Cheat Meal--What about the rest of the day?

I go out to dinner every Friday night and just order what I want, including some wine. It's usually the only meal that I don't prepare at home for the entire week. For those of you who do a "cheat meal" (1. hate the idea of "cheat" anything and 2. not a "cheat day"), how do you eat the rest of the day? Do you stick to what you usually eat and just go over on calories, or do you try to conserve your calories for the one meal? I have a protein smoothie in the morning for breakfast, a few lattes at work (homemade), lunch (some lean protein + veggie + carb), fruit for a snack, dinner (lean protein + veggies), and a high-protein snack at night. I could skip the snacks, but I like to eat every few hours because I get ravenous if I don't, so I usually end up going way over on my calories on Fridays. Just want to see what everyone else does.

Replies

  • ettaterrell
    ettaterrell Posts: 887 Member
    when I diet, I always have a cheat meal and loose at least 1 lb a week, at 1400 cals day. On that day I eat as I do every other day, track my cals etc. but that one meal I don't track and I eat what I want with out being silly and eating a lot of sugar.
  • I eat my normal foods the rest of the day and just go over. Like you, if I eat too little I get super hungry and make choices ranging from poor to just plain stupid. I'd rather go into a cheat meal not feeling starved, if I did I'd probably eat more than I had to of the cheat food. My problem though is I still have a hard time making good choices when I go out to eat, and my friends want to go out to eat a LOT. Ugh.
  • I have cereal for breakfast which for me is ~228 calories and then just wait until the meal and eat as much as I like then. My cheat meals are 3 course dinners with wine so it's definitely enough food for the day anyway but obviously if I hadn't had the breakfast then I'd be starving leading up to it.