In defense of the cheat meal

melham

I know the cheat meal/cheat day is a hot button topic at times here at the wonderful world of MFP, but I am a firm believer of saving a few calories every day so I can have a treat at least once a week. It keeps me on track and curbs cravings before they're out of control. My cheat day is normally Saturday, and I am having cheesecake for dessert tonight. Love me some cheat day. :drinker:

ETA: I posted this in Maintaining Weight because I am in maintenance. I also lost the weight using the cheat meal strategy, FWIW.

tomcornhole

I'm in for cheat day. Mine was today. Had razzleberry pie. Still stayed close to my calorie goal. Under for the week. Macros all good. Squat day with a rockin huge personal record. Mind and body all good.

_liftnlove

I think it's the term "cheat" that gets people's panties in a wad. I will always have cheat days, and I honestly don't think I could have been successful without them. It fits my personality to have a planned day of decadence from time to time, but I know they don't work for everyone. Whatever gets the ****ing job done!! :smokin:

Penfoldsplace

Personally I don't like the term cheat day, but that's just semantics, it doesn't matter to me what other people want to call it. I don't see what the problem is in having high calorie days, that's life.

padams2359

There are two sides to the Cheat Day that changes things. For one, those cheats happen fewer than in the past, and if you think about it, that piece of cheesecake is much smaller than it use to be, and taste soooo much better than it use to. If you think about it, it is not cheating at all. On this plan, you can have anything you want, as long as your stay within your daily, or weekly goals, and we all probably do that. I don't think of it as a Cheat Day, that sounds bad. I see it more as a Dietary Choices Broadening Day.

zsgirl1218

I think they're great. If I have one treat a week then I'm more likely to stick to my diet. It's like if you want to train a dog. They do what you want you reward them. It keeps you from getting bored and lessens the temptations to eat everything in sight when the cravings hit.

VictoryGarden

Personally I don't like the term cheat day, but that's just semantics, it doesn't matter to me what other people want to call it. I don't see what the problem is in having high calorie days, that's life.

^^This

I will be over calories today, but I certainly don't consider enjoying one's birthday as cheating. :flowerforyou: It is good for the mind and soul to indulge a bit to recharge.

Cheating implies you are trying to get a gain by not being honest.

I

callas444

I think that if a person has a special occasion or a night out once in a while, fine. But people having a whole entire cheat day every week just because, you're sabotaging your good habits. It takes time to break bad eating habits and build new, healthy ones. Binge eating or planned overeating once a week just doesn't seem like a good idea. Just my opinion, take or leave. )

nomorebamboozles

I think my view of a cheat day is a little distorted... what I do is eat normal, then go over by 200-400 calories, then make up for it by cutting 100-300 a day for a few days. Then it all balances out, does it not?

That's how I do it anyways :P

Boogage

I think its fine to have 'cheat' days. Food is a part of life and should be enjoyed. Its only really going to be a problem if cheat days become everyday. Personally I try to eat healthily and within my calorie limit the majority of the time but I do have chocolate or something a bit 'naughty' nearly everyday because it helps keep me from feeling deprived and ending up binging. I also eat out occasionally and don't calorie count then, just enjoy, and my weight loss has still averaged out to a lb a week.

Birder150

Planning in advance and saving calories for a treat now and then doesn't seem like a 'cheat' to me at all.
Just sounds like a plan to keep yourself happy and on track.

ktsmom430

I save calories everyday for a treat. I don't consider it cheating, and even if I did, so what?
I am succeeding at this. I will be monitoring myself for the rest of my life. This is my "new" way of eating and it is what I have to do from now on. In order to be sustainable, this is what is right for me. It is why I have a closed diary. It is only my business. When I was morbidly obese, I was cheating myself and not even aware of doing so.

Go for it and live your life! Do what you have to do to make it work for you.

elisa123gal

As I lose. I learn it is all about balance. If you go over on a day or two.. eating under your calorie goal and exercising more on a few other days is what really WORKS. To be perfect every single day is what -- I think-- derails people.

I lost two pounds this week and I had fried chicken wings twice and cheddar mashed potatoes and gravy all in that week.. and still lost.

So here's to balance and sanity.

mthr2

Tomorrow I am bringing home a bag of chorizo tacos with all the fixins. Oh yeah, and krispy kreme is breakfast.

It keeps me sane. It keeps the other six days not so hard. It keeps one piece of birthday cake or a few slices of pizza from turning into 30 lbs. Gotta live while I lose. :-)

loulamb7

Oh yeah, and krispy kreme is breakfast.

Now there's a great idea for breakfast!

Sundays are my cheat/free/eat what I want days. I still count calories but don't worry about being over. Tomorrow's breakfast: bacon, eggs and pancakes.

I've only been counting calories since June of this year. Needed the days off to keep me on track. Initially my thought was to eat and not track on those days. Now I try to eat at where I think I will be at maintenance, 2600-2800, just to start getting a sense of how I will eat when I'm no longer eating at a deficit.

Also during the week I enjoy a cookie, piece of cake or donut almost everyday, just make sure I plan for the calories.

mthr2

Tomorrow I am bringing home a bag of chorizo tacos with all the fixins. Oh yeah, and krispy kreme is breakfast.

It keeps me sane. It keeps the other six days not so hard. It keeps one piece of birthday cake or a few slices of pizza from turning into 30 lbs. Gotta live while I lose. :-)

mamadon

I love calling it a cheat day. It makes me feel decadent. I do it once a month for nine months now. It's a true cheat day. I eat whatever I have been craving lately. I log as honestly as I can and do not skimp on calories earlier in the week. I refuse to feel guilty and get right back into regular life the next day.

mthr2

[/quote]
Sundays are my cheat/free/eat what I want days. I still count calories but don't worry about being over. Tomorrow's breakfast: bacon, eggs and pancakes.

I've only been counting calories since June of this year. Needed the days off to keep me on track. Initially my thought was to eat and not track on those days. Now I try to eat at where I think I will be at maintenance, 2600-2800, just to start getting a sense of how I will eat when I'm no longer eating at a deficit.

Also during the week I enjoy a cookie, piece of cake or donut almost everyday, just make sure I plan for the calories.
[/quote]

Yes! This is me.

brynnsmom

Although I don't like labeling it as a "cheat," weekends are always a bit more indulgent. I eat bigger dinners, have a few more drinks... as long as it's logged and accounted for, it's not cheating!

nxd10

I have no problem at all with what you're doing - I do it. I call it eating to my calories. I don't understand the concept of 'cheating' because when someone 'cheats' on a diet it means they are lying to themselves about what they are actually consuming. You aren't. You're eating what you want within your allowance. All the research says that is a fantastic strategy.

Go for it!

cwolfman13

I have desert every night...tonight I'm having a slice of apple pie...I don't consider it a "cheat"...one year into this, 40 Lbs later, and I still can't get anyone to actually define "cheat" for me. I've come to my own conclusion that it is a term used by individuals with relatively unhealthy relationships with food.

I get my nutrition on...I get my fitness on...I also enjoy some beer and other junk food...it's not a substantial part of my diet...it's not "cheating"...start addressing your negative relationship with foods.

highervibes

I think my view of a cheat day is a little distorted... what I do is eat normal, then go over by 200-400 calories, then make up for it by cutting 100-300 a day for a few days. Then it all balances out, does it not?

That's how I do it anyways :P

that doesn't sound like a cheat to me. That sounds like budgeting your calories.... If I know I'm going to have a 2500 calorie day (I usually eat around 1900) I'll cut to 1600 leading up to this day (wedding for example, food and drinking)


Having a high day is like weight fluctuations. Some days you're heavier than others but you didn't gain fat. Some days you eat more, some days you eat less. If your numbers balance out at the end of the week you should be good.

BrendaLee

I credit much of my success to "cheating." I couldn't do this for months and months (and months) if I didn't give myself permission to live a little.

garciabnm

some days you just gotta have the extra slice of pizza, or cake, or icecream....damn it...where's the icecream......

sagefitnessfanatic

Oh how I love cheat meals! Had one today - short stack from IHOP w butter and syrup : ) Based on the research I've done, a spike in cals is good for the body - keep the body guessing. My goal is one per week but I seem to usually have 2 cheat meals per week. I'm bulking right now so I'm not stressing too much over the 2 cheat meals. Come January when I cut though, I'm going to have to buckle down and really focus!

chezjuan

I don't have cheat days. Or at least I don't call what I do cheating. If I go over in calories for a special occasion, I call it "life happens," and I may or may not make up the calories later. If I plan for a bigger than normal day by "banking" calories (like I did last Thanksgiving), and my week is in line with where it should be, then I don't see it as cheating either.

And if I am within my calories for the day, and at least somewhat close to my macros, it doesn't matter what I eat, it is not cheating.

The only thing I do is make sure that life doesn't happen too often - that's what got me here in the first place. But now I am happily maintaining, and my plan seems to be working.

annbillingsley

I just gotta say that I love this thread! I was feeling guilty and anxious over how I was going to eat on my vacation in 3 weeks (a cruise to Bermuda). while it will be an entire "free week", there are many more healthy weeks ahead of it. My entire life I have so thought diet=deprivation and it has failed every time. I am finding that "fitting in" the calories works very well and I try very hard to not get hung up over one meal or one day....even one week! I am in this for the long haul and ups and downs in weight, calorie consumption and hunger is inevitable---it is how I deal with it that will determine my success.

so thanks for the morale boost! it is nice to feel validated & accepted and not shamed!

NonnyMary

When you have a cheat meal, does it cause your weight to go up for a time? How long?

for me, if I got out to eat and eat a high sodium meal like I did at Olive Garden, I unfortunately got a dinner entre and had leftovers a couple days, so it turned out to be a 3 day meal, in order to keep within my MFP numbers and for some reason, my weight loss was slower that week.

I would love to have a splurge but it seems like it slows my progress, probaly from the sodium.... how do you do it? or do you just go with slower weight loss which is probably water weight, but i cant stand that.

RevCO30

I am in favor of a cheat meal/day...and for the haters, mind your own business. What works for you may not work for me and vice versa. In most cases people are pretty resaonable and can say, "ok, I went overboard and my cheat day cost me a loss(or a gain)" and they can take corrective action. Nobody on here should be anybody else's food cop.

nelinelineli

LOL this makes no sense!

The hot button is ACTUAL cheat days, in which you go wild in fast-food land, and sometimes don't even log it. 3-4k calories that you can't "even out" with the other days.

Just redistributing your calories over a week or two to fit in a slice of cake is not cheating, is brilliant!

mthr2

Well, I did have a day two weeks ago that made mfp say that I would gain 15 over 5 weeks. Lol. Sad but true. But I'm at my lowest, so whatevs. Maybe I ate so much crap that I couldn't even store it.

But....it made me feel like crap....I've been pretty good other than that and running like a friend....so I'm not advocating binging as a weight loss tool by any means. Budgeting is more my thing.