What do you consider cheating?

rudimae
rudimae Posts: 107
edited December 28 in Food and Nutrition
I've seen people talking about having a cheat day, or a cheat meal. What you consider cheating? A day or a meal that puts you over your calorie limit for the day? Something that puts any of your numbers in red? Or you feel it's cheating if you eat a food that you know isn't good for you even if you stay within your calorie allotment?

I ask because today I ate half a pizza. Oh, and 1 piece of baklava. But I also went bike riding for over a long time today. I'm still within caloric limit, but over a bit on fat and protein. I sort of feel like I cheated, but I didn't go over calorie. And not even horribly with fat. I sure enjoyed it, though!!!!!!!!
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Replies

  • Carol_L
    Carol_L Posts: 296 Member
    For me, a cheat meal/day would be something calorie dense that I fully enjoy, but know that if I had a steady diet of same it would get me back to where I started.

    For example, I have a birthday coming up and I will be going to Famous Dave's. I plan on enjoying myself thoroughly.

    Some days I'll go for pizza; love the stuff but I understand that a steady diet of it would be counter productive.

    Its about living in the real world, enjoying food, and understanding moderation. Because we've lost the concept of things being a treat, people don't deny themselves anything at any time anymore. It puts food into perspective, and me in control.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    Anything that puts me over my carb goal.

    As long as I am under that (and I am not eating or drinking WAY WAY more than I usually do) my body is going to have to work really hard to turn what I have put into my mouth into fat.

    I think we focus on the maths too much (calories in/out, exercise, BMR, TDEE, 3500 calorie deficit = 1lb fat, whatever) and do not give the body enough credit for trying to keep us lean in the face of reasonably varying caloric intake.

    I mean, what happened before we counted calories, joined gyms, got personal trainers/dietitians and started exercising like loons? Obesity crisis? Rampant diabetes? Childhood diabetes? Nope.

    We just fed ourselves proper food and drink and the body sorted out the leanness naturally. No MFP, no diet plans, no 30 day shreds, no self-help books required.

    Yeh I know, I waffle ... Back to the maths ;)
  • smashley_mashley
    smashley_mashley Posts: 589 Member
    cheating to me would be

    1) not logging in my food diary what i ate for the whole day
    2) accidently "fogetting" to add an item that i ate
    3) binging
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    Cheat day to me is a day where you are only cheating yourself. That's why I've not had one since I started. Not once in 200 days. If I go over my cals, I either scold myself or make sure I work it off before bed....or both.
  • cblevitron
    cblevitron Posts: 243
    For me, a cheat meal/day would be something calorie dense that I fully enjoy, but know that if I had a steady diet of same it would get me back to where I started.
  • weighlossforbaby
    weighlossforbaby Posts: 847 Member
    A cheat day would be going over my cals with something that isn't healthy.
  • jazee11
    jazee11 Posts: 321
    I don't consider any of my weight loss journey cheating. Sure, there are better days than others but non of it is cheating. It is just another day, meal or bite of food in my life. There is nothing I can not have. There are only better choices to make.

    Cheating myself would be not exercising,not tracking my food, or giving up.
  • stephvaile
    stephvaile Posts: 298
    i think cheating is anything over your calorie goal , i m under alot of days so on a monday my weigh day i treat myself with those spare cals to something naughty like a bar of choc so even if its over my daily mon cals its still not a cheat as i had the cals spare .:wink:
  • ThaRealNicki
    ThaRealNicki Posts: 322 Member
    Mine are "Indulgence Days"

    Days I indulge in flavors that healtheir alternatives cant seem to match.
    I can go over calories, macros, stay in calories, doesnt matter. I indulge in things that will not help me towards my weight loss goals and I try not to over indulge in these items.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    Exceeding target macros that was not a planned refeed.
  • jackflak
    jackflak Posts: 153 Member
    Cheating to me is having a meal that I know isn't good for me....Really cheating is making it a day of eating poorly not just a meal. Cheat day's are what really f's up my body.
  • opuntia
    opuntia Posts: 860 Member
    I don't really see it in terms of cheating. If I allow myself a day when I can eat whatever I like, that is not cheating, because it's part of the rules I've made for myself. If I eat junk food when I hadn't planned to and didn't want to, then that is not cheating as such either - more that I have failed in that aspect of my plan, for that particular day. Cheating has a different meaning to me, which is unrelated to my eating habits.

    For the days when I plan to eat whatever I like, I eat what I like. I love potato chips, so I allow myself these. However, because I know I will feel lethargic and unfocussed if I eat too much junk, I do control it. I choose snacks that don't have many artificial additives. I don't normally have a desire to eat loads and loads of junk if I am generally eating healthily the rest of the week. It's often more satisfying simply to allow myself an extra meal - one that is more comfort food for me, like a burger, or home made baked fries with melted cheese.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I don't think anything I eat is cheating.

    Verb:
    Act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage, esp. in a game or examination: "she cheats at cards".

    Who am I being dishonest to, and what advantage would I gain, if I ate an entire cake?
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    I pretty much eat what I want, just in moderation and it eliminate any idea of "cheat day" "bad food" "binge"

    I do not thing using positive or negative emotions related to food is very healthy
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    When I eat anything with refined grains, added sugar, or soybean oil or another crummy fat source.

    So all the deep fried food I I've cooked in peanut oil this weekend, I'd just call calorie dense and not "cheating". The ice cream sandwich I have at the end of the day most of the time, that's a cheat.
  • MelissaGraham7
    MelissaGraham7 Posts: 406 Member
    I don't think anything I eat is cheating.

    Verb:
    Act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage, esp. in a game or examination: "she cheats at cards".

    Who am I being dishonest to, and what advantage would I gain, if I ate an entire cake?

    This!! I'm not cheating in what I eat.
  • Marquism123
    Marquism123 Posts: 152 Member
    It's not cheating if you are honest about it. Eating over your calories one day is certainly not cheating. Failing to log what you have eaten, however, is cheating IMO as you are not making yourself accountable
  • Spartan_Maker
    Spartan_Maker Posts: 683 Member
    When I exceed my daily calorie goal while eating loads of carbohydrates.

    By way of example, my daily goal is approximately 2,600 calories and 160 grams of carbohydrates. A cheat day would be 4,000 calories and 400 grams of carbohydrates, filled with pizza, hoagies, pretzels, ice cream, and maybe some cake or pie.
  • swthrtsmrf
    swthrtsmrf Posts: 384
    I would not worry so much about having gone over your protein. If that number is high, that is ok. You want your protein high.
    For me cheating is eating too much in the likes of my calories. If I want that milkshake and it is within my calorie limits I am going to have it. If I go over, it happens. But an absolute cheat is eating too much junk of everything, going over my calories, fats, carbs, etc.
  • chicpeach
    chicpeach Posts: 302 Member
    For me personally, a cheat is anything I don't record in my diary. If I record it, but go over my calories, it's not a cheat, just an overage. Cheating to me implies that your fooling yourself. The only fool thing is when you believe that not recording something in the diary will make body not record those calories either. Doesn't happen. So, I don't cheat because I want a realistic opinion of why my weight did what it did any particular week.
  • MichelleLaree13
    MichelleLaree13 Posts: 865 Member
    To me a cheat day is a junk diet (fast food, cheese cake, pastries). The more I exercise/feel sore the more protein I eat. Mfp does not up the need for more protein as exercise increases so I normally go over.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    It's not cheating if you are honest about it. Eating over your calories one day is certainly not cheating. Failing to log what you have eaten, however, is cheating IMO as you are not making yourself accountable

    How is it "not making yourself accountable?"

    Eat too much, whether you log or not, and you gain weight. You'll be held accountable when your pants don't zip.
  • abbeyroad69
    abbeyroad69 Posts: 2 Member
    Yesterday was my cheat day, and what I do on cheat days is still be sensible (i.e. not binge and snack on about 12 different things) so staying within the confines of breakfast, lunch and dinner, but not have to work out and being able to eat whatever I want at those meals!

    So for example, yesterday I had the same breakfast as I have every single day of my life: muesli with milk.

    Then for lunch I treated myself and had a scone with jam and butter and a biscuit (all foods I'd normally avoid because of their high sugar, carb and calorie content).

    Then for dinner I had a curry, followed by chocolate for dessert.

    In total I had 2098 calories yesterday, which is only 100 calories over what an adult female should generally have anyway! I allow myself a cheat day once a week (unless I don't feel like having a cheat day) and I feel like it keeps me on track mentally and also gives my metabolism a surprise!

    The hardest thing about cheat days is going back to eating well the day after though! Haha.
  • camiah
    camiah Posts: 146
    I don't cheat. I'm perfect. :bigsmile:

    Actually, I may fall off the wagon, but I don't think of it as "cheating". It is more like sometimes life gets in the way and I don't eat the way I want to. But thinking that I'm "cheating" sets up the food I'm eating as something bad and therefore even more attractive for next time. Which is precisely what I don't need. I'm trying to get away from those kind of value judgments about the food I eat. It is healthier for me mentally.
  • Mich4871
    Mich4871 Posts: 143 Member
    I don't have cheat days, and if I eat something considered a "cheat" food by others, I just count it towards my daily calorie intake and move on. I HATE the word diet and cheating... I eat what I want, when I want, but I'm in the mindset though that for me, it's not worth wasting the calories on something "bad" I had a slice of pizza and a slice of birthday cake yesterday, didn't consider it cheating especially since it's not something I do all the time. I just worked out a little more than usual yesterday to offset it a bit.
  • dlyeates
    dlyeates Posts: 875 Member
    I'm all for a cheat meal every now and then (for me it's usually 1 time a month or every other month). It's a meal that blows my calories out of the water. Everything else that fits in my calorie goal is not cheating because this is not a diet, it's a lifestyle change. And in my world pizza, eating out and junk food fit in to my overall longterm lifestyle.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    I don't consider anything a "cheat" as I am not on a "diet". I will have a higher than average calorie intake sometimes.
  • DawnEH612
    DawnEH612 Posts: 574 Member
    Cheat days, to me, are eating and behaving mindlessly and impulsively and then trying to rationalize my behavior, or worse, not even thinking about my actions. It isn't as much what or how much I eat, but why I am eating it. I am cheating myself if I dont stop to consider that. If I stop connecting those two things, I WILL end up back where I was, over 200 pounds and once again LOST in all manners of speaking.
    I was a mindless zombie for far too long. I look forward to and cherish now, being mindful in my life and i stirve to make mindful and deliberate choices about everythng I do to include what activity I do and what goes into my body. In the past it was all about mindless, impulsive, habitual and emotional eating. I now no longer CHEAT myself from the choices I can make and strive to make the best ones for myself at any given turn. With that said, I also don't have any food that is off limits... I eat what and when I want. The difference is now I am tuned into my choices.
  • HazelCaz
    HazelCaz Posts: 48 Member
    I've never really liked the idea of all day cheat days. I don't want to have a set back...especially not as often as once a week. Over the past two weeks I have had 1 small indulgence each week. But they don't go over 500 calories and even though I may have not gone over my total calories for the day, I cheated. Examples: 1 kid-sized Heath Bar shake, 1 small square of cake at a b-day party. I am still living my life, but I don't want this process to take forever. And when I hit goal, I know I have a plan in place to be able to maintain it.
  • andrewlazenby
    andrewlazenby Posts: 151
    Never had a cheat day / meal. I eat pretty much what I want. If I am over, I am over. Most days I am waaaaaay under considering exercise.

    It averages out. Your body does not reset each day.....
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