Too Cheat, Or not too cheat that is my question

Car0lynnM

Don't CHEAT, just enjoy life as it happens. If you're planning a night out with friends on Friday, for example, then plan for it. Get in a good work out if time allows, eat nutritious balanced meals for breakfast and lunch, then have what you want for dinner and drinks. Log it if you can. Know that when things come up, you can handle it because the rest of the week has been great.

RainxPain

I have a cheat day every Saturday. I'm trying to cut back and only have a cheat day every 2 weeks. So far the longest I've made it is 12 days. Progress! (:
And ever since I have been doing this I went from 136.3 pounds to 125.5 pounds.

jsickman12

I have a meal every once in a while(maybe once or twice a month) where I exceed my calorie limit, it isn't a "cheat" day, it is over eating plain and simple. The only one you are cheating is yourself if you don't change your lifestyle or your habits, having a "cheat" day sounds an aweful lot like an excuse.

amymichelle1226

I don't usually have cheat days, usually just cheat meals for special occasions (work parties, birthdays, family get togethers, etc.). Otherwise I stick to my calorie goal. If I do want something a little more unhealthy, I work out that day. And even on the special occasions, I really try to work out some, even if I still go over my calorie goal I've at least burned some calories so I don't feel too guilty about it. And that's really only happened a couple of times, it's not a regular thing.

There's nothing that I haven't allowed myself to have since I've been doing this (6 months). I can't have as much of those things or as often but I've had it all in the last 6 months, and I've still been consistently losing. I just gotta work for it!

Lesa_Sass

I refused to believe a spike would help me, until I went on vacation, ate what I wanted the whole week and came home and lost 2 lbs when I weighed. (was hitting around .4 lbs a week loss at that point)

I did a spike meal with dessert on Fridays if I had a good calorie burn that day, good calorie burn was done because I wanted my spike meal. So it worked out well for me when I was in weight loss mode.

My trainer encouraged me to eat spike meals because he said my body would get used to the amount of food I was eating, I have since seen evidence of that.

My suggestion is to try it and see what happens, but not in the first 3 weeks.

RunHardBeStrong

I have an 90/10 rule. 90% healthy, 10% indulgence. This allows me 2-3 "cheats" a week. Works well for me!

robm674

I think it's important TO cheat periodically, otherwise your body will adjust, and your results won't be as good as they could be. (Tends to crank up the metabolism a little bit) The human body has an annoying habit of getting used to what we throw at it.(plateau) This requires a little mixing things up. How much and how often you can determine for yourself, everybody is different. I think its also helpful from a sanity perspective.

sozisfitnow

Too early days for me to cheat

trophywife24

In a typical week, I will have one meal that I normally would not eat. It works for me. I'm trying to steer away from it being fast food though, mostly because I just do not want to eat that anymore and it's (((((finally)))))) starting to gross me out.

Justkritter

For one I don't really consider eating the stuff I like as cheating since I check if it would still fit on my macros. And I'm strict with my serving sizes so yeah. Considering also I'm eating over 2000 cal a day and still adding til 2500 cal those small pleasures can surely be squeezed if I feel like eating it.

NikkiSixGuns

I don't cheat. There's nothing on my "cannot have" list, so nothing would be considered "cheating". I just work it into my budget for the day, log it, and all is well. I do tend to calorie zig-zag, so I if there's something particularly calorie-dense that I want, I'll usually fit it into a day with a higher budget.

bcattoes

I don't have cheat meals, but I do have occasions. And on occasions, I eat more than usual. Sometimes I don't even have time to exercise that day because of the occasion. But as long as the occasions only happen occasionally, it's no problem.

wcso911mn

I don't have cheat meals, but I do have occasions. And on occasions, I eat more than usual. Sometimes I don't even have time to exercise that day because of the occasion. But as long as the occasions only happen occasionally, it's no problem.

LOL! Love the overuse of "occasion" and its varities. :laugh:

Kempie27

Thanks for all the reply's people and i hope i never offended anyone calling it a 'cheat' meal

I was not planning on having any treats as I want to get to grips with the healthier lifestyle first as i too love pizza and everything that is bad for me but after people saying if I restrict myself I might fail then maybe a cheat meal is a good option for me and yes I would still put it on MFP for everyone to see lol :-)

Im the kid of person if I have something 'bad' I struggle to continue to be 'good' so a daily 'Trest' for me is out of the window but if I made it a weekend thing with the kids for 1 meal I think I would be fine.

I also like to go out for a good night on the town and drink loads of beer and spiced rum with coke (FIZZY JUICE KIND lol ) but I am not going to touch a drop until I think I have earned it.

As for meal portion size :-o I am NO good at portion control as I am a greedy man lol (this is why I am here ) but I have realised that I can still eat loads of things but they have to be the right things.

keep the reply's coming folks :-)

jamesdrobbinsiii

Having one cheat a week is fine. Just eat clean and healthy for the most part of the week and exercise. If you starve yourself of those "comfort foods", then you're more likely to indulge massively. Therefore, just eat your sweets in moderation!

SadKitty27

I do not do well with "cheat meals" or "treats." I end up getting this mentality that tries to justify having more diet cheat meals or treats than I should, and then before you know it my diet is devastated and I'm making excuses as to why I need to keep delaying getting back on my diet.

SugarBoomBoom

I don't really go in on the whole "cheat" idea. I'm changing the way I eat which means much healthier most of the time. This isn't a "diet" it's a new way of living which means there are no "cheats". It's all available whenever I want it and I make adjustments with the rest of my food or exercise. If I truly am going to go wild and am having a night out with chinese or pizza or whatever I just do it because I know that it's just one meal and I don't eat like that 99% of the time any more. I still don't throw the towel in, though, and eat the worst deep fried, cheese coated meal but make a somewhat healther choice from the options and enjoy.

You don't have to go crazy in order to have a so called "cheat" food. For example, today a co-worker brought in these tasty rice krispy treats with peanut butter cups, chocolate and butterscotch. I had one...a small one. I didn't hesitate. It will be part of my calorie intake for the day. I'm trying to change my lifestyle so if that means the weight comes off slower then I am fine with it. Drastic changes don't work for me. I want this to be the last time I have to loose a significant amount of weight.

^THIS!

Double this^^^^^ Instead of "cheat" say "treat". One meal a week won't harm. I have one day a week when I can have a special rare treat meal and some wine - because for me every day is a treat if you are eating healthy food anyway. This helps me to stay sane, it keeps everyone around me safe from harm, and I don't end up as a whiny "can't eat this, can't eat that" woman spoiling everyone's fun. You can move your treat meal around depending on your social activities. I am using mine so I can eat with my family on Sundays, or eat out. Chances are once you are well into the healthy eating you will be unlikely to want the really unhealthy stuff anyway.

marinebiologist_girl

I don't tell myself I'm on a diet, so cheat whenever I like, so long as it's within reason. A wee treat, every day or two, sometimes consecutive days, but go for a few squares of chocolate rather than the whole bar, for example.

essaryswife73

Just wanted to say I believe in this philosophy! Being a lifestyle change means to choose whether to indulge or not --if you choose it gets rolled into total intake for the day and its a special treat not a cheating meal. I had a month of cheating and I gained alot of weight so the whole nix a day or meal for me will NOT work and I pay for it later. Better to stay on track and healthy.

I don't really go in on the whole "cheat" idea. I'm changing the way I eat which means much healthier most of the time. This isn't a "diet" it's a new way of living which means there are no "cheats". It's all available whenever I want it and I make adjustments with the rest of my food or exercise. If I truly am going to go wild and am having a night out with chinese or pizza or whatever I just do it because I know that it's just one meal and I don't eat like that 99% of the time any more. I still don't throw the towel in, though, and eat the worst deep fried, cheese coated meal but make a somewhat healther choice from the options and enjoy.

You don't have to go crazy in order to have a so called "cheat" food. For example, today a co-worker brought in these tasty rice krispy treats with peanut butter cups, chocolate and butterscotch. I had one...a small one. I didn't hesitate. It will be part of my calorie intake for the day. I'm trying to change my lifestyle so if that means the weight comes off slower then I am fine with it. Drastic changes don't work for me. I want this to be the last time I have to loose a significant amount of weight.