Is this allowed?

Spinalcord12

Assuming one eats 3 meals a day, which makes 21 meals per week.

Is it viable to have one meal a week where you give into your cravings and have a more fatty meal if the other 20 meals are all low in fat, sodium, sugars and calories?

Of course this isn't about pure dieting but a combination of daily exercise, 1 hours + of cardio per day (Rowing machines and/or cycling)

Also if the fatty meals calories were covered by my workout and BMR is it fine to have a fatty meal once a week, would it like make me gain weight or would it just slow down my weight loss progress?

Thanks!

Mokey41

Fat doesn't make you fat, eating too much makes you fat. If it fits in your budget then eat it.

j6o4

Fat doesn't make you fat, eating too much makes you fat. If it fits in your budget then eat it.

^ This. If it is within your weekly calorie, it should be fine.

joshdann

well... fat *does* have almost twice as many calories per gram as do protein or carbs. So there is a small amount of truth to limiting the amount of fat in your diet. But most people assume that your body just stores fat as fat directly without any conversion, and that is simply not the case. You need a certain minimum amount of fat in your diet. For men it's about 20g per day. More than that is not going to hurt you.

bcattoes

Use the search function above and search for "cheat". You'll see that many people do this. It's often referred to as a "cheat meal" or a "cheat day".

But don't eat too low fat during the other days. Fat is very high calorie, but your body needs fat.

ladymiseryali

ALL my meals are mostly fat. I'm down over 20 lbs. I'm guessing you're asking if it's okay to have a "cheat meal", meaning something that isn't AS healthy as what you usually have? Either way, if it fits your calories for the day, sure.

bcattoes

well... fat *does* have almost twice as many calories per gram as do protein or carbs. So there is a small amount of truth to limiting the amount of fat in your diet. But most people assume that your body just stores fat as fat directly without any conversion, and that is simply not the case. You need a certain minimum amount of fat in your diet. For men it's about 20g per day. More than that is not going to hurt you.

Not to be picky, but fat actually has more than twice as many calories as carbs or protein. Fat has 9 calories per gram, which carbs and protein only have 4.

joshdann

well... fat *does* have almost twice as many calories per gram as do protein or carbs. So there is a small amount of truth to limiting the amount of fat in your diet. But most people assume that your body just stores fat as fat directly without any conversion, and that is simply not the case. You need a certain minimum amount of fat in your diet. For men it's about 20g per day. More than that is not going to hurt you.

Not to be picky, but fat actually has more than twice as many calories as carbs or protein. Fat has 9 calories per gram, which carbs and protein only have 4.

you're totally right. I knew the numbers but screwed up the "almost" versus "more than" part. Thanks for catching that

lavaughan69

I "save" calories all the time for a fun day on the weekend. Heck, I save calories during the day so I can have some of my favorite things for supper. It's just a numbers game, so as long as you are accurately tracking your calories you can use them however you want.

One of the things I did when I started MFP was to take the time to really figure out how I want to live my life and what things I would not be willing to give up. eg. Rum on the weekends...not giving that up, it's important to me, I enjoy having drinks with my husband! French fries, love em', so I make room for them when I want them.

Once I worked this out it was easy to tailor my eating to include things I love and make me feel satisfied. This weight loss journey doesn't need to be a miserable one.

SLLRunner

I've lost 21.5 pounds and I don't have cheat days. I eat whatever I want as long as it's within my calorie limit for the day. Except for loads of sugar, I eat what I ate when I fatter, just in smaller portions.