Cheat Meals

laughingfox

Okay, so, some "outings" are approaching, and I am kinda freaking out. :noway: Mainly, a birthday dinner (probably at Red Lobster) for my Gramma...

I have heard a lot of you talk about "cheat meals", and I have a few questions!

How "badly" do you "cheat" when you allow yourself a cheat meal? Examples would be great. :flowerforyou:

Furthermore, how often do you allow yourself a cheat meal? What if two "outings" come within a few weeks of eachother?

I want to ENJOY going out with my family, and some "indulgence food" would be divine, but I don't wanna ruin everything. How do I know how MUCH I can enjoy it without hating myself for four weeks afterward? :sick:

Thanks to anyone and everyone who has any advice. I think I may actually be having a panic attack...oh Lord. :embarassed:

lizzys

red lobster has a lot of great choices for your diet i would never have a cheat meal i would try to stay with in my calories even when i go out or on birthday this is away of life you have to learn to live this way all the time if you want to eat some thing that is outrageous and will send you over earn exercise calories theri is allways a way

KFBear21

What I do is eat under my calories for a day or 2 and then I feel less guilty about my cheat meal ...I feel like for the week It balanced out and I planned ahead. I also may work out alittle harder that week to account for the extra calories! I use to be on weight watchers at one time and that is what they allowed you to do with their point system..I just use the calorie system the same way If I dont use the extra calories by weeks end I lose them. Hope this helps!

135gratitude

I never cheat! Well, sometimes I make bad choices (e.g. those cheddar biscuits at Red Lobbster would count) but I work them into my calories. Always! For me, if I start to go over on the calories, I lose sight of the goal, and then it is a down hill slid. I, personally, need to stay focused!

Have a "cheat" meal, but within the calories for the day. Go for an extra run on those days!
:flowerforyou:

neenaleigh

i just went over my calories by about 680! i suppose this would be a cheat, but i am going to go to the gym. i probably wont burn all 680 but, at least i will not be over over on my daily calories. 1710 is what i burn normally and right now im up over 1800! this i would consider a "cheat" day

sorry if i dont make a lot of sense, im high on food!

iRun4wine

Red Lobster has an AWESOME nutrition guide and interactive meal maker on their website. If you're worried, you could always be good at Red Lobster and treat yourself at your other outing. Check out their website- it's great :flowerforyou:

ctucker07

I have to give myself a "cheat meal" every now and then. Nothing TOO crazy, but if you deprive yourself all the time you'll drive yourself crazy and end up sabotaging all you've worked for. This is supposed to be a lifestyle change and can yo uhonestly say that you'll never eat (insert favorite food here...lol) for the rest of your life? You just have to find a way to fit it into your week, extra exercise and really good chioces the rest of the time. At least I find that it works for me.

Azdak

Red Lobster has an AWESOME nutrition guide and interactive meal maker on their website. If you're worried, you could always be good at Red Lobster and treat yourself at your other outing. Check out their website- it's great :flowerforyou:

I agree--the information is excellent--and informative.

Personally, I would focus on doing some planning to make the meal fit into your overall program, rather than the whole "cheat meal' idea. Especially if you are just starting out. Not only will you not have to worry as much about a setback, but I found that I came away with a great feeling of confidence, knowing I could "have my restaurant meal and eat it too", figuring out a way to do it within what was, at the time, my normal 600-650 dinner calorie "budget".

Oh, and doing an extra workout the day of dinner doesn't hurt either.

Of course, I can't say I really "deprived" myself, unless you count portion control as "deprivation". Giving up a lot of the junk food was actually pretty easy. And I purposely did not focus on "diet" meals or overly contrived meals or food prep. I kept most of my "favorite" foods in the plan--just ate less of them.

chatonne

Try not to do it, and order a nice salad instead. It will be tempting to order something unhealthy since you labelled the day as a 'cheat day' so unless you have great self restraint, you will go over your calorie/fat intake. Restaurant servings are usually too generous for one person anyways.
Think of it this way... once you reach your goal weight, you won't need to restrict yourself so much, hence increasing how much you eat. Wait for that day to come.
In my opinion, 'cheats' shouldn't be a huge dinner, but rather a small induglence. That way, you don't feel horrible afterwards.

SHBoss1673

If you go on their website, click on the Seafood and Health link, they give you some excellent choices there. One of the better places to go if you are going out to eat actually. Seafood in general is a good choice, as long as you don't go deep fried.

madmama

try to make the most informed choice. I use online nutritional guides to plan my cheat meals so that they still work into my daily calorie intake. Watch out for things that look good but are still high in calories, sodium, sugar; these looks good things can even include salads.

stormieweather

I go to an all you can eat buffet a couple of times a month. I have a couple of rules that really do help.

1) Make wise choices - avoid the stuff I won't even eat at home (white pasta, sauces, gravy, etc.)
2) Log everything - write it on a notepad as I eat, and log here later
3) Only eat 1/2 of whatever I put on my plate. Always leave some untouched. Wasteful maybe, but it works for me.
4) If I really, really want a certain dish...then by all means...have some.
5) Desserts are fine - as long as rules 1 - 4 are followed.
6) Work out on the day I go to the buffet.
7) Never eat to discomfort.


As I began to work out the rules, I found that I went way over my calories. But with time, it has gotten to where I don't go over and sometimes, even struggle to meet them.

laughingfox

Thank you SO much you guys. All your advice is really helpful -- thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom with me. It sucks to hear "Don't do it! Don't eat it!", but that is the right thing to do, so I will do it. No Cajun Chicken linguine for me! That has been the hardest part of this whole thing -- giving up creamy pastas! My absolute favorite.

Stormie -- thank you so much for the "Seven Rules"! Those are GREAT! I am going to write them down in my journal. That is probably the most useful bit of advice I've gotten since starting MFP. :flowerforyou:

I am going to look at the Red Lobster site, and try to pick out something good! I'll let you guys know what I am thinking in a while.

Thanks again and again.
- Sarah

cheshirekat

If you are feeling like eating something, I wouldn't deprive yourself, just practice moderation. Find out how many calories are in what you want to eat and see if you can order it a particular way to have less calories/ fat. I always bring a ziploc container and put at least half of it away before I even start eating and then give it to my dad or something to eat later (if you don't want to take it home for fear of eating it, ask the waiter for another plate with your dinner, clear half of it on there and have him take it away) If its something really high in calories maybe you can only eat like 1/4 of it to fit within your calories, and then you have to ask yourself if it is really worth it, maybe you would enjoy something healthier and less calorie dense just as much and be able to eat more of it.

Some tips,
eat slowly and enjoy and savor every bite like it was your last meal. I believe all meals should be eaten in this manner. Put your fork down between bites and take time to really chew your food.
Eat something small and healthy before you go to spoil your appetite so you are not ravenously hungry and more prone to overeat, like an apple or some carrot and celery sticks with hummus. You can also order a small side salad as an appetizer (choose a healthy oil-based dressing like balsamic vinaigrette or oil and red wine vinegar and use as little as possible - I always dip my fork in the dressing and then spear some salad afterward instead of pouring it on).
Drink a big glass of water (with lemon or lime if you like) while you are waiting for your food to ensure you are not dehydrated, which can cause false hunger. Also drink water consistently throughout that day.
Stop eating when you are about 80% full. Being 100% full is uncomfortable and tends to make one lethargic and lazy.
Avoid appetizers such as bread with butter, deep fried foods, cheese or cream based foods, etc
Exercise is always good. Do a little more this day than you normally do to give yourself a little lee-way if you do eat a bit too much. After the meal, enjoy a long walk with your family or friends.

Hope this helps

kroger7

My number one tip for when I want a special treat is to plan ahead!! Work out extra hard that day and use the nutrition info online to decide before hand what you're going to have, and then program it into your food diary so you can make sure you don't go over (or at least not too far over). Then, make sure you stick to your decision once you get to the restaurant and see all the yummy stuff everyone else is ordering. Trust me, you'll feel much better if you only treat yourself a little and don't go crazy.

Good luck and enjoy the meal!:flowerforyou:

kokonutmama

Something that's worked for me is to be very mindful of what I really want, and eat exactly that: no more, no less. So, if you're looking at the dessert menu and by golly you really, really, want that triple fat sugar bomb 10k calorie on a plate whatever, order it... then after each bite, ask yourself if you really really want the next bite. When the answer is "not _really_ " give it to someone else or have the server take it away. A lot of times I find, when I'm really honest with myself, if ice cream catches my eye, I'm thirsty, if cookies catch my eye, I'm tired, etc. Be honest with yourself and don't splurge on calories just for the sake of splurging; that's my advice.