Too Cheat, Or not too cheat that is my question

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Replies

  • NikkiSixGuns
    NikkiSixGuns Posts: 630 Member
    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
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    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
    wcso911mn Posts: 68 Member
    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
    Kempie27 Posts: 17
    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
    jamesdrobbinsiii Posts: 4
    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
    SadKitty27 Posts: 416 Member
    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.
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  • SugarBoomBoom
    SugarBoomBoom Posts: 67
    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
    marinebiologist_girl Posts: 300
    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
    essaryswife73 Posts: 81 Member
    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.
  • an8e
    an8e Posts: 33 Member
    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.

    I had an identical experience over the Christmas holidays. Went on a gourmet food trail: thought for sure I was going to put on a few kilos- I lost weight... yippee!! But that is probably because I do work out most days and try to eat well for the most part: my body was ready to BURN whatever I ate while on holidays recovering.

    Was the BEST Christmas present!
  • kimad
    kimad Posts: 3,010 Member
    I have a whole cheat day, sometimes two per week!
    But I don't eat back any of my exercise calories and try to keep the remaining days 1300ish calories (sometimes less sometimes a bit more) Has worked for me.

    ETA: When I say cheat day, I don't mean I go hog wild and gorge myself. I probably eat 2000-2500 depending how much booze is involved... sometimes they are 1700. Just have what I want.
  • Babeskeez
    Babeskeez Posts: 606 Member
    I have been at this a week tomorrow. Take what I have to say with a grain of salt....


    How many people agree with having a cheat day/meal? I agree 100%. I feel like for me, I would have nothing to look forward to on the weekends if I didnt cheat. As much as people say (just people any people) that food should not be a reward, the truth is that most of our lives are built around food. I see a good time with good food and good BOOZE!

    How often do you have one? Once a week. As my weight loss goes on I may do it twice a week. But right now just once. I do a cheat meal at night on a friday or saturday and have as many alcoholic beverages as I want. :drinker: :blushing:
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    I cheat but don't like calling it cheating, I think that has negative connotations, I also don't call it a reward because I don't want food to be a reward. My husband and I call it date night where we go to a nice restaurant and we try and find new ones with lots of vegetarian options. I get want I want and we try and figure out calorie content. :) We go out once a week typically.
  • ChelseaM18
    ChelseaM18 Posts: 303
    It kinda depends on where you want to be and where you're at right now. If you have a high body fat and are trying to get that down, a cheat day every week isn't going to allow you to make AS much progress each week, a cheat meal once, twice a week or maybe even two weeks if you have the willpower which be much more beneficial to lose body fat. If you're trying to maintain, sure a cheat day won't do much harm, once you burn it off, but a cheat meal would be more appropriate to maintain per say. If you have a low body fat and are physically active, a cheat day will not necessarily ruin any progress you have made. If you're just the regular joe who wants to just pig out for the day, go ahead :) enjoy your food!
  • peckish_pomegranate
    peckish_pomegranate Posts: 242 Member
    Once a month I give myself a cheat weekend.
  • Leeann1979
    Leeann1979 Posts: 1,090 Member
    I allowed myself to "cheat" over christmas, well most of December actually, and the scale went up 7lbs by January 1. I lost 5 of those 7lbs by January 3rd. I pretty much had a cheat month and it didnt derail any of my efforts, so a cheat day or meal once in a while will definately not ruin any progress you've made. Enjoy some treats every now and then!
  • DefluffinMyStuffin
    DefluffinMyStuffin Posts: 76 Member
    I cheat weekly - usually on Fridays, and I eat like a government mule

    Laughed out loud. Well, snorted at least. That's funny.
  • bbgughj
    bbgughj Posts: 219 Member
    For some reason , I seem to lose weight when I cheat , I usually have 1 cheat meal a week , And I mean Cheat , I'm Talking about a1500 -2000 + Calorie meal . I also lose more weight when I just take multiple[e day rest from my work outs ... I think a cheat meal a week is good , keeps me motivated throughout the week !
  • deedeeFP
    deedeeFP Posts: 28
    I have an off day on Saturday. It's just a day for that rib eye steak i want or seafood pasta dish. Etc. I eat what I want and don't count the calories.
  • BlueObsidian
    BlueObsidian Posts: 297 Member
    I have an 90/10 rule. 90% healthy, 10% indulgence. This allows me 2-3 "cheats" a week. Works well for me!

    This is my target for myself as well. I don't consider any of it cheating, though, because I stick to my calorie targets every day (including eating back exercise calories). I aim to have 90% of my meals be healthy, whole, home-cooked foods. The other 10% (typically two meals a week or so) tends to be when I go out to eat or decide to grab fast food or something. I definitely make better choices than I would have two months ago when I eat at restaurants, but there are definitely still times each week when I eat something that I know isn't completely "clean".

    Overall, going with this attitude has helped me so much. I've tried to lose weight countless times before, but I always get stuck and give up after about a month. A big part of that was because I was trying to be perfect and would give up when I got off the plan or made a poor food choice. This time, I'm not beating myself up for having a burger now and again.
  • RunIntheMud
    RunIntheMud Posts: 2,645 Member
    No cheat days for me. Everything is in moderation. If I want a drink or am craving something that's not so healthy, I work it into my daily calories. There were a couple days over the holidays when I went over my calories. Guess what? I survived. :wink:
  • robindina
    robindina Posts: 157 Member
    I don't have a cheat meal, I just indulge with moderation. I plan ahead for meals I know will be over.
  • pattiken
    pattiken Posts: 4
    Do you watch Biggest Loser, that is where I get my motivation from believe it or not. Plus I have a wonderful man in my life that exercises with me. On the Biggest Loser they said one time just do the exercise and the rest will follow. I was exercising and still eating a lot of chocolate, and I decided I was not going to let it control me anymore, it's been 3 weeks now that I have stopped eating chocolate. For now I say don't deprive yourself because it will make your cravings worse. My suggestion is to exercise and let the rest follow, you will start finding healthy items to eat instead of worrying about cheating on sweets. I hope this is some help to you.

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