Cheat Meals - Your Experience

nexangelus

I like them. I do not call them cheat meals though. I come from a background of eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia) so using negative words with regards to food, is a no no for me now. Everything in moderation and also enjoy life and weight loss, it does not have to be a drag/boring/tedious...I like flexible eating. A day or two at maintenance or even topping out at 3000 cals for me recently has helped. I do not feel drained/deprived/tired, etc. In fact I am still in fat loss phase and on my active rest day (I go for a long run) I eat a little below maintenance and carb up. My body seems to like this as it is still losing an average of about 1.45 lbs per week. : )

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

I eat 3000 calories+ at least once every 10-12 days. Without fail. Usually I gain about 3-4 pounds overnight and it's gone in 3-4 days. To me, a "cheat day" is not "fitting it into your day" ....that's what I do every day. A "cheat day" is going OVER my calories and eating what I want to eat--I try to show some restraint because putting down 6000+ calories isn't that hard.

action_figure

Ten or more years ago when I did a keto diet, I had a "cheat meal" and that was when I could eat carbs. That did not work for me. My cheat meal turned into a cheat day turned into several cheat days a week / month turned into just not caring any more and gaining all the weight back. I don't do "cheat meals" in the sense that I can eat anything I want and it doesn't count. I fit in stuff that I want, pizza, chocolate, etc. into my calorie budget for the day, but I try to get most of my calories from real, whole, nutrient dense food. On extremely special occasions: my own birthday, our anniversary, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, etc. I will give myself a larger than normal calorie allowance, but I still log everything. If I screw up and eat too much one day because of stress or whatever, I log all that too. I use my data to try to find out what went wrong and how to better prevent another problem later on. Edit to add: my "extra calorie" allowance is generally 400 more than my normal daily limit.

oomalmal

I dont really do a cheat meal. I eat poorly at times but I try to stay within my calorie allowance. I try to think of it like shopping. You have to have enough money to buy things just like you have to have enough cals to eat things you enjoy. I try to eat more good than bad and watch portions. If i am going to do this, i still want to be able to have my wings every now and then!!

I do this. If my "allowance" is spent. I either earn more, or I don't get the food item.
I do talk to myself first to see if I really want it, or if I just want the taste. Just like the money I earn at work. How many hours did it take me to earn that?

peleroja

I tried it yesterday, and it was a very bad idea for me. My boyfriend is away on business and he has allergies to some foods I love, so our roommates and I bought everything boyfriend can't have and just pigged out. I had a peanut butter cookie, Reeses cups, pad thai, beers, kettle chips....it was bad. I felt horrible after. Bloated, nauseated, just awful. I ate way more than I should have. Even after a late night gym session I still felt like garbage, and the scale is up four pounds from a combination of the food and retaining water from all the salt. I learned that I hate feeling stuffed, have no self control around peanut products on the once-yearly occasion I can actually eat them, and that cheat meals just make me feel guilty. They're not for me. From someone with a history of ED behaviour, it was way too tempting to go full-on binge and I wanted to purge way too badly. I didn't, but that kind of temptation isn't a good thing for my mental health, and the gym visit was really just another way to purge, mentally. So yeah. No more cheat meals. Only reasonable quantities of "bad" foods that fit into my day.

majope

I don't do cheat meals--I prefer to fit what I want into my daily calorie goals. If, for some reason, I'm abnormally hungry or PMSing bad, I'll go up to maintenance calories for the day (which isn't much of a leap for me, since I'm only trying to lose half a pound a week). And I went near maintenance for a couple of days before yesterday's half-marathon to make sure I was fueled properly for it. But on long run days I typically burn 800-1000 calories, so it's not difficult to have favorites like pizza, burgers, wine, and ice cream and still lose weight.

Velum_cado

I wouldn't have made the progress I have if it weren't for "cheat" days.

IslandDreamer64

What is a cheat meal? I'm always baffled by this term. Eat food...meet your calorie goals. I personally like my diet to consist of 80-90% nutrient dense whole foods, but nothing is off limits. Your diet (noun) should be lifestyle sustainable.

This. I have pepperoni pizza every week. I plan for it, it works out just fine. If I want a cookie I have a cookie. This is for life, I have to make it sustainable.

dfonte

Well this turned into a thread about peoples opinions on if they're good or not rather than peoples actual experience pretty quickly.

If you live a 'fit' lifestyle, you can't eat crappy food all the time because it doesn't support your lifestyle. Make a decision about what's more important in your life - performance or food - and it will become really easy to make good decisions.

spaghetti93

cheat meals turn into cheat days which turn into cheat weekends.... i find its better if i just always log everything. Whenever I've had the urge to eat outside of my goals I don't feel like it was worth it anyway, so I don't. Exceptions are things like holidays and special occasions, where I just try to eat a reasonable amount but dont worry about the count.

lilpoindexter

They helped me get my mind straight, and helped me eat correctly during the week, as i had my Sunday "cheat day" to look forward to and pig out. Fortunately (unfortunately?) I am down to the point where I am so slim that a cheat day really jacks up my progress for the week. i would highly, highly recommend a cheat DAY where you can eat with friends/ family / people you like without worrying about tracking your calories.

storm15918

What is a cheat meal? I'm always baffled by this term. Eat food...meet your calorie goals. I personally like my diet to consist of 80-90% nutrient dense whole foods, but nothing is off limits. Your diet (noun) should be lifestyle sustainable.

I'm not a fan of the term, but there's nothing wrong with people having a meal that's more about enjoyment than nutrients. If they want to see it as a 'cheat', then let them. Eating well most of the time and having one 'bad' meal every so often is actually very sustainable, and that's the whole point of it. Eating healthy 100% of the time isn't sustainable for most, hence why 'cheat meals' exist.

That's my point. I'm a foodie...all of my food is about enjoyment. I think people get into the mind set of this is bad and that is good, etc...when in fact, even something as "junky" as pizza has essential fats, protein, and carbs. I think the mindset of this is good and that is bad is what leads people to binge and "cheat" or whatever.

If I've gotten all of my nutrients in for the day and hit my protein goals and viatamins and minerals in check, then how would a slice of pie or ice cream for desert be "cheating" so long as I'm hitting all of my goals? If I'm going to have a big, high calorie meal on a given day, I make it fit...I made it fit when I was losing and I make it fit at maintenance, nothing has really changed in terms of my overall diet (noun)...except the amount of calories. I'm eating the same stuff either way.

Ah, ok I gotcha. I think I misunderstood your first post. My bad! I also make things fit into my daily allowances. If I know I'm going out to eat with friends for example, I work my butt off at the gym so I can have that high calorie meal and enjoy it. I don't see the point of not letting yourself have a slice of pizza or some ice cream every now and then because like you said, it's a lifestyle change. There's no way I could never eat pizza again, so why stop myself from having it now? That's why I don't like the term 'cheating'. I'm not cheating, I'm being human and enjoying some yummy foods in moderation

111orBust

I do Leangains but I almost never keep to the 'calorie-cycling-based-on-activity' part of it because I'm rubbish at maths. So a "cheat day" for me is a weekly carb refeed (macros be damned) to eat back at least some of my exercise calories but predominantly to boost Leptin.

In practice, I only really eat a third to half as many calories than usual but the following day, even though the scale has gone up, I ALWAYS look thinner in my face, neck and belly.

My case is probably atypical because I "cheat" solely to regulate metabolism, not because I crave junk.

lithezebra

I do Leangains but I almost never keep to the 'calorie-cycling-based-on-activity' part of it because I'm rubbish at maths. So a "cheat day" for me is a weekly carb refeed (macros be damned) to eat back at least some of my exercise calories but predominantly to boost Leptin.

In practice, I only really eat a third to half as many calories than usual but the following day, even though the scale has gone up, I ALWAYS look thinner in my face, neck and belly.

My case is probably atypical because I "cheat" solely to regulate metabolism, not because I crave junk.

My case is not because I crave junk. It's because I crave scones. Also, if I've done a day of heavy cardio, I would kill for carbs. And we don't want any killing.

I don't even like junk food. Sometimes my "cheat" is having a big bowl of oatmeal, and not worrying about falling short on protein for a day.

marciat100

I prefer to call it my "casual day" - as oppose to "cheat day". that seems to trigger my head to say - okay sure have the few oreos and maybe a slice of pie after dinner - but not go hog *kitten* wild and throw the whole day lol.
My whole life up to this point has been a 'cheat day' lol - so now I have 'casual day'
whatever helps the mental ya know? haha.

I really like this!

I also prefer not to call it "cheat" . I call mine as "free meal" and I usually have it once a week. I like casual best. I'll probably start to adopt it

BeckyAnne4

Right now I do one "cheat day" a month. It helps me mentally (I think?). It takes away the "taboo" of really bad-for-you food. Maybe it's because I'm still getting started, and I am still learning how to do things, but I feel a lot better knowing that there are still greasy bacon cheeseburgers with fries to be enjoyed every once in a while. It works as a backwards sort of inspiration when I feel like I might just have to throw the next plate of broccoli and quinoa that I see, LOL! I'd rather have a day where I eat what I feel like and just not worry about it, than spend all of my time stressing about how I'm going to "work something in", only to potentially be left still somewhat unsatisfied (I'm looking at you, lean turkey burger on a whole wheat bun with broccoli on the side!) I'm not doing a great job of explaining how I justify it, I know, I'm sorry. But I feel that it's something that does work for me. I'd prolly recommend keeping things under your TDEE at least though, just so you're not completely setting yourself back.

lithezebra

Right now I do one "cheat day" a month. It helps me mentally (I think?). It takes away the "taboo" of really bad-for-you food. Maybe it's because I'm still getting started, and I am still learning how to do things, but I feel a lot better knowing that there are still greasy bacon cheeseburgers with fries to be enjoyed every once in a while. It works as a backwards sort of inspiration when I feel like I might just have to throw the next plate of broccoli and quinoa that I see, LOL! I'd rather have a day where I eat what I feel like and just not worry about it, than spend all of my time stressing about how I'm going to "work something in", only to potentially be left still somewhat unsatisfied (I'm looking at you, lean turkey burger on a whole wheat bun with broccoli on the side!) I'm not doing a great job of explaining how I justify it, I know, I'm sorry. But I feel that it's something that does work for me. I'd prolly recommend keeping things under your TDEE at least though, just so you're not completely setting yourself back.

If you don't like broccoli and quinoa, my suggestion would be to keep trying healthy foods until you find things that you love....which doesn't mean that you'd never eat another cheeseburger. Cheeseburgers are a great protein food.

P.S. I know this post is not about having or not having a cheat day. It's important to me to enjoy my food ALL the time, not only when I'm having a treat.

BeckyAnne4

"My case is not because I crave junk. It's because I crave scones. Also, if I've done a day of heavy cardio, I would kill for carbs. And we don't want any killing."


*holds out scone, hides knives*

lithezebra

"My case is not because I crave junk. It's because I crave scones. Also, if I've done a day of heavy cardio, I would kill for carbs. And we don't want any killing."


*holds out scone, hides knives*

BeckyAnne4

Right now I do one "cheat day" a month. It helps me mentally (I think?). It takes away the "taboo" of really bad-for-you food. Maybe it's because I'm still getting started, and I am still learning how to do things, but I feel a lot better knowing that there are still greasy bacon cheeseburgers with fries to be enjoyed every once in a while. It works as a backwards sort of inspiration when I feel like I might just have to throw the next plate of broccoli and quinoa that I see, LOL! I'd rather have a day where I eat what I feel like and just not worry about it, than spend all of my time stressing about how I'm going to "work something in", only to potentially be left still somewhat unsatisfied (I'm looking at you, lean turkey burger on a whole wheat bun with broccoli on the side!) I'm not doing a great job of explaining how I justify it, I know, I'm sorry. But I feel that it's something that does work for me. I'd prolly recommend keeping things under your TDEE at least though, just so you're not completely setting yourself back.

If you don't like broccoli and quinoa, my suggestion would be to keep trying healthy foods until you find things that you love....which doesn't mean that you'd never eat another cheeseburger. Cheeseburgers are a great protein food.

P.S. I know this post is not about having or not having a cheat day. It's important to me to enjoy my food ALL the time, not only when I'm having a treat.

I do like broccoli and quinoa, I just burn out on things quickly, I need to rotate foods frequently. They were just an example

"It's important to me to enjoy my food ALL the time, not only when I'm having a treat." THIS. I like this! :happy: