequate protein and other nutrients, you're fine. As a diabetic, MFP's default macros would literally kill me. Different people have different needs, and if eating more fat makes it easier to stay within your calories, do that. It's not cheating.0 -
Like a lot of others here, I don't really call it "a cheat meal" or "cheat day" or whatever else. But I know what you're saying and I have a "indulgent day" pretty much every Saturday.
Yesterday's involved an omelette with pico de gallo, fresh pineapple, iced cold brew, 1/2 of a thin crust margherita pizza, insanely delicious tamales from a local Mexican place, some really good craft beer, and then a vegetarian corn dog around midnight.
I also hiked several miles in the heat, cleaned my entire house, and walked across a mid-sized city twice. All so worth it! If every day was a Saturday I think I would be very strong and sunburnt and I'd eat way too much delicious food
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This post took the wrong direction..4
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I appreciate the people who just answered the question haha4
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When was your last cheat meal ? What was it ? I just had a cheat meal for lunch at Texas Roadhouse. Had a 12 oz. steak and a salad
Looks like you aren't getting the type of answers you were expecting here. Personally, I don't like the concept of cheating, neither in food, nor any aspect of life.
Regarding your situation, what is your MFP recommended daily calorie level? How many calories did you log for that meal? What were your total calories on that day?
My recommended daily calorie level is 2460. I logged 860 calories for that meal. In addition to my other meals I had 740 remaining for the day. I considered it a cheat because the steak seemed to have a lot of fat in which I don't have. And the salad had a lot of ranch in which I don't have either.
Okay, so your "cheating" didn't do any damage then. I think the real key in this plan is to be conscious of the true value of your Calories In and Calories Out, and ensure you're consistently having a Calorie Deficit.
Another point often made on here is that depriving yourself of foods you like, is going to eventually lead to failure. So maybe its best you enjoy your steak occasionally, and make up for it with more moderate choices on other days, plus perhaps some exercise or other increased activity.4 -
Please do not call it a cheat meal. By calling it a cheat meal you're implying you're doing something wrong. You're not doing anything wrong you're enjoying life
For this to work and be a lifetime Journey the process has to be enjoyable. By depriving yourself of food that you enjoy it won't work in the long run. You can't look at this as a diet diet suck and they fail you're miserable on them and eventually you'll go back to your old habits
Just like your life your eating habits are going to have good days and bad days. Your success will be on what you learned from these days and how you apply it there's nothing wrong with enjoying yourself once in awhile as long as it doesn't become a daily occurrence.
There are plenty of times I've blown my calorie limit for one reason or another I don't look at it as a negative all I do is I go up bad day today I'm back tomorrow. Using this philosophy I lost 80 lb over 8 months and I've been maintaining that weight loss for approximately one year. If I had to give up the occasional Wendy's hamburger pizza and beer on the beach I would have never done what I've done
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