Cheat meal or day?

DorisInTheDena

Weight loss takes time. I have been here for 302 days and I am losing about a pound a week. It takes time!!!!!! Whether you lose fast or slow is up to the calories and work you put in. I am in this for the long haul so the slowness doesn't bother me a bit. That said, try your best to stay in your calorie range for the day. If you aren't consistent then your pound a week will be a gain instead of a loss. Good Luck!!

hottamolly00

Cheat SNACK?

SideSteel

I think as with almost everything involving diet, context matters a great deal.

As far as the actual effects on weight loss, overall energy balance is still going to be the most important variable and as such, a cheat meal or cheat day may or may not be ok depending on where that puts you for energy balance.

If I were to make a vague statement about cheating I'd say that if incorporating cheats into your diet improves adherence and still allows you to maintain a sufficient energy deficit for progress then you should use them. Otherwise I wouldn't, outside of social circumstances or a needed mental break.

Now having said that, I ALSO think that some people in some cases, may feel the need to cheat because their dieting strategy is lacking and this may drive the need. Not in all cases.

kingkoopaluv

cheat meal once a week. Where i eat whatever the heck i want. If its healthy great but if its not EFF it.

PaytraB

Sushi is a weakness of mine, too. With planning and exercise it is possible to splurge once in awhile.
Enjoy yourself tonight. Use today as a learning tool for future planning. When I first started on MFP, my first pizza night was horrific. I was so far over calorie allowance that day. I learned to plan future pizza nights and modify the pizza a little to fit into the plan. It can be done but requires planning.
Losing a pound a week is a healthy goal. It may take awhile to reach your goal weight but you'll be healthy and be able to maintain it when you get there. Keep up the good work.
While losing a pound a week, you are at a 500 calorie deficite each day. You can each less calories each day for the next week to make up for the calories you're consuming today. That doesn't necessarily mean less food but more veggies and fruit. Lots of low cal foods will fill your tummy and keep your calories low.
Also, exercise for an hour a day to help burn off some calories. That will burn off the extra calories you consume today.
Good on you for keeping such a close watch on your consumption. That shows dedication and determination. It's easy to get frustrated with what seems like a slow rate of loss but you're doing great. Keep it up.

slkehl

How much slower than 1 pound a week should I go? I don't mean to sound snippy but it is slow enough as it is. I have 56 pounds to lose total and I am only 14 in. I am trying not to stress too much about the calories. What I am aiming for is an overall lifestyle change. It is very hard and I realize it is not going to happen overnight.

I really enjoy this site and the advise I get from everyone here. Even when it may not be what I want to hear. lol

You might actually be able to lose just as much weight by eating more calories. That's what happened to me. I used to struggle to make my 1400 calorie a day limit. As I got closer to my goal, I decided to bump it up to 1800 calories, and I'm losing weight just as fast, if not faster. I'm sure that doesn't work for everyone, but it might be worth experimenting to see whether or not you're at the optimal calorie level for weight loss.

Llorraine11

cheat meal ...not a day!!!

KANGOOJUMPS

CHEAT WEEKEND!

PamelaGatorMom

a pound a week is GREAT!

I don't have a scheduled time to "cheat" (i.e. one a week, or on the weekends) but I do plan for things that are happening in my life, one day last month was my daughter's 16th birthday I knew we would have cake & mexican food so I just planned to be over on my calories that day. Today we celebrated a co-workers birthday with pizza & tonight I'm going to a BBQ cook-off with all the BBQ & beer I want for FREE...so yes I will log it but I will NOT stress over it. Tomorrow I will hit the gym and be back on track.

I find that I don't really want to cheat often because I want that ticker to keep moving towards my goal but when I want to enjoy I do!

TdaniT

Cheat SNACK?

:blushing: Yea that would be better. LOL

TdaniT

How much slower than 1 pound a week should I go? I don't mean to sound snippy but it is slow enough as it is. I have 56 pounds to lose total and I am only 14 in. I am trying not to stress too much about the calories. What I am aiming for is an overall lifestyle change. It is very hard and I realize it is not going to happen overnight.

I really enjoy this site and the advise I get from everyone here. Even when it may not be what I want to hear. lol

You might actually be able to lose just as much weight by eating more calories. That's what happened to me. I used to struggle to make my 1400 calorie a day limit. As I got closer to my goal, I decided to bump it up to 1800 calories, and I'm losing weight just as fast, if not faster. I'm sure that doesn't work for everyone, but it might be worth experimenting to see whether or not you're at the optimal calorie level for weight loss.

Yea it is hard to determine what is the right calorie intake. There are so many sites and so many variables. On here I know that I get more calories to eat when I exercise. That helps but then when I can't eat all of the calories I wonder what that is doing. LOL

Can I just go back in time to when I started eating unhealthy/not getting enough exercise and smack myself???

nxd10

I don't cheat. I choose to eat something I enjoy because I want to.

I take that into account when I plan my day and my week.

mgmlap

neither...nothing is off limits..if i want soda..i fit it into my macros..if i want ice cream..i fit it in..ect.. denying oneself..it the best way to sabatoge yourself.

meredith1123

Just enjoy a day - dont go SUPER crazy...
and learn to balance it out on the other days. pay attention to your average weekly calorie intake instead.

lilawolf

Okay, that I didn't even know/think about. My calorie goal is 1340 a day with the goal to lose 1 pound per week. I want to lose more per week but I am having trouble getting this calorie goal under control.

So you could hit 1840 calories a day and not lose or gain an ounce. I would at least hit this tonight. Even if you ate 3000 calories, you would only gain 1/3 of one pound, and be four days slower on your diet. Your choice.

JessyBevy

I have learned that this is a lifestyle. Not a diet. Diets have cheat days. Lifestyles are just day to day.

With that being said, I still am within a caloric goal however, I do have days where I am over. I brush it off because, thats life. Its going to happen. Holidays, celebrations, nights out etc are part of life.

I am taking it easy today because tonight I am going out for my anniversary. Its all about planning too. Exercising more maybe if you know its coming, taking it easy earlier in the day, etc. But all in all, i dont let it bother me and as long as I stay in my calorie goal most days, we/you/I should be fine.

Exactly right - well said! - everything is a balance in life

Vailara

The way I look at it, if you occasionally eat anything up to your TDEE, then you're fine. You still have a deficit for that day. If you eat over your TDEE then you won't have lost weight that day. It's not the end of the world, it just slightly delays your weight loss. You'll likely still have a deficit for that week. It just makes more sense to me to look at it in terms of delaying weight loss, and it's less scary!

So for today, you have 320 calories. If you're set to lose 1lb a week on MFP, you've already got a 500 calorie deficit, so if you still want a deficit today you just need to stay under 820 calories tonight. If you eat bang on 820 calories, you won't lose weight today. If you eat more, then your deficit tomorrow will be smaller, but as long as you have less than 1320 calories tonight then you will still have a small deficit by the end of tomorrow.

It really depends - if you're happy with a salad and water, that's fine! If you feel you need a bit more (and I think you sometimes do need more when you go out because you have more waking hours to get hungry in!), you can try logging it. I wouldn't say you had a "cheat" meal at lunch because you logged it, it wasn't excessive, it was under your calories, etc. So this would be just one cheat meal, really, rather than a cheat day.

Francl27

Well I'd probably not have sushi for lunch if I knew I was going to have dinner out But I'm sure the bar has salads with low fat dressing. Or grilled chicken with veggies. That way you won't go over too much. Or just eat what you want but avoid the 2000 calories fried stuff.

I avoid cheat days personally, just because it's hard enough to lose weight at times without blowing it, but I pretty much eat everything I want within my calories (and I've totally gone and done a 'walking' video for 30 minutes because I was 100 calories over).

hottamolly00

I have a cheat meal once in a while for planned events, etc... but that's it.

Keep in mind that a whole day of cheating basically backtracks your entire week of having a deficit. In other words: You had a deficit of 2000 calories M-F. Saturday, you eat 3000 calories. So, what was the point of all that tracking and working out if you're just gonna undo it all?

GettinIT6

a cheat meal shouldn't ruin your week/progress.....but it's important to remember that when doing your cheat meal that you are still eating the right portions and not going overboard! that's a comment in general not for you specifically!!

TdaniT

Thanks everyone! I don't know how much I ate, in regards to calories, Friday night but I ate really well the rest of the weekend. I ended up with just a 0.6lb lost but hey, it was a loss. Kudos to me!

Griffin220x

Try pigging out once a week :bigsmile:

TdaniT

Try pigging out once a week :bigsmile:

Shoosh! I don't know if that would be a good idea or not! I may not be able to stop myself. :blushing: