Weekly Cheat Meal Question

laurx3o

Hi guys,

So I just started the "weekly cheat meal" thing, and I was wondering how many extra calories you are supposed to consume during this meal. Also, if you crave french fries every week, would this be an acceptable weekly cheat as long as it fits into your goals, or should I switch it up? The whole thing is kind of confusing for me...lol. I want to enjoy the meal without going overboard, and I'm not sure what would be considered overboard for a cheat.

Thanks!!

Branstin

I never understood the concept of cheating in terms of weight loss. Work the foods you like into your calorie budget. If you want more food, eat at your calorie maintenance level from time to time. You could eat French fries every day or switch it up. The choice is yours.

countscalories

I never understood the concept of cheating in terms of weight loss. Work the foods you like into your calorie budget. If you want more food, eat at your calorie maintenance level from time to time. You could eat French fries every day or switch it up. The choice is yours.

BINGO!

itsbasschick

exactly!

and learning to budget your calories will serve you well once you're in maintenance.

I never understood the concept of cheating in terms of weight loss. Work the foods you like into your calorie budget. If you want more food, eat at your calorie maintenance level from time to time. You could eat French fries every day or switch it up. The choice is yours.

jillxmadelynne

I am going to do a bi-monthly cheat day. On my cheat day I still don't go over my calories but I allow myself to fill those calories with less than ideal food. My cheat day was two or three days ago and I ate the Chinese food I was craving but chose foods that would keep me under my limit for the rest of the day. I also did lighter physical activity. Instead of 10-15 miles of bike riding I took a walk around the neighborhood. I agree with everyone else about the fries. If you want them on your cheat day, go for them. If you have a day where you are doing very well and can work them in, go for it. Heck, I have a bunch of ice cream bars sitting in my freezer (not all for me) but if I have a really awesome day, cheat day or not, I'm going for one!

iggyboo93

I am going to do a bi-monthly cheat day. On my cheat day I still don't go over my calories but I allow myself to fill those calories with less than ideal food. My cheat day was two or three days ago and I ate the Chinese food I was craving but chose foods that would keep me under my limit for the rest of the day. I also did lighter physical activity. Instead of 10-15 miles of bike riding I took a walk around the neighborhood. I agree with everyone else about the fries. If you want them on your cheat day, go for them. If you have a day where you are doing very well and can work them in, go for it. Heck, I have a bunch of ice cream bars sitting in my freezer (not all for me) but if I have a really awesome day, cheat day or not, I'm going for one!

^^this. Today was my "free to eat what I really crave" meal after weighing in at the support group. Still managed to keep the calories under my daily limit. Not a big fan of using the term "cheat" - are we really cheating when we keep under our caloric limit?

Kamirose9047

For the most part, I plan ahead for my splurge meals. For example, tonight I'll be going out to eat with my friends at a burger place. I have around 1200 calories saved up - a combination of eating 88 calories for breakfast and 500-ish for lunch - and I've been taking a break at work every hour to take around 1000 steps (a couple laps around the building). On top of that, I'll be walking to and from the restaurant, around a mile each way. All in all, I should have plenty to have a burger and fries, and even if I go over, I won't be above maintenance.

If I get a surprise invite out or something, though, I don't really worry. I eat what I want, track it as accurately as I can, and if I'm over my calorie goal, I divide that number by seven, and I eat that many calories under my goal gradually over the next week. If I'm WAY over my goal, I might divide by ten, or fourteen, and spread it out longer so I'm not hungry. (A great way I've figured out to keep track of those extra calories is to add them as quick calories to each of those days, so I don't have to do the calculations in my head)

That way, I can basically eat guilt-free when the craving to do so strikes, or when I want to go out and enjoy myself. Beating myself up over my choices is what leads me to overeat, so as long as I account for my choices and have a reasonable way to deal with them, I don't have the need to cheat and I don't feel like I'm depriving myself.

chrisdavey

If you want your fries, fit them in. That is what calorie counting is for.

If you are doing some sort of CKD, then there are specifics for a refeed that you should aim for. If it is for psychological benefit rather than physiological just eat what you want and enjoy

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brucedelaney

Okay here's my opinion for the average person. People have cheat meals and cheat days because they think that their metabolism is too slow without them. In my opinion, you have to make a choice. What tastes better? Getting thinner or eating that cake? Now nobody is perfect. There are times when you may slip. As long as you're doing the right thing the vast majority, like 95 to 99 percent of the time, you'll succeed. Like there are times you might not watch every calorie at a special event. So you just move on and get back on your program right away. But my point is that it's okay to slip up once in a great while and you shouldn't feel bad about it. But don't go WAYY overboard when you're eating something bad. Still keep it under control, because you don't want to have extra calories that you need to burn off. You want to be ahead of the game. So don't PLAN on cheat meals. I think it's okay to eat a little more if you've lost a lot of weight and happen to be a little extra hungry that day. But for the most part, I don't believe that cheat meals are conducive for weight loss. And I certainly don't believe in eating 7000 calories on your cheat day.

Bottom line is get to your goal first. That's the way I see it. Once you get to your goal, you might not need to be on an extreme diet anymore. You just need to eat healthy, and can loosen up at times, but any additional calories have to be burned off and that's why working out consistently is important once one has reached their target weight.

Odd, I have a full cheat day every week and have been posting losses of 1.5 to 2.5 lbs per week....

Truth of the matter is, yes metabolism does indeed slow down, but not nearly as quickly as people think. A lot of people find over all diet adhearance to be easier with a "cheat meal" or "cheat day." Some research even suggests that it has other benefits like the restoration of certain hormonal levels that deplete in a caloric deficit. For some that lift heavy like myself, It allows me to restore my glycogen stores and allows me to have usually the most intense workout of the week the day after it. Lastly if you're going to have a "cheat day" don't call it that... it's such a negative way to look at it. I like to call it a spike day and bodybuilders call them refeed days.

When I first looked into spike days, I was skeptical, but once I did the math, I saw that I would still lose the weight at the rate I wanted to so for me it works. I'm strict for 6 days because I know on day 7 I can rest and celebrate another good week of weight loss. I've only gone from 275 to 208 using this method, so what do I know?

StaciMarie1974

I don't do a cheat meal or day, but sometimes will have a day where I don't aim for a deficit. Such as Tuesday was my anniversary, we ended up going out for wings, and it was a non-scale victory for me to relax a little and do something that I couldn't control 100%. (Estimating on amount of sauce used on wings. I've become a little obsessive about tracking accurately.) I figure worst case scenario, I finished the day at maintenance.

I'm in this for me, and I can't cheat on myself. Whatever you call it you have to find a way of living so that food, nutrition, activity, etc. all fit in your life in a way that helps you meet your goals for long term success.

laurx3o

Thanks everyone! This helps.

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