Cheat day/meal?

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  • patrickaa5
    patrickaa5 Posts: 70 Member
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    I currently am eating 1,750 cals per day (12,250 per week). I set my MFP calories as 1,650 per day (Sun-Thur) and 2,000 calories on Friday and Saturday - which are normally days we'll eat out for dinner. I don't really consider these "cheat days", but just my normal calories for those particular days.
  • FroFitMom39
    FroFitMom39 Posts: 15 Member
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    Yeah, I'm not really a fan of cheat or treat meals. However, if and when I do indulge.....it's planned out and it's only one meal. When I say planned, meaning its fits my macros for the day.
  • makkimakki2018
    makkimakki2018 Posts: 414 Member
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    I do cheat meals once a week. It took a while to find out how much i can handle without overdoing it. For me that calorie count was 2500. If i went past that I'd be in for a 2 week period of fighting to get back on track. Trial and error is what i would suspect everyone goes through.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
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    No, no cheat days. What is the point?
    The only one you are cheating is yourself.
  • BigFlinch
    BigFlinch Posts: 1 Member
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    You should always treat yourself to a satisfying meal. Personally I choose to have a “cheat” dinner so when my endorphins are at their peak from the savory or sultry foods it’s bed time soon enough so I don’t overindulge. Life has to be worth it, enjoy while we can!
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    Cheat day/meal = easy way to wipe out my weekly deficit. If I know I have a special event coming up or just want to have a more relaxed weekend, I bank calories during the week for it.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,170 Member
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    I don't believe in cheat days/meals, in pretty much the same sense that (as an adult) I don't believe in Santa Claus. Mythical!

    I'm in maintenance now, but when I was losing, I ate very near my calorie goal the overwhelming majority of the time, a couple/few hundred calories under or over occasionally, and way over my goal on very rare occasions (usually special events like my birthday, or restaurant meal with out-of-town friends). I logged it all, every day, even if I had to estimate, and when I had to estimate, I'd try to guess on the high-but-believable side.

    Afterward, in the cold light of day, I could do the math and figure out the impact: By how long had I delayed reaching goal weight? Usually, the answer was a few hours; a very few times, the answer was a small number of days.

    Then I could consider: Was it worth it? If it was worth it, just get back on goal calories and soldier on. If it wasn't worth it, think about the trigger(s) for doing it, what alternatives might have been better, rehearse that in my head a few times as prep for next time . . . then get back on goal calories and soldier on. Learning from it is good; stressing about it is pointless (burns no extra calories, makes me miserable).

    I also recorded my morning weigh-in, every day, even after big-eating days (using a weight trending app).

    By the time I was a few months into calorie counting this way, I could predict with great accuracy how much fat-weight I'd gained, how long it would take for any water weight/digestive contents from the excess to disappear on the scale, and how long it would take to re-lose that (small) bit of fat and be back at previous low scale weight. Just facts and data, not any kind of big drama - kind of a fun science fair project for grown-ups.

    Weight management is not a morality play, not a measure of self worth; it's just about health, feeling good, enjoying life (ideally for a long time in the future).

    The rhetoric around "cheating", "bad foods", "good foods", "being bad/good" casts eating as a cycle of sin and expiation, failure and redemption. It isn't. It's just food. It's about fueling, nutrition, health, enjoyment. They have to balance. Why cheat on that?
  • xmarye
    xmarye Posts: 385 Member
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    I can have anything I want, within my calories. If I go over, no problem. Just get right back on the next day!

    But to avoid being in a situation where I lose control and my treat turns into a full on binge, I have something sweet daily after dinner. Also, if I want a burger, I'll just have a burger. Maybe only pick 2-3 fries from my hubby and switch the pop for a diet one. I don't want to feel deprived! Usually I can work around it and tweak the rest of my day so that it's not even an issue!

    I actually lost 1.4lbs the day after having a Big Mac this week. :wink: And for the record, it was soooo satisfying. No regrets. It also kept me full for hours and I only had a small salad for dinner around 9, and skipped the dessert cuz I just didn't want it that night! Win-win!

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