do you have a cheat meal?

Tenzuya

I have a cheat meal once a week on a friday night, i dont eat takeaway or get plastered drunk, i do however make a nice home made pizza and have some ice cream, so i keep my sanity.

Does anyone else have a pre scheduled cheat meal? if you do i would like to know what you have, and if you feel that it helps or hurts you.

Francl27

I just incorporate all the stuff I want in my daily goals. This way I'm less likely to binge and go 1000 over my goal or something.

1223345

For some reason it always end up being pizza.

hastinbe

Imo the whole "cheat meal" thing is a crock of ****. When I first started dieting I use to do the "cheat meal", then I started calling it an "earned meal" (earned from not missing any workout days that week.) Then that progressed to a cheat day. It didn't seem to matter what I ate, if I still maintained my macros and wasn't over on sodium, sugar, saturated or poly fats, then my weight wasn't negatively affected. There was no "recovery day" that some people have (which is really an alias for a starvation day) to get things back in "balance."

Since that time I focus on eating nutrient dense foods as much as possible, but a "cheat" or an "earned" meal doesn't exist in my mind anymore.

djames92

nahh i dont cheat myself

violinkeri

I feel the same as the others....I dont need to cheat, bc I incorporate foods i love into my calorie intake every day.

KANGOOJUMPS

I have a cheat weekend, works for me/.

dfonte

I just ate a box of fiber one brownies. I cheated.

majope

I just incorporate all the stuff I want in my daily goals. This way I'm less likely to binge and go 1000 over my goal or something.

This.

josyk7

I have a cheat weekend. I just don't count calories and I still eat great even if I go out to eat.

ksy1969

I do, but it might not necessarily be a cheat day since I always happen to have it be the same day I do a long run which is on Saturday. I am currently at 8 miles and working up to a half marathon. That creates a lot of exercise calories burned that need to be eaten up. Last Saturday I cheated and I still only ended up with a net calorie intake of about 700. I had a couple beers, fried shrimp and yummy french fries. Wishing now I would have had some dark beers. Then I might have been a little closer to my daily goal for net calories.

majope

I do, but it might not necessarily be a cheat day since I always happen to have it be the same day I do a long run which is on Saturday. I am currently at 8 miles and working up to a half marathon. That creates a lot of exercise calories burned that need to be eaten up. Last Saturday I cheated and I still only ended up with a net calorie intake of about 700. I had a couple beers, fried shrimp and yummy french fries. Wishing now I would have had some dark beers. Then I might have been a little closer to my daily goal for net calories.

If you're cheating and ending up with net calories of 700, you're doing it wrong. That's not "cheating," it's "undereating."

rosebarnalice

NO. I don't CHEAT. I do, however, BUDGET.

If I save money for something expensive and then actually spend it, then it's not a "splurge". If I save my calories for a treat or indulgence, and then spend it, then it's not a "cheat."

I don't feel guilty about planning ahead, making choices about what I want, and then working so I can have those things and I am not going to use language that makes it sound like I'm doing something I should feel guilty about.

cwolfman13

I have a healthy relationship with food, so for me, there is no such thing as a "cheat meal" because I don't classify my food as necessarily good or bad. I I eat a lot of nutrient dense foods and get my proper nutrition...so a pizza or whatever here and there is no biggie.

Sharla_G

If I go for higher calorie items, it's usually Mexican food and/or Pepsi.

But I don't plan certain days of the week to do special meals.

xinit0

I like salad and vegetables, so if I need to have a big pepperoni slice, I can easily finish the day off with a huge bucket of leafy greens. It's not cheating, because all the numbers still go into MFP. If I feel the need to have pizza and ice cream, that's fine too, but those are the sorts of days where I'm planning on going out or something, and I'll do a 5km walk to help offset any upward swing.

I think about what it'll be like on maintenance... I worry that treating food as a treat or a cheat sets up bad habits for the future.

Koholint

I too, make homemade pizza every Friday, and I change up the toppings so we don't get bored. And then I have a frozen Greek yogurt cup with it. Pizza and ice cream once a week! It's my "cheat meal." Or at least it makes me feel like it is.

But it fits into my daily calories if I cut back a little from the rest of my meals for the day. (: If it's something I really want, like a restaurant dessert or something, I'll order it to share with my husband. Me, one or two bites, and he gets the rest (unlike me, he needs a huge amount of calories.)

Oh.. and HADOUKEN!

keepongoingnmw

Your cheat meal does not sound out of control they sound consistent which is a good thing. I am saving up my calories today for buffalo wild wings boneless honey BBQ wings. I am seriously starving right now but so looking forward. I don't plan on getting any sides but if I snitch a few fries I should still be ok calorie wise. I did a Kickboxing class today, so got plenty of extra calories to enjoy.

twimberly

I don't because I feel if I cheat, I may not be able to stop. I guess it's different for each person but once I start down that road, I can justify anything. That's why I can't do it.