What do you consider as a cheat meal?

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fangmouse
fangmouse Posts: 119
in Food and Nutrition
I think eating a slice of pizza is considered as a cheat meal.

What's your definition of a cheat meal?
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Replies

  • kristieshannon
    kristieshannon Posts: 160 Member
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    NOTHING!!! I eat anything I want, in moderation. As long as I don't go over my base calories + my exercise calories per day I'm A-OK with it.
  • Donald_Dozier_50
    Donald_Dozier_50 Posts: 395 Member
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    Pizza isn't. A cheat meal is one that puts you over your calorie goal. If it fits in your goal, to me it is fine.
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
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    Pizza isn't. A cheat meal is one that puts you over your calorie goal. If it fits in your goal, to me it is fine.

    Yep. It's not the "what", but the "how much".
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    NOTHING!!! I eat anything I want, in moderation. As long as I don't go over my base calories + my exercise calories per day I'm A-OK with it.

    :flowerforyou:
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    What's your definition of a cheat meal?

    Anything you pretend you didn't eat.
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
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    Nothing. If I can fit it into my calories for the day, then its a normal meal.
  • Kr1ptonite
    Kr1ptonite Posts: 789 Member
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    For me it would be stuff like KFC, Pizza, Macca's, Ice cream and such. Even if i do fit it into my macros i still put it down as a cheat meal.
  • RaggedyPond
    RaggedyPond Posts: 1,487 Member
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    Over eating by 300 calories or more at the end of the day is a cheat day. Eat a slice of pizza is not. Just yesterday I had TWO slices and was still under. Oh bad me!
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    For me it would be something I don't usually have, so maybe a dessert like some cheesecake, or a take away curry. I wouldn't consider a slice of pizza a cheat because that's unlikely to put you over your calories, but maybe 4 or more slices (depending on how big they are!).
  • lovinmyselfagain
    lovinmyselfagain Posts: 307 Member
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    NOTHING!!! I eat anything I want, in moderation. As long as I don't go over my base calories + my exercise calories per day I'm A-OK with it.

    ^^^^This for sure! However, I've also learned that going over my calories one day or even two days is not a deal breaker. I just make up for it during the rest of the week. But, I didn't get that "relaxed" about my eating until I was over halfway through my journey. As you progress, you will figure out what works and DOESN"T work for you. I've never been a fan of the term "cheat" in reference to living a healthier life. I think putting certain things off limits completely, makes me(and I'm sure a lot of people) just want that forbidden item more. But you have to know your triggers and you have to be honest with yourself about your ability to have just one or two servings of something "not so healthy."
  • darkrose20
    darkrose20 Posts: 1,139 Member
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    Most things at any chain restaurant. I've noticed every (ok, nearly every) meal is approximately 1,000 calories at places like Carrabas, Outback, etc etc. :explode: I'm NOT ok with only having 300 cals left in a day unless I exercise until I feel sick. :sick:

    I really, really need to stop fantasizing about Pasta Weezie, et all. :grumble:
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    NOTHING!!! I eat anything I want, in moderation. As long as I don't go over my base calories + my exercise calories per day I'm A-OK with it.

    Totally this. Also, hitting macro targets is important. Other than that, I don't believe in the whole concept of "cheat" meals.
  • Sashoi
    Sashoi Posts: 295 Member
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    A cheat meal to me would be something u over indulged on that pretty much made u feel disgusted after eating it lol. So I don't have cheat meals I eat what I want n I'm always under.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    NOTHING!!! I eat anything I want, in moderation. As long as I don't go over my base calories + my exercise calories per day I'm A-OK with it.

    This.

    Plus a slice of pizza (or anything else) isn't a meal
  • TheDarlingOne
    TheDarlingOne Posts: 255 Member
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    for me it's not so much about the 'meal' - it's about the #....but i guess that coincides with a 'meal' - because i know x-meal will put me over x-amount of calories so *tee-hee* i cheated lol.
  • Tessyloowhoo
    Tessyloowhoo Posts: 504
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    A slice of pizza isn't a cheat meal.... but an entire pizza on the other hand....yeah that would work as a cheat meal.
  • Schlackity
    Schlackity Posts: 268 Member
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    Words like "cheat" and being "on" a diet are the reasons I never did well with eating healthier before. I grew up in a household where you were either ON or OFF a diet. Foods were GOOD or BAD. Good foods were healthy (veggies, fruit, boiled chicken) and bad foods were cheating (anything not veggies, fruit, or boiled chicken). I grew up in an obese household where eating was done more out of emotional need than basic necessity.

    I've been trying to lose weight since I was 8 (I'm 46 now). I think one of the reasons I failed so many times was because I was convinced that bad foods meant I was cheating and therefore failing. Eating something classified as bad had negative connotations from the start. Over that many years, I think it wreaks havoc on your psyche. You eat something you enjoy and immediately feel guilty for it, and then because you eat emotionally, you eat more to stuff the feelings down.

    Since I started MFP, I decided to take a leap of faith and eat not just foods that are good for me, but foods that taste good too, and keep them all within my macros and not feel guilty about it. I still have days where I feel like I goofed when I see that I'm over on protein or sodium or whatever, but I know I'm still learning and the weight is coming off, so I'm doing something right.

    I still haven't told my mother (I live in PA and she lives in FL) that I'm eating healthier, because either out of jealousy, fear that she'll lose her eating buddy, or motherly concern, she will get into my head and start using words like "diet" and "cheat" and refer to foods as good and bad, and I'm desperately working on reversing that way of thinking. I won't likely see my mom until the spring when she comes up to visit, and by then, I hope to have my new habits pretty engrained in my head.

    So what foods are cheat foods? None. What foods are good and bad? None really. Are some foods healthier than others? Sure. Should we avoid the less healthy foods at all costs? I don't think so, personally, but that's everyone's own choice.

    It's an absolutely beautiful day outside, not a cloud in the sky and it's a perfect 68 degrees right now. I'm going for a long walk with my iPod. I can't remember the last time I was excited to go outside and exercise. What a nice feeling! I hope everyone else has equally nice weather and can enjoy the weekend. :-)
  • BeckyMBisMe
    BeckyMBisMe Posts: 215 Member
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    I think eating a slice of pizza is considered as a cheat meal.

    What's your definition of a cheat meal?

    WHAT!? NO, NO! Eating half the deep dish, extra cheese pizza is a cheat meal! :sick:

    Actually, I now consider any time I don't choose "wisely" cheating. For example: last night for dinner I had 3 chunks of left over dipping bread from "Bravo!". I buttered them on the side and sprinkled each with a nice bunch of grated parm cheese and zapped it in the microwave. Not healthy but delicious and I managed not to go over my intake limit for the day. And that dear children is a cheat meal because it wasn't the "best" choice for me!:bigsmile:
  • fangmouse
    fangmouse Posts: 119
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    Okay wait I change my initial statement. I feel like I've eaten a cheat meal when I've eaten things that I normally do not eat during the week, like for example during the week for my lunches, I'll eat salads only. And in the weekend, meaning Saturday and Sunday, I'll eat like a sandwich or something and even though it's healthy, it's still above my caloric goal for that particular meal, so I'll call it a cheat meal.

    Also, if I've eaten anything less healthy like chocolate or a slice of cake, I'll call that a cheat meal too.
  • JeralynSh
    JeralynSh Posts: 139 Member
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    My husband and I have a seasonal cheat meal. :wink:

    Our Autumn cheat day is coming up, and we'll have my homemade chicken parmesan with garlic fettuccine, a loaf of artisan bread (using lots of butter) and a bottle of a nice red wine.

    This will put me waaaaaaay over my caloric intake, but since we're only now doing meals like this 4 times a year, I don't feel guilty anymore.

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