Cheat Meals - Your Experience

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  • jodigirl03
    jodigirl03 Posts: 111
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    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.

    Maybe we don't understand the question.

    "I'm looking for your own actual experience with cheat meals and whether or not they helped out out and if so...how (mentally, metabolically, etc.)?

    I'm not looking for links to studies here, just people's actual experience."

    It seems to me just about everybody said either they do them, they do not do them and/or how & why they do them. I don't think anybody knows EXACTLY how it has affected their outcome since calories are averaged over a week and we're talking about ONE meal or one day of meals. Weighing yourself the day after a cheat is certainly not an accurate measurement of rather or not it did your metabolism good or bad. As for the mental aspect of it, most ppl on here did address that it either set them off on a terrible binge and therefore do not recommend them or it curbed the urge and they would do it again.
    Those are personal experiences to me. Could you maybe reword or define exactly what you we're looking to hear more about?
  • dfonte
    dfonte Posts: 263 Member
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    It's not a big deal. It's a message board on the internet. My point was that I'm not concerned if you don't do them, because that means you don't have any experience with doing them. It's that easy.
  • jodigirl03
    jodigirl03 Posts: 111
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    Gotcha!! Good topic! :)
  • KevDaniel
    KevDaniel Posts: 449 Member
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    When/if I do them I feel pretty crummy for the 2 days following, and sometimes it is struggle to get back in the game.
  • Keegansmum6
    Keegansmum6 Posts: 193 Member
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    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

    If I'm eating something "unhealthy' I just make it fit in my calories... end of story.


    Same
  • runningagainstmyself
    runningagainstmyself Posts: 616 Member
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    I'm looking for your own actual experience with cheat meals and whether or not they helped out out and if so...how (mentally, metabolically, etc.)?

    I'm not looking for links to studies here, just people's actual experience.

    I find them critical to my own long-term diet sustainability. It gives me something to look forward to, it's a very small window one time per week, and I can go about my week with far fewer severe cravings of what I feel deprived of during the week due to my own choices in how I eat. I tend to have one cheat meal per week, but it depends on how I'm feeling. I've gone as extreme as only have one per month instead of one per week. Optimal for me would be once every two weeks. At present it's one meal per week, and my weight loss and active lifestyle has not been hindered by it.
  • CrazyTrackLady
    CrazyTrackLady Posts: 1,337 Member
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    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.

    I disagree with the above statement. A person can life a fit lifestyle: no drugs, smoking, drinking, and watching what they eat 99.9% of their lives. If they have one day a month where they eat whatever they want and go over the calorie count, is that no longer a "fit" lifestyle? Hardly.

    I had a lot of fun last night at a party and enjoyed every minute of what I ate and drank. I went over my calorie count by over 100 cals, and I think it might have been more because I forgot about the quesadillas. Does this make me "unfit", even though I've been working out pretty much every other day, watching what I eat 98% of the time, and just worked off 900 calories from exercise? No, it makes me human and willing to not obsess over every moment of my life when it comes to fitness and health.

    A meal of abundance doesn't erase a month of diligence.
  • dfonte
    dfonte Posts: 263 Member
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    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.

    I disagree with the above statement. A person can life a fit lifestyle: no drugs, smoking, drinking, and watching what they eat 99.9% of their lives. If they have one day a month where they eat whatever they want and go over the calorie count, is that no longer a "fit" lifestyle? Hardly.

    I had a lot of fun last night at a party and enjoyed every minute of what I ate and drank. I went over my calorie count by over 100 cals, and I think it might have been more because I forgot about the quesadillas. Does this make me "unfit", even though I've been working out pretty much every other day, watching what I eat 98% of the time, and just worked off 900 calories from exercise? No, it makes me human and willing to not obsess over every moment of my life when it comes to fitness and health.

    A meal of abundance doesn't erase a month of diligence.

    And I said "all of the time." I'm not passing judgement on anyone, but like I said if you ate crappy "all of the time" you wouldn't be able to maintain a certain level of performance. If you're happy doing something, I respect that.

    I go over my maintenance by thousands of calories at times, and I could care less about a definition of fit. I know what I'm capable of physically and that's all that matters to me. I just used that word because this is myfitnesspal. Many people would say I'm unfit because I drink coffee with sweet and low every morning and eat processed foods. To each their own.

    And you are correct...one day doesn't erase a lifestyle.
  • kaetra
    kaetra Posts: 442 Member
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    When I got stuck on a plateau for 3 weeks or more having cheat meal would often, but not always, result in finally seeing a loss about 3 to 5 days after said cheat meal.
  • nasoj007
    nasoj007 Posts: 35 Member
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    I do a cheat meal once every week or two, I try to make it just a meal and not a day (that can get out of hand quick lol). It allows me to have something that I normally can't fit it into my calorie target unless I spend 8hrs exercising. For example every now and again I crave a Wendy's double burger combo (1170 calories)... it's too much to fit into a normal day without blowing my target to hell. I've just started trying to force myself to exercise so its unrealistic for me to 'work' off those extra calories. I've been doing this for nearly a year now and its worked well for me. I fell off the wagon a few weeks back and by the time I got back on track I put back on nearly 4 of the 36lbs I've lost... Happens. The key is to not get discouraged, just stay the course and remember the end goal. As of this post I've managed to claw back nearly 3 of those lbs so it won't be long before that little boo boo is a memory and nothing else ;)
  • shewhostamps
    shewhostamps Posts: 7
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    I do have a cheat meal now and again, usually when I'm really craving something in particular. I try to save up the calories for it during the week, or to make up for it in the following week. When I'm really wanting something, I go ahead and have it.
  • JoRumbles
    JoRumbles Posts: 262 Member
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    Its just not an option for me to sit at my parent's dinning table on a Sunday lunchtime and refuse my mother's homemade dessert. Eating is a social experience too and I cannot deny myself nice things occassionally.

    So every Sunday its a full Sunday lunch. I log it, but its a guess becuase I don't weigh or measure what I am giving. Today I had roast ham (very lean), broccoli, cheese sauce, leek and potato gratin followed by lemon meringue pie with whipped cream. I guess all that comes to about 1000 to 1300 cals. I eat light for the rest of the day becuase these kind of meals keep me going till maybe 8pm when I just need some toast and eggs or something.

    Sunday also happens to be my rest day from excercise, though I may go for a walk. Today I played with my daughter in the indoor soft play.

    This doesn't seem to affect my weight loss at all, though I appreciate I may lose more if I didn't go to my parents house for Sunday lunch, but I need balance in my life!
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    I researched with hundreds of people who wanted to lose weight. It was true for most that having a cheat day was helpful but not for all. Leaving one day for a cheat DECREASED deprivation and provided more success. There were a couple who needed to go all or nothing, so it actually depends on the person. If you are an all or nothing, black and white issue person cheat days may not be for you. You may feel you slipped. If you are completely honest with yourself you will find the truth for you. We are all different. My approach is psychological since everything starts in the mind as well as metaphysical (all about being balanced physically, emotionally and spiritually.)

    I don't deprive myself any day, thus I don't need to cheat. All my food is delicious. If I know that a special occasion is imminent, I just plan it into my calories or do extra exercise to have more calories in the bank for the special event. No cheating necessary.
  • runningagainstmyself
    runningagainstmyself Posts: 616 Member
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    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.

    I disagree with the above statement. A person can life a fit lifestyle: no drugs, smoking, drinking, and watching what they eat 99.9% of their lives. If they have one day a month where they eat whatever they want and go over the calorie count, is that no longer a "fit" lifestyle? Hardly.

    I had a lot of fun last night at a party and enjoyed every minute of what I ate and drank. I went over my calorie count by over 100 cals, and I think it might have been more because I forgot about the quesadillas. Does this make me "unfit", even though I've been working out pretty much every other day, watching what I eat 98% of the time, and just worked off 900 calories from exercise? No, it makes me human and willing to not obsess over every moment of my life when it comes to fitness and health.

    A meal of abundance doesn't erase a month of diligence.

    This. Exactly. :D A meal a week does not make you an unhealthy person anymore than one good meal a week makes you a healthy person. Likewise with exercise. It's about consistency above all.
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
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    Every Sunday I drive a round trip of 180 miles to go visit my Dad and we go out for lunch, so every Sunday lunch I have a cheat meal.

    I eat my normal breakfast and have a small snack for dinner because I am full after lunch.

    Has it affected my weight loss in my experience, I would say no.
  • shadowlydarkness
    shadowlydarkness Posts: 243 Member
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    I have a cheat meal atleast once a week. I cannot expect my partner to be on a diet just because I am. So we made a deal: once a week we will eat pizza or other bad foods, he loves it and it helps keep him sane. And ofcourse I love it to! Though I do portion those meals, for example I will only eat half of what he eats. And I still log it all into my diary here and make sure I do an extra workout that day.

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