Is one cheat meal going to mess up your diet?

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  • Ribena145
    Ribena145 Posts: 201 Member
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    Any chance of doing a bit of exercise earlier in the day to "rev" up your metabolism? It's also a good way to help alleviate any quilty feelings.
  • onedayillbeamilf
    onedayillbeamilf Posts: 966 Member
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    If I'm spending $100 for two people for one meal, calories will be the least of my worries.
  • jmduvall22
    jmduvall22 Posts: 11 Member
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    I've done a cheat day once a week since I've started losing weight. Just enjoy yourself and get back on track after.
  • SPNLuver83
    SPNLuver83 Posts: 2,050 Member
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    Nope. I regularly have cheat meals.
  • LivingstonIpresume
    LivingstonIpresume Posts: 83
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    I personally recommend that everyone gives themselves one cheat meal per week. Initially I thought it was the worst idea ever but the fact is that most of us on this site are here because we eat too much, eat bad crap, binge, or have poor impulse control (I could say I tend to be all of the above). I have a tendency to go to extremes when taking on a goal, If I'm working out, I'm working my butt off or not at all, and I'm generally incapable of sustaining a middle ground. Sounds great except that means when I screw up with my diet I spiral out of control and give up. Telling myself I have one "cheat" meal a week (it started as 3) keeps me from beating myself up for making a mistake with my meal planning as well as keeping me from being so rigid and regimented that any change means failure. I call it making an offer to the little fat kid inside (so he'll leave me alone).
  • Jade17694
    Jade17694 Posts: 584 Member
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    One meal will make no difference. Hell if it did i would be in BIG trouble lol! Go, eat and enjoy yourself :)
  • _Schatzi_
    _Schatzi_ Posts: 112 Member
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    No! I try to aim for a weekly average (same as my daily calorie goal). I'm always surprised that my weekly average is actually about 200cal below my daily average!

    I think if your under your weekly goal, it's been a sucessful week. And also keeps me from stressing on days I go a bit over. Life happens!
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
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    One day will totally not ruin anything. I do it a few times a month, and have lost weight steadily, without any issue.

    What I do, though, is some extra cardio or other workout that day, so that at least I feel like I made up for it somehow (totally doesn't balance out at all, but it helps me feel like my body earned itself a treat.)

    Enjoy yourself! Cheat meals now and then are good for you mentally. They keep you normal. :)
  • claire7090
    claire7090 Posts: 67
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    One day will not send you off track, I too am due for a bad day tomorrow as it is my sons birthday party and I will have piece of the birthday cake I have lovingly made him and I will be enjoying his birthday meal.

    A treat meal is real life and MFP is in my opinion about a life change and real life has birthdays it is what we do the rest of the year that brings about that permanent chage we all want.
  • Tourney3p0
    Tourney3p0 Posts: 290 Member
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    Lots of people saying it will make no difference. Fact is, it will absolutely make a difference in the short term. Not really in the long term. The good news is that it's very easy to calculate.

    Add 250 calories per half pound you're trying to lose. If you're set to 1 lb a week, your number is 500, and so on.

    As a second number, add up the calories you overeat during your "cheat meal". Divide by the number above. This is how many days it will take you to undo the damage done by the cheat meal.

    For example, if your MFP goal is half a pound per week, your first number is 250. If you overeat by 1000 calories in your cheat meal, you're losing (1000/250) = 4 days worth of progress.
  • ses0786
    ses0786 Posts: 31 Member
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    Hi have a cheat meal every week on a saturday for dinner. One meal is fine, but I have read to try and not make it the whole day. Enjoy!
  • kencarpenter792
    kencarpenter792 Posts: 54 Member
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    It will ruin your week if you don't account for it. I eat 1800 calories every day. To maintain my weight I need to eat about 2500. That is a deficit of 700 calories a day, or 4900 a week (roughly a pound and a half. But on my cheat day I usually eat about 4000-5000 calories. (I really pig out, lol). taking that in to account, that now equals less than half a pound. Quite a difference, and almost not worth it. Is that 4 pieces of pizza, 2 pieces of cheesecake, big bowl of icecream, and 3 brownies worth and entire week of suffering at a calorie deficit. You really have to calculate everything.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    It will ruin your week if you don't account for it. I eat 1800 calories every day. To maintain my weight I need to eat about 2500. That is a deficit of 700 calories a day, or 4900 a week (roughly a pound and a half. But on my cheat day I usually eat about 4000-5000 calories. (I really pig out, lol). taking that in to account, that now equals less than half a pound. Quite a difference, and almost not worth it. Is that 4 pieces of pizza, 2 pieces of cheesecake, big bowl of icecream, and 3 brownies worth and entire week of suffering at a calorie deficit. You really have to calculate everything.

    Why are you resurrecting a year old thread? OP clearly fell off the wagon too, as she still shows 15 lbs lost 1.5 year later...
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    You will be fine.
  • qtgonewild
    qtgonewild Posts: 1,930 Member
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    im not on a diet so i dont know
  • kenyonl85
    kenyonl85 Posts: 217 Member
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    I find that when I have an off day with a somewhat fat ridden meal, I actually still seem to lose my normal amount of weight that week. I think it resets my metabo or something.
  • qtgonewild
    qtgonewild Posts: 1,930 Member
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    It will ruin your week if you don't account for it. I eat 1800 calories every day. To maintain my weight I need to eat about 2500. That is a deficit of 700 calories a day, or 4900 a week (roughly a pound and a half. But on my cheat day I usually eat about 4000-5000 calories. (I really pig out, lol). taking that in to account, that now equals less than half a pound. Quite a difference, and almost not worth it. Is that 4 pieces of pizza, 2 pieces of cheesecake, big bowl of icecream, and 3 brownies worth and entire week of suffering at a calorie deficit. You really have to calculate everything.

    Why are you resurrecting a year old thread? OP clearly fell off the wagon too, as she still shows 15 lbs lost 1.5 year later...

    right
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,862 Member
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    Tomorrow is my husband's birthday and we are taking him to Melting Pot which is a fondue restaurant. It is a 4 course meal that includes a cheese fondue, a chocolate fondue, a salad, and chicken,shrimp, and sirloin. We haven't been there in a long time so we are surprising him. The thing is, the place prices by couples so for my husband and I it is $100. Therefore, I feel like it would be a waste of money if I just had a salad. If I have a little bit of everything, will it completely ruin my diet? I mean, it is only one day. Not sure what to do....
    Nothing ruins my diet since I'm not on a diet.

    Do as you wish but if it were me, I'd eat a little of everything and allow myself to go over my normal calorie allowance within reason. What I never do is use a special occasion as an excuse to binge. Going on a single food binge won't make you fat either but one leads to another. Have fun!

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