Do you have 'cheat meals'?

no idea how calories work, since I seem to break the theories....

i eat around 1000 caloric deficit everyday, however once per week i eat 3000 over my maintenance, yet i still lose 2lbs/week

im not really in the habit of having cheat meals cause i eat what i want to eat and after so long of being on plan i want to eat mostly homecooked meals...

i do however sometimes get a terrible want/needing for a nasty greasy cheeseburger, fries, coke and Frosty from the Wendy's down around the corner...so if ive been on plan for more than two weeks i go ahead and give in to that craving and treat myself...

that said, i eat really good probably 99 percent of the time since i just dont want to eat crap anymore...

if you are on plan week after week ive heard it can be good to bump up your calories for one meal...something about your metabolism needing to work harder, i dont remember exactly...

i find that rewarding myself with food is a no-no...i eat what i want to eat, thankfully after all this time 99 times out of 100 its something that is healthful and nutritious!

I do not have cheat meals, as I also do not deprive myself of anything. I just try meet my daily calorie goal, regardless of what I eat to get there. I do try to eat more healthy food than junk, but I do not eliminate anything. Tonight, for instance, I had a cheese steak sandwich. Roughly 700 cal. But, I had room for it, calorically. And it was delicious! No room for evening snacks, as a result, but worth it. So, for me, this is what works. I never cheat, because there is no such thing, and therefore, I never have to feel guilty about what I eat.

Just my two cents.

Congrats on starting your journey, and best of luck to you.

Nope unless you count thanksgiving... been on MFP since April.. why delay your progress? Work those extra calories into your daily goal... eat light before or work it off BEFORE you eat it.. cause you know you wont want to work out after!!

Not really "scheduled" cheat meals...I enjoy the holidays (but just the one meal not spread out over the week or anything). If I am craving something, then I try to eat it with some portion control. I really try to eat as healthy as possible most days!

Hello

I do have a cheat meal once a week. I was skeptical about it at first, so decided to do it once a month initially.

The first time I did it, it was for a special meal out. i had duck pastrami with crispy fried egg and blueberry jelly, a venison burger with chunky fries and a vegetable side, a brownie with toasted marshmallow and honey comb icecream. At that point I was losing a steady 1lb a week. Dropped 3 pounds that week with no difference in effort. Felt noticeably less hungry for 3-4 days after.

The second time I did it was about a month later. Went out for an indian meal with my husband and his friend. I had a king prawn tandoori starter, poppadums, a lamb tikka curry, a massive rice dosa, a parotha, some rice, some spinach curry, a mango lassi and gulab jalamun. Then I had three cocktails in a bar. Lost two pounds that week. And was noticeably not hungry for the first 4 days of the following week. Portion control got irrelevant, as I would just stop as soon as I was full.

So I decided that maybe I would do it every week, as it seemed to be working for me. did it again last Saturday. Went to a pretty upscale french restaurant for a special occasion. If you want some food porn it is here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/libbymcbain, under the post called "Warning, this post may contain food porn". It was delicious. this week I lost 2 pounds and wasn't really that hungry most of the week.

Read up on it a bit, and that is because just letting yourself eat what you want releases enough leptin to last you for 4-7 days. that explains why portion control is easier. I know it has taken some of the scarcity anxiety away. I also do not log the splurge meal ( I think splurge is a better term than cheat- less guilt inducing). This is because I know I would start to scare myself if I did. I just eat whatever I want, only til I am full not past it, and bear in mind that I do;t wan to go over about 2000 cals for the meal (and honestly, I am full far before that).

So I am looking forward to that lamb rack and dessert my partner has promised me for Sunday lunch!

I don't have scheduled cheat meals, but I do sometimes just allow myself to go over calories and not worry about it (usually about one meal a week or every two weeks). However, I always track, even if I've gone way over.

I am not on a diet, I have a made a huge lifestyle change, as has my husband. There for how can I have a cheat meal? If you want to know if at any time I eat the crap I used to, no. As I said this is a life style change.

Hi there!

So I have been dieting for nearly two weeks now, yay! And my partner has convinced me that one cheat meal a week is actually good for someone on a low calorie diet. He spun some web about 'Keeps you sane, stops you from plateauing', now I should trust his judgement :P He is a personal trainer after all. But I still want to put it to the masses of wonderful people here who have been successful or are currently being successful! He said as long as overall throughout the week I maintain a large calorie deficit, I'll still lose weight until I get to the tail end of the weight-loss where I will have to pick up the slack with intensive exercise.

So, put simply:
Do you have cheat meals?
How often?
Is it working for you?

Thanks so much!

Sarah.

Hi Sarah,

Everyone is different. Cheat meals don't work for me, especially when I needed to lose weight. I found that anytime I "cheated" it took me backwards and it took 2-3 weeks to gain my ground back. What worked for me is keeping a calorie budget. Some days could be low and some could be high, like a weekly budget. But mainly I would just do things like say I wanted a cookie at starbucks (I did not keep cookies at home while I was losing weight), I would eat a taco salad instead of a taco with a tortilla. I'd skip the tortilla and then go have a cookie. That way I stayed within budget and there was no "cheating", plus I knew I could do that whenever I wanted, sometimes once a week if I wanted, and then I still lost weight. In order to be successful I had to finally get rid of the mindset "Oh I've been good I get to have _whatever__". It just didn't work for me. But then again, we are all different.
Now if I have a social event I might eat lower leading up to it, eat what I want at it and log the calories, then eat low again for a few days after it, but I have a little more room now that I'm maintaining and not losing. But still, even in maintenance you have to do the same thing, it's just the weight fluctuations are not as great. It's not like you stay in one spot with weight once you reach your goal. The same calorie budget game applies.

I have 3 levels of cheat meals:
-No logging and no holding back! This is only for big holidays, like my birthday and Thanksgiving
-No logging and trimming back some. This would be not having dressing on my salad, or not eating the crust of my pie. For special occasions, like a nice dinner with friends
-Logging but enjoying. Keeping track of what I eat, but realizing I'm going to go quite a bit over for the day. I might have one of these every couple weeks. I'll try to make up for it another day.