CHEAT MEAL VS CHEAT DAY

xBeautifulBreakdown

Hello everyone I am pretty new to the site and new to calorie counting as well. I have done weight watchers numerous times and and while it worked well for me, I would get tired of calculating everything so I would quit and gain the weight back. My friend told me about this site and I LOVE it, I think that calorie counting and tracking with MFP is much easier for me and I am less likely to cheat this way. WELL 1200 calories go by pretty quickly and I was wondering how you guys treat yourselves.

Do you give yourself one cheat DAY per week or one cheat MEAL per week. I love good food and don't want to totally deprive myself of it, bc I fear I will get off the wagon and binge then give up so one of these cheat things is definitely necessary. What do you guys prefer? Why does it work for you? and does it help you stay on track?

Thanks so much for the info guys!

Tegan74

There are alot of diff ways to handle that ~ either figure in a treat for yourself every day in your calorie count, or have a cheat day (mines today, can we all say STEAK LOL) or just one meal as long as you keep it in your calorie goal.

Up to you and how your body/mind work on the whole 'diet' thing (I much prefer life style change, hate the word diet!!)

Forensic

In general I say I'm having a 'cheat day', but it's only a meal that pushes the rest of the day over. I only go about 100-300 calories over, in general... or at least, I try to stay near that.

poustotah

I don't cheat any more at all and I always eat REALLY good food. Tonight, in fact, we're having homemade pizza. A tasty whole grain crust that I made with homemade sauce. I'm really excited about it!

chevy88grl

I don't have a cheat day or even a cheat meal. For me, that seems too "diet-ish". This is a lifestyle change, so for me... eating what I want, when I want it - but in moderation is the way to go. I don't feel resentful or anything because I can have whatever I want to have. I make sure I have calories for it (or I go and workout to earn the calories for it!), I eat the serving size of it, I log it and I move on. For me, it keeps me from wanting to binge eat because I can have that Reese's peanut butter cup TODAY vs having to wait for a certain day or meal to have it!

TiDinzeo

It's generally a cheat meal for me. But I always try to make sure that I stay below my daily goal calories. A cople of times I've not managed it, but less often than I thought I would when I first started here.

cuddlyrunner

I weigh on a Wednesday and on that day I eat all my exercise calories from the day before, keeps me in control and on plan,

Gilbrod

What chevygirl said. Today, I am having a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese and fries. Breakfast was kinda healthy today. But I also worked my *kitten* off. All in moderation

gmrgirl

I give myself a *planned* cheat day. this is one day where I KNOW I'm going to go over my caloric limit. I enjoy whatever I want to enjoy that day.... which, surprisingly isn't much different than the other days of the week and I either have a dessert that day (YEA menchies!) or i don't stress if I have a burger and fries.

Planning the cheat day and allowing for it in my life really makes it easier when I look at my tracker for the day and see that i'm over 100-300 calories. *shrug* I planned for it and I ate clean the rest of the week.

The trick for me, I have to enjoy *every* *bite* of what I have on my cheat day. if it's not absolutely satisfying on every level, it was a waste of a cheat day. I don't allow guilt on cheat days. My cheat day was yesterday. I spent 12 hours on the road. I had 2 double decker supreme taco's for dinner (and enjoyed every bite)

Came in 100+ calories under by limit too!

ThePhoenixRose

I don't have a cheat day or even a cheat meal. For me, that seems too "diet-ish". This is a lifestyle change, so for me... eating what I want, when I want it - but in moderation is the way to go. I don't feel resentful or anything because I can have whatever I want to have. I make sure I have calories for it (or I go and workout to earn the calories for it!), I eat the serving size of it, I log it and I move on. For me, it keeps me from wanting to binge eat because I can have that Reese's peanut butter cup TODAY vs having to wait for a certain day or meal to have it!

^^Agreed. I just have little bits of whatever it is I'm craving when I'm craving it, so I don't have to "cheat." Like the pp said, it's a lifestyle, and there's no cheating a lifestyle. But, you do what works for you! Tonight I'm going to a 40th birthday bon fire, and I'm sure I'll eat more than I should, and I'll probably go over, but, I'll eat before I go, and do my best while there.

Papillon22

I don't adhere to the "cheat day" mentality, because who the heck are you cheating anyway? yourself?

I have found healthier alternatives to the meals I eat, like pizza ( homemade and wholegrain), tacos (corn and beans and very little beef), etc. I've been here for 105 days and not once have I felt I was on a diet. If I ever go over my calories, I take a deep breath and tell myself tomorrow is a new day.

for me, planning meals ahead is key. Good luck!

SusanneWhittington

no cheat day, why is there any reason I would want to lie to myself? When I eat over, I ate over, then I cannot expect to loose weight or I exercise like crazy to have the calories to eat something with high calories.

supertracylynn

I factor in one cheat every single day. Some days i take it, some days I don't. I like Starbucks skinny/nonfat options. I like frozen yogurt. I like Skinny Cow ice cream. I like an occasional s'more on a bad day.

I am also a fan of splurging on my favorite fruits or veggies... I like cherries a lot, but they're expensive. So I savor every single one of them. I am really keen on the colorful bell peppers (orange ones are $3.19/lb if you can even find them around here)... I won't even share those with my kids. I tell them, "I know this is healthy, but seriously, it's pricey and you don't always like it. So when you're maki hyoid an money, you can buy your own cherries/orange bell pepper!"

And I refuse to feel bad if I go over my daily calories by 100 or so because I needed to splurge to avoid a binge. My psyche is far more important than always staying under my calories!!

allenpearcy

Cheat meal - usually the day after a super-burn.
Cheat day - usually 1 or 2x per month if progress has been good.

carlarikin

When I first started 2 months ago, I would have a few cheat meals but mostly clean fresh foods. Now I could easily stay away from bad foods and not feel deprived. Keep eating healthy and if you want a cheat meal, go ahead and in time you'll find yourself not wanting processed unhealthy foods anymore.

aclark6818

I don't have a cheat day or even a cheat meal. For me, that seems too "diet-ish". This is a lifestyle change, so for me... eating what I want, when I want it - but in moderation is the way to go. I don't feel resentful or anything because I can have whatever I want to have. I make sure I have calories for it (or I go and workout to earn the calories for it!), I eat the serving size of it, I log it and I move on. For me, it keeps me from wanting to binge eat because I can have that Reese's peanut butter cup TODAY vs having to wait for a certain day or meal to have it!

Can't say it better than this!!!!!
:flowerforyou:

mermx

Every Sunday I go to visit my Dad and we go out for lunch and have a roast dinner. This is my cheat meal once a week.

I am on 1200 cals a day+ exercise cals and on a Sunday I go over by about 300 cals.

Cakepiebeer

There are no "cheat" days or meals. I give myself reward meals.
Cheat is just a nasty word that you need to take out of your head.

And it's better to earn those calories for that meals, as opposed to burn those calories after the meal. Its just a way of thinking that works for me

JulieSD

Today was my 'Cheat' meal. I bought garlic fingers....but I always make sure to be under/at my calorie goal and still eat properly the rest of the day. You can take a peak at my diary, I fill out all the foods I plan on eating for the day and make sure I'm good to go. For me a cheat would be empty calories....and its usually just once a week for me. I don't consider myself on a diet, I consider this normal life and in normal life I eat what I want....I just make better choices.

zenchild

I behave most of the time so I don't beat myself up if I go over now and then. I also try to exercise to make up for it. Tonight, I plan on going to a Chicago-style pizza place. I grew up near Chicago and haven't had good deep-dish pizza since I moved to Georgia 16 years ago. I plan on eating pizza and drinking beer. Lots. However, with this in mind, I skipped a trip to my father-in-law's house this morning because I knew it would be a lot of sitting around and then going out for lunch. I stayed home and spent 4 hours cleaning my house instead. Even after a light lunch I still have over 1200 calories to use.
I figure as long as I'm within my calories the vast majority of the time (and I am), going over once in a while won't hurt me. If I try to tell myself I can't have something, I'll want it even more. And I can only deny myself so long before I get to a point where I don't just fall off the wagon, I leap screaming from the wagon and sprint in the opposite direction.

xBeautifulBreakdown

so much great advice thanks guys! I really like this site, its the support and motivation I have been looking for!

BrewerGeorge

I don't call them cheat days, I call them 'free days.'

But it seems that I might have a different philosophy from some of you because I eat just about whatever I want and DON'T consider it cheating as long as I stay below my calorie goals for the day. Like yesterday's lunch was Firehouse Subs NY Steamer (no mayo) with full-octane Vickie's potato chips. (760 Cal for the meal *ouch*) That throttled my afternoon snack back to 8 - count 'em - 8 raw almonds because that's all the room I had left on the calorie budget with the dinner I had planned.

When I do have a free day I don't find myself changing what I eat as much as adding a couple/three beers to the evening. The last few weeks I haven't even been wanting to do that because I don't want to "mess up" a good day's numbers.

_Ben

Just posted this in another thread, it applies though IMO. BTW go with a cheat meal:

There is some science to this, its not a totally unfounded point, BUT some things to note:

-your body has a certain amount of calories it burns everyday, just due to the fact that you are alive. This is the energy from sleeping, signals being sent throughout the body, and blood flow (not really so much so for your heart actually sustaining pumping, but the blood traveling)
-ontop of that your base calorie usage, everything you do in a day, typing, walking, driving, sitting, even thinking burns calories

With these two above things, we have established our Daily Calories Burned. For this explanation, lets say the daily amount you burn is 2,200 Calories (as per the FDA)

Now everything you eat adds calories. So lets say combing your breakfast, lunch, and dinner (plus snacks), you eat 2,200 calories, which is known as our Gross Calories for the day. If we subtract our gross calories from our Daily Calories Burned, we get a number of 0, or 0 net calories. What this means is for the day, we did not gain, or lose any calories, in otherwords no weight change.

With diet and exercise, we are changing those two variables, inorder to get a lower net calories, meaning more weight loss. So if you are eating less/healthier, that means you will have a lower gross calories, maybe of 1800. So 1800-2200 (daily calories burned)=-400. Just the same is true with adding exercise, you are making you Daily Calories Burned even higher, to make your net calories even lower, causing more weight loss.

Im assuming everyone knows what I just posted above, but its important to say before moving into my main point.

When your body gets used to a decreased calorie amount, it decreases the amount of calories it burns in a day. For example, if you are on a diet of only 1,600 as opposed to your old 2,200 calorie diet, you body may lower its Daily Calories Burned to somewhere like 1,800. That difference of 200 calories may be causing weight loss, but not as much as it did on the 2,200 Daily Calories Burned.

The idea of a cheat day is that you eat more than you typically would, in hopes that your body will go back to a higher Daily Calories Burned. For example if you body is at the 1,800 calories and you trick it into going up to 2,200 calories, you will be bruning an extra 400 calories once you return to your diet again. So in idea, with a cheat day, you are trying to get your body to sustain that higher Daily Calories Burned, causeing faster weight loss

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BUT

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This can be dangerous if done wrong. The reasoning is this: Lets say you go all out, and on your cheat day eat 3,000 calories, which is 1,400 than the 1,600 calories you ate yesterday, almost double. The problem is without proper exercise (which increases not only your Daily Calories Burned, but also your metabolism) and other elements, you could actually GAIN weight. The reason is if you were eating 2,200 calories like you were prior to your diet, and then one day ate 3,000 calories, thats only a 800 calorie gain. If you are eating a 1,600 calorie diet (Daily Calories Burned of 1800), that is a 1200 calorie gain, which is significantly higher.
Most people overdo cheat days, and thats why their benifits are normally lost or pointless. If you wanted to do a cheat day, increasing by only 400 calories or so is a safe bet, because it will increase your Daily Calories Burned, without causing any real potential for weight gain.

Just as well, sometimes one day alone isnt enought for your body to react to the increase in calories. The best option really is to go for a zigzag diet. This is where you pretty much go 2 days with a higher calorie diet, than 3 lower, 2 higher, 3 lower. An example would be something like maybe going 2 days eating 1,800 calories, then 3 at 1,400. This will sustain a higher calories burned, but will not have any real potential for great weight gain.



Wow that was a long post, hope it helped

stormieweather

I don't cheat. What I do is have 1 week, every three months, where I eat at maintenance. To figure what that is, go to Home > Goals and look at the right hand side for "calories burned from normal daily activity". That is considered your maintenance. So, for one full week every three months, I eat those calories every day. For me, that's about 1750. During that week, I can have my ice cream, my pasta, a larger breakfast, two slices of cheese on my wrap for lunch, a beer or two, etc. I do not go over and I don't eat the unhealthy foods I don't eat normally (fast food, preservatives, etc.). This helps reset my leptin levels and my sanity. The rest of the three months, I eat at or slightly under goal and I don't mind a bit.

BrewerGeorge

I don't know about the rest of you all, but the logic behing MY free days is mental health, not trying to trick the body into burning more.

omgitsgarry

I go with a cheat day, because I don't log what I eat that day, but it mostly is just a meal unless company is over. If we have people over, the meal is out the door and it's a full blown day. I try not to feel bad about it. Over time, I've gotten better with my full out binges, so It's not like it's going to kill my scale anymore.

fyfi_fendir

I agree with what is said before. Losing weight has been a lifestyle change for me. I have learned to cook vegetable better and cut off on carbs. I don't have cheat days, because I eat every day what I feel like it. I have shift to something more healthy than I used to but if I feel like burger or pizza I do. Chocolate is my absolute "peche mignon". I reward myself every 5lb lost with some but always count it in my calories like any other snack.
The great advantage of tracking is that you know where you are at all time. It has often happened to me that it is 5pm, I have 500 cals left (enough for dinner), but I know today I really want some dessert. Then I exercise accordingly. It really helps to plan ahead, even log before you start eating.
The only days I go over are generally when I am invited or eat out but I try to limit it to 2-3 times a months and if I can I'll make for it during the week by exercising more.
This is a long process, if I am eating out and eat more then I will not lose weight that week... No big deal as long as it is not every week... Moderation is definitely the key.

theonlychuck

I don't have a cheat day or even a cheat meal. For me, that seems too "diet-ish". This is a lifestyle change, so for me... eating what I want, when I want it - but in moderation is the way to go. I don't feel resentful or anything because I can have whatever I want to have. I make sure I have calories for it (or I go and workout to earn the calories for it!), I eat the serving size of it, I log it and I move on. For me, it keeps me from wanting to binge eat because I can have that Reese's peanut butter cup TODAY vs having to wait for a certain day or meal to have it!

absolutely love this, it makes so much since!!

isyslove

I don't have a cheat day or even a cheat meal. For me, that seems too "diet-ish". This is a lifestyle change, so for me... eating what I want, when I want it - but in moderation is the way to go. I don't feel resentful or anything because I can have whatever I want to have. I make sure I have calories for it (or I go and workout to earn the calories for it!), I eat the serving size of it, I log it and I move on. For me, it keeps me from wanting to binge eat because I can have that Reese's peanut butter cup TODAY vs having to wait for a certain day or meal to have it!

That is exactly what I do,

shrinkingviolet23

I weigh in on a Friday so generally that is my "cheat day" however like someone else mentioned, it's a lifestyle change. I find that being good all through the week and having a bit of something naughty at the weekend is really working for me. My issue before is that every day was a cheat day!

fionat29

I don't cheat as such. If I know I'm going to want something that will take me over my cals I try very hard to make sure I do extra exercise to earn it!!