Help with weekend cheat meals pls

amgjb
amgjb Posts: 79 Member
edited April 2018 in Food and Nutrition
Hey,

I’m about 1 homemade chicken kebab away from murder.

I really struggle to stay on track over the weekend because pizza and beer keep shouting at me.

I’m trying to improve and I make a mean chicken kebab but it’s getting a bit boring and I need some new ideas.

What’s your favourite treat meal to give you a fix over the weekend while remaining within your goals?
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Replies

  • amgjb
    amgjb Posts: 79 Member
    It’s a lifestyle thing buddy, you know how it goes. I’m trying to up my calorie burn to justify the bigger intake but if I could do that and find more substitutes then I would get a double win.
  • Leannep2201
    Leannep2201 Posts: 441 Member
    I don’t have cheat meals per se, because I find when I do, I’m more likely to lose control and eat everything I can get my hands on.

    I’ve just tried to find lower calorie options for the foods I love- eg, we make homemade burgers and sweet potato fries, which we find very satisfying. I buy sorbet ice-block bars for when I’m feeling like ice cream (because the sorbet is lower calorie and I find it just as satisfying). I usually fit these foods into my week, instead of waiting for the weekend, because then it’s just a normal part of my eating, instead of feeling like I’m waiting to have my “treat”.

    Have you tried low-alcohol beer and making your own pizza? We make pizza on a Lebanese bread base with heaps of veggies, and a little cheese. It’s delicious.
    I’ve also found that low-alcohol wine (when I feel like a drink) is just as satisfying as the full strength stuff, and it saves me calories!
  • vallary14
    vallary14 Posts: 215 Member
    http://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/roasted-veggie-mac-cheese
    I love this one! I have made this a couple times for my best friend using gluten free pasta. It tastes indulgent but it’s full of good for you veggies and fiber. This is a good meal prep as it reheats well.
  • rj0150684
    rj0150684 Posts: 227 Member
    For my “cheat meal”, I usually do something like some seaweed salad with some assorted sushi (probably just sashimi/nigiri, no rolls). Still low cal but feels like a treat.
  • busyPK
    busyPK Posts: 3,788 Member
    I eat pizza once a week and usually a bigger pasta dish once a week as well and can lose 1lb/wk. For me, it's fitting it in my weekly calories and having a couple 6mi runs that week. Also, with pizza we order out and I try not to over buy so there is just enough for my kids and I (3 slices for me).
  • Dani9585
    Dani9585 Posts: 215 Member
    I wonder if you could retrain yourself to live a life without "cheat meals," but instead, commit to logging everything and holding back weekday calories, so that you can splurge on that weekend pizza.

    That's what I do anyway... Tonight is homemade pizza and movie night! ;)
  • getnickripped
    getnickripped Posts: 266 Member
    Do HIIT cardio 3x per week along with steady state and weight training. Then only eat pizza and beer and make sure its less than your calories for the day and you'll lose weight. Skip your other meals. Call a slice of pizza 250 cals and a beer 150 cals. 3 slices & 3 beers is 1200 cals. May not be the most nutritious diet but you can eat what you want. Just stay in a deficit.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Get some pre-made store dough and bake your own medium one and make sure you have someone to share with. It really doesn't break the bank if you watch what you put on it. A little cheese goes a long way, melted.
  • gentlygently
    gentlygently Posts: 752 Member
    I agree with the 'make your own pizza' route - lots of veggie topping, a small amount of strong cheddar and some ham. Simple to do. Delicious and not a big calorie hit.

    Oven baked breaded fish and chips is not so bad calorie wise and certainly better than the take away deep fry (er, can you tell I'm a Brit!). I get Lots of veggie dishes and dahl if we get a take out Indian.

    But I wonder if the real problem is the beer. That when you have the one - then the second - the willpower goes.... and it all goes downhill. Or you get more fed up with the options you know.

    I like you prefer to relax a little at weekends. But maybe if you held back a little on the shopping beer wise you could keep this more under control. (And buy ahead a lower calorie store pizza? So you don't order in beer inspired delivery choice?!)

    And possibly spend your money on exploring new foods instead - there is a lot of great stuff to eat beyond pizza ... a lot of oriental food is really tasty for the calories for example. Try greek food too. Make kedgeree. Or Home made lasagne (add lentils and lots of veggies to the meat base; use a large pot of yoghurt with an egg mixed in it to replace the bechemel sauce).

    Is it time to go to the bookstore and find a 'healthy' cook book you like the picture in that inspires you into new recipes?

    You sound a bit 'stuck in a grove' - and you have some great suggestions in the posts above to think about.


    Good luck



  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    amgjb wrote: »
    It’s a lifestyle thing buddy, you know how it goes. I’m trying to up my calorie burn to justify the bigger intake but if I could do that and find more substitutes then I would get a double win.

    So eat half a pizza?
    Or make your own to match your available calories for this so called cheat meal.
  • WilmaValley
    WilmaValley Posts: 1,092 Member
    Some great suggestions here!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    OP I would question whether you’ve chosen too restrictive of a plan if you don’t feel like you can accommodate the foods you really enjoy on a regular basis. Whether you call it a cheat meal, saving calories for a weekend indulgence, flexible dieting or loosen up the reins a little every day to accommodate the foods you desire, finding a long term strategy that accommodates something like this is usually recommended.

    I don’t care for the term “cheat meal” or the approach. I do sometimes bank calories during the week because I know on the weekends I’m going to be eating out and having bigger meals. But I have something sweet pretty much every day, and I have pizza maybe once a week or every other with my family. We made them last night - I had one small (6 inches) very thin crust pizza with pesto, chicken sausage, red peppers and artichoke hearts. The whole thing was less than 600 cals. Pretty easy to fit that in even without saving up cals for it. I usually have salad with it as well but didn’t last night, I did have a glass of wine and a couple Girl Scout cookies afterwards, and it didn’t even put me over my cals for the day.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Homemade pizza and a really good beer or two, FTW!
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    amgjb wrote: »
    Hey,

    I’m about 1 homemade chicken kebab away from murder.

    I really struggle to stay on track over the weekend because pizza and beer keep shouting at me.

    I’m trying to improve and I make a mean chicken kebab but it’s getting a bit boring and I need some new ideas.

    What’s your favourite treat meal to give you a fix over the weekend while remaining within your goals?

    Stop thinking of it as cheating. Can you really see yourself as living without pizza forever?

    Does pizza fit within your calorie budget? Is there a way to make it fit by maybe eating less and having a side salad or banking calories during the week for it?
  • 100_PROOF_
    100_PROOF_ Posts: 1,168 Member
    Yesterday I had 3 slices of pizza and a cup of soda but it took a bit of planning. Pizza macros aren't terrible but since it's higher calorie, it takes a bit of planning for me. I maintain on 2300 so I have more running room than others.
    I can't imagine living without treat foods so I Incorporate them into my well balanced healthy diet. The reason why I do it is because I know deprivation doesn't work in the long run. Deprivation leads to a nasty cycle of over eating and then under eating for some. So I Incorporate instead of eliminate .
    It takes work to successfully incorporate but its easier for me in the long run. It was worth truly learning moderation and portion control because I'm better for long term.
  • 1BlueAurora
    1BlueAurora Posts: 439 Member
    Eat the pizza, have the beer. Just eat something low calorie for the rest of the day and do your best to remain within your daily calorie allotment. I couldn't survive on a deprivation diet, because life is too short and I like food. Plus, the pizza and beer are usually shared with friends. I socialize with people, and we eat food. So eat a little less today, and maybe a little less calorie-wise tomorrow, and you'll at least hit your weekly calorie limit. Plan.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    edited April 2018
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Fit pizza into your weekly goal?

    I kinda hate how people make this sound so easy. Must be nice.

    I could easily fit gluten free pizza into my day, but it doesn't fill me up so I don't eat it. That's my choice and I'm happy with it because I'm meeting the goals I want to meet and I'm in control of my choices.

    Someone else making a different choice? Good on them! I'm happy for them!

    Don't rain on someone else's parade with your resentment which springs from your choices because you have different goals. Own your choices and the lifestyle that comes with them and just stop with posting how you resent other people making different choices.

    Okay. Thanks
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Fit pizza into your weekly goal?

    I kinda hate how people make this sound so easy. Must be nice.

    I’m going to use a phrase that I hate to make a point about a phrase that you used that I also hate...

    “Don’t take this the wrong way but...”
    anyone who says “must be nice” in response to something that someone else has, or does, that they aren’t doing doesn’t actually have any feelings related to being happy for that other person. That phrase is usually only coming from a place of resentment and jealousy, and seriously, you’re resentful that people can work pizza in their daily calories? It’s a choice! You can make that choice too! You’ve chosen to focus on your body aesthetic and trying to achieve really admirable, aggressive goals for yourself. You are striving for something that most people don’t even consider a possibility.

    Yes I eat pizza and fit it into my calories, I had it last night, with a glass of wine and two cookies even, and I wasn’t over my calories. I’m not saying that to brag I’m saying it’s truly possible to eat these foods and still meet MY goals but those are not YOUR goals. Perhaps you should consider just how important the training and body composition is to you if hearing that people can easily fit pizza into their weekly goals prompts you to make a comment that sort of sounds nice but really means that you are loathing that person inside. Because you know what’s even less fun than not eating pizza? Not eating pizza and stewing about other people who can eat pizza because they’ve made different goal choices than you have.

    Listen. I get what you're saying. But sometimes I feel like a few members brag a lot. And for me it's not the fact that this person can fit pizza or a burger into their day, it's more that I can't moderate like that. And sometimes I think people forget that I'm not the only one who can't moderate.

    I was better at moderating before I started counting calories.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    Anyway OP, I kind of get what you're saying. Weekends are hard for me. I have a lot of time to myself and do like to eat. If I eat pizza I don't have much room for anything else.

    Some things I do to create volume but happiness:
    Taco salads with ground turkey
    Pizza salads with turkey pepperoni but I could really use regular
    Halo Top ice cream
    Big protein shakes
    Air popped popcorn
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    To avoid chicken burnout, I avoid chicken. There's other ways to get protein and other ways to enjoy food.

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