A Cheat Meal IS a Cheat Meal

elbaldwin0525

I always hear people say that they either eat what they want but in moderation or they fit whatever they want into their daily caloric intake. Then they will say that they hate the word cheat because it sounds too restrictive...or something?

Lets be clear here......


The reason most of us on on MFP is because we were too loose with what we ate. Cheat Meals... are meant to restricted because it helps calm our binge trigger. Eating micro-dense foods throughout the week and having a whatever you like for one meal will decrease the trigger in the back of our minds that wants us to stay fat by gorging on high calorie foods. It also teaches self control and prepares you for the maintenance phase when the hard part begins by keeping the weight off.


Opinions?

SezxyStef

How does restricting "trigger" foods help you prepare for maintenance.

ETA: for me preparing for maintenance means I am preparing to eat how I live the rest of my life.

Do you plan on only eating your favorite foods once in a while at maintenance? Continuing with the "cheats"

Cheat sounds like you are doing something wrong...it indicates to me that the relationship with food is off. That eating the foods you want/crave/love makes you bad.

I love chocolate...I will not be giving up my chocolate nor will I be happy with only having it once a week.

In the summer if I feel like having ice cream for dinner or after dinner every night because it's hot why not?

and then what happens when you have your "cheat mea" or "cheat day" and something else comes up...what are you going to do then...moderation in eating all foods allows for me to go with the flow, have my meals as I see fit without having to say no to other things that may come up.

beautifulwarrior18

I agree. The cheat meal is about moderation. It's teaching you that you can have those foods that aren't always the best option in moderation. So, when you're at a kids birthday party and the parents order pizza, you can have a slice of pizza. It does not however mean that you can eat an entire pizza in one sitting. I find people's biggest problems with "cheat meals" is they turn them into bottomless feasts, cheat days or cheat weekends. Unfortunately, weight loss doesn't work if you're only 70% comitted to it.

xsmilexforxmex

"cheat meals" work for some people, I personally favor the "moderation is key".. but at first for me that meant restricting some foods to a cheat meal until I am able to eat the appropriate portions of them and not have fast food 5x a day. It was about cravings for me and craving Mcdonalds french fries and sushi 6x a week isn't healthy, especially days I would have both and consume easily over 3000 calories. Limiting myself to once a week taught me to fix other things for lunch/dinner and control my cravings. Now, I don't consider them cheat meals because I have learned to fit them into my counts for the day, when I do eat them, and use moderation.

_Zardoz_

It also teaches self control and prepares you for the maintenance phase when the hard part begins by keeping the weight off.


Opinions?

How does having a binge once a week teach self control. Self Control having one Oreo on a normal day then carrying on with that day. When you reach maintenance are you going to have a binge once a week? Cheat meals to me imply a very bad relationship with food that you are avoiding because you compartmentalise it into one day or meal in order to justify your excesses. I always find it funny the amount of people who suddenly have a very bad day eating so half way through the day then classify it as a cheat day and eat even more. That shows to me that what your doing is not working
Whatever works for you but I can't see it working long term

Faye_Anderson

Who or what are you cheating?

astronomicals

I correlate "cheat days" with "clean" eating.

Both poor practices.

These "clean" eaters WILL go crazy without a "cheat day" because they havent learned jack **** about moderation. They learned two extremes.

I've seen the two intertwined many times. Im not saying all clean eaters have cheat days or all people who have cheat days are "clean" eaters, but, they commonly sync.

ETA:
I balance my week,period... youd probably say I have more than two "cheat meals" a week.. i wouldnt cuz thats not how I approach things.. I enjoy life, period..

summertime_girl

I usually have my all out cheat meals on a day of epic workouts. Run a half marathon, I'm having a cheeseburger covered in bacon, with cheesy fries and as much beer as I want. Otherwise, I try to stick to my plan. If I know I'm going out, I usually do a longer workout. I rarely go over my daily calories, even with small cheats, because I balance with exercise.

elliej

Eating is not cheating.

Calling it a "cheat" is inflammatory - as if you're doing something wrong. If you're losing weight healthily and steadily but eat a huge piece of pizza and then a huge piece of chocolate cake on your birthday you shouldn't be made to feel guilty about that.

What's the point in never eating nice food? Are you planning to cut them out of your diet for the rest of your life? Not likely.

I would also argue that eating the things that made you fat in the normal portion amount helps to teach you about portion control and stops you feel so uncontrollable about those foods. Don't demonise them. If you know that it has X calories which will take you X amount of time to burn off and it's X amount of your suggested fat intake for the day then you can make an informed choice whether you have it/have half of it/not bother.

rduhlir

The dictionary definition of cheating is the getting of reward for ability by dishonest means or finding an easy way out of an unpleasant situation.

Eating micro-dense foods throughout the week and having a whatever you like for one meal will decrease the trigger in the back of our minds that wants us to stay fat by gorging on high calorie foods.

There is just as much theory and studies to support that restricting causes issues. That is why Nutrisystem, Atkins, etc... all have what one might call "junk" food worked into everyday meals.

It also teaches self control and prepares you for the maintenance phase when the hard part begins by keeping the weight off.

Cheat meals actually do not teach self control. If anything it sets someone up for binge more than encorporating everything into a sustainable lifestyle. Learning how to encorporate cookies, cakes, pies, etc..., learning how to tweak them so that a calorie count is lower or macro density shifted for a person's needs is a smarter way of going about it than trying to "...calm our binge trigger."

paperpudding

I don't use the word cheat meals - not because it is too restrictive but because it makes treats sound a bad thing.

But I do have treats - not on a set cheat day, just whenever.
And I do log them.

I think doing this for the 10 months that it took to reach my goal helped me to continue with it in the 4 months since then, when I have been in maintenance.

SonicDeathMonkey80

I notice a lot of people schedule cheat meals, days, etc. At the point where you schedule it, I don't feel it is a "cheat" anymore, but a habitual thing, and kinda defeats the purpose. A cheat to me is the random social gathering, holiday party, etc, where I just say "screw it" and eat what I want, always to excess. I incorporate the "bad" stuff into my days and I don't feel like I'm missing out, and go figure, I don't really get in the mood to cheat very much.

graceire

I don't have a binge trigger (have never binged actually, not by the definition of it), please don't assume that everyone is dealing with the same thing, or that "we're all here for the same reason."

I might have a treat meal a couple times a week, but stay within my goals for the day/week.

Francl27

I don't really understand your point.

Although I do use the word 'cheat'. My goal is my contract, so I cheat myself if I go over. That's just the truth, no matter what people want to call it. It's not necessarily a big deal though. And I don't consider anything 'cheat foods'.

BrainyBurro

I always hear people say that they either eat what they want but in moderation or they fit whatever they want into their daily caloric intake. Then they will say that they hate the word cheat because it sounds too restrictive...or something?

Lets be clear here......


The reason most of us on on MFP is because we were too loose with what we ate. Cheat Meals... are meant to restricted because it helps calm our binge trigger. Eating micro-dense foods throughout the week and having a whatever you like for one meal will decrease the trigger in the back of our minds that wants us to stay fat by gorging on high calorie foods. It also teaches self control and prepares you for the maintenance phase when the hard part begins by keeping the weight off.


Opinions?

if your mindset includes the concept of "cheat meals" then you are already dangerously close to binge behavior IMHO.

i say this because i believe you must knowingly be depriving yourself to the point where you are obsessing about food frequently enough to actually need scheduled "cheat meals" to alleviate these food obsessions. that's mentally disordered thinking in my view.

instead, plan your dietary intake around your micronutrional and macronutritional needs and then choose whatever foods you want that meet those needs. if you sometimes want more calories to eat, then offset those calories with extra exercise. if you still come in over your calorie goal some days, then offset it by coming in a little bit under on other days.

this isn't rocket surgery. some people make it much too hard by holding themselves to unrealistic expectations.

kk_140

I have noticed that I hit weight loss plateaus if I don't have a trick day. I call it that because I am tricking my body. I am 'lucky' enough to have a body that is very good at famine response. So if I have one day a week where I eat maintenance, it tricks my body into realizing it ius not the apocolypse then I can continue to lose without hitting a brick wall.

I do admit, I think it is fine to eat maintenance for a day, it certainly won't be detrimental. But I am not a fan of the all out 4000 or more calorie binges that some people go for. It just sets you back and only hurts you. But I can't argue with results, a lot of people have had very successful weight loss that way. Go them!

I don't know why people Gert so mean about this topic, to each their own.

somefitsomefat

So to be clear, is eating cheating or not?

sarahertzberger

I agree but also disagree, I am now at a place where I can eat some "unhealthy" foods in moderation throughout the week and stay within my calorie goal, used to I couldn't do that if I ate those foods at all, I would go and end up eating way too much and would go way over my calorie goal, but now that I'm able to I do so if I want ice cream or something I'm going to eat it but I'm going to measure/ weigh it out and eat a correct portion and stay within my calories it just depends on how it works for you, it took a while for me to get to the place where I could do that

tedrickp

I hate cheat meal/day threads on MFP. Always devolves into a semantics argument about the term cheat. In that regards - who the **** cares - call it what you want. It's just a word.

As for cheat days/meal concept - have at 'er. Whatever works for you. If you find it easiest moderating your favorite foods - do that. If you'd rather avoid trigger foods altogether - do that. If you want to eat clean during week and have cheat meals - do that.

None of the above are inherently more sustainable than the next - totally depends on your personal preference and comfort. Whatever helps you sustain your caloric deficit long term - do that one.

shellbatronic

I think you're arguing semantics here. Personally I don't like the word "cheat" because it only has negative connotations and implies I'm trying to get away with something or I'm being "bad". No thanks. Just own it and move on.

Unknown

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ItsCasey

My opinion is live and let live. If a weekly "cheat meal" works for you, do it. I'll keep eating cookies and ice cream every night. That works for me.

ktsmom430

Eat what you want, when you want. Whether in losing or maintenance mode. If you go over, so what? How is it hurting anyone? The effort you put in may take longer if you go over, but it is your personal choice how you want to manage your weight loss or maintenance. Who are you cheating? It is living your life and your personal decision. Who is it cheating? If you choose to look at it as cheating, the only one it affects is yourself.

RunBakeLove

These "clean" eaters WILL go crazy without a "cheat day" because they havent learned jack **** about moderation. They learned two extremes.

Yup.

tigersword

I always hear people say that they either eat what they want but in moderation or they fit whatever they want into their daily caloric intake. Then they will say that they hate the word cheat because it sounds too restrictive...or something?

Lets be clear here......


The reason most of us on on MFP is because we were too loose with what we ate. Cheat Meals... are meant to restricted because it helps calm our binge trigger. Eating micro-dense foods throughout the week and having a whatever you like for one meal will decrease the trigger in the back of our minds that wants us to stay fat by gorging on high calorie foods. It also teaches self control and prepares you for the maintenance phase when the hard part begins by keeping the weight off.


Opinions?

if your mindset includes the concept of "cheat meals" then you are already dangerously close to binge behavior IMHO.

i say this because i believe you must knowingly be depriving yourself to the point where you are obsessing about food frequently enough to actually need scheduled "cheat meals" to alleviate these food obsessions. that's mentally disordered thinking in my view.

instead, plan your dietary intake around your micronutrional and macronutritional needs and then choose whatever foods you want that meet those needs. if you sometimes want more calories to eat, then offset those calories with extra exercise. if you still come in over your calorie goal some days, then offset it by coming in a little bit under on other days.

this isn't rocket surgery. some people make it much too hard by holding themselves to unrealistic expectations.

This.

cmandd

Different strokes for different folks. Some people can handle it better than others. I eat "clean" Monday - Saturday (and by clean I mean staying within a calorie goal and usually no junk foods), on Sundays I eat what I want, within reasonable standards though I have 3-5K calories. This works for me as it gives me a reward to look forward to, I've lost 122lbs in the last 10 months and never looked back or stopped losing.

Some people couldn't handle that way and would need to find another way of moderation. Everyone is different.

ImpishVanity

I don't have "cheat" days/meals whatever. I eat whatever I want. Being on MFP is more about teaching me it's OK to eat pizza or whatever else - as long as I pay attention to how many calories I'm consuming and work out more to try to offset it. I've lost 22 pounds so far without "dieting" or "cheating" so I have to believe this system is working. No stress, no weird foods to try to eat (cauliflower pizza and such) to try to get my cravings without eating the actual food. No shakes or "meal replacements". None of the stuff my friends are doing to try to lose weight. Just eating fewer calories and working out more. And not stressing when I go over goal - because 90% of the time it's still a deficit even if not as big a one as planned. Yesterday I hit maintenance calories. Not gonna cry about it. For me this is life, not a "diet"

cmandd

if you sometimes want more calories to eat, then offset those calories with extra exercise. if you still come in over your calorie goal some days, then offset it by coming in a little bit under on other days.

this isn't rocket surgery. some people make it much too hard by holding themselves to unrealistic expectations.

This is poor advice and dangerous territory as most people: 1. Overestimate the calories burned in exercise and 2. Don't compensate for the calories later.

sullus

I don't look at nutrition from meal to meal - I look at the week. On a given week, if I have a 3500 Calorie meal of chicken wings, bacon cheeseburger, fries and beer, but am still averaging my daily calorie goal for the week ... I haven't cheated anything. I'm still on track.

bradXdale

All I know is that on this Friday when I go to Joe's Crab Shack...I'm going to destroy crab legs until I turn into a crustacean.

mapnerd2005

I can't do cheat meals. They actually set off my binge trigger. When I follow the "whatever I want in moderation as long it fits into my daily goals" mentality, I don't binge because I'm not depriving myself of anything. When I say, "I can't have that because it's bad, except for a 'cheat' meal", during that cheat meal I will gorge and eat as much as I can because I know I won't be able to have whatever it is until the next cheat meal. I'm also much more prone to caving on non-cheat days due to emotional eating than I otherwise am. If I have a bad day, and say to myself, you know, it was a really bad day, I don't really want to eat what I have planned for dinner but would like something else instead (yes, this is emotional eating), I can re-calculate and find a way to fit in some comfort food I am wanting without getting off track. So maybe I eat two slices of pizza. If I tell myself, "You can't have pizza, it's forbidden", not only will I still eat pizza, I'll probably eat the whole thing and then berate myself for binging.