Cheat or not to Cheat?

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  • ErinRibbens
    ErinRibbens Posts: 370 Member
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    How about skipping the appetizer and just having the steak, potato & salad?

    I have steak dinners all the time and fit them into my day...and I'm half your size. I understand your concern about going over your calories when you are just getting on a roll. If the steak is the thing you really care about, have that and cut out some of the other stuff. Or get a really good workout in that day for added room in your calorie budget.

    1700 calories seems really low for your height & weight, is that what MFP gave you for calories?
  • TheIrish1981
    TheIrish1981 Posts: 35 Member
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    Well, I was expecting answers to my questions and I got that from some helpful people. I know how the world is. I know there are always a few jack***** out there and I try my best to call them on it =) Have a good day

    You sure showed them! :laugh:

    Not trying to show anyone anything. I just wish people could answer question in a mature way and without using smiley faces after every one of their post. I posted a legitimate question and was looking for legitimate answers. I truly don't know why you are trolling on my post. I mean, you have shown me what advice you have to offer and that is ZERO.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Well, I was expecting answers to my questions and I got that from some helpful people. I know how the world is. I know there are always a few jack***** out there and I try my best to call them on it =) Have a good day

    You sure showed them! :laugh:

    Yeah. My irony meter exploded on that post.

    Somebody hand that person a mirror....
  • TheIrish1981
    TheIrish1981 Posts: 35 Member
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    Sure. It's not cheating if you log it and work into your week. You're going to do this the rest of your life.

    So you log your cals by the week? Okay, that helps me a lot! Thanks so much
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    Well, I was expecting answers to my questions and I got that from some helpful people. I know how the world is. I know there are always a few jack***** out there and I try my best to call them on it =) Have a good day

    You sure showed them! :laugh:

    Not trying to show anyone anything. I just wish people could answer question in a mature way and without using smiley faces after every one of their post. I posted a legitimate question and was looking for legitimate answers. I truly don't know why you are trolling on my post. I mean, you have shown me what advice you have to offer and that is ZERO.

    166.gif
  • Teenie71
    Teenie71 Posts: 52
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    That is the question =)

    Do you guys/gals ever take a cheat day? I am not suggesting shoveling Big Macs down your throat but more of a nice steak dinner, with baked potato, salad, and an appetizer.

    how is a steak, potato and salad a cheat meal/day? this is a healthy well rounded meal to enjoy EVERY day. this is just silly to me
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    That is the question =)

    Do you guys/gals ever take a cheat day? I am not suggesting shoveling Big Macs down your throat but more of a nice steak dinner, with baked potato, salad, and an appetizer.

    how is a steak, potato and salad a cheat meal/day? this is a healthy well rounded meal to enjoy EVERY day. this is just silly to me

    I asked that, too. OP hasn't answered yet.

    Has started calling people names, though. Go figure... :smokin:
  • TheIrish1981
    TheIrish1981 Posts: 35 Member
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    That is the question =)

    Do you guys/gals ever take a cheat day? I am not suggesting shoveling Big Macs down your throat but more of a nice steak dinner, with baked potato, salad, and an appetizer.
    I used to in the past, but this time around, I just work my cravings into my calories and I don't feel deprived or have the need for a cheat day. However, my dad's wedding is this weekend and I am not sure how well I will be doing Friday-Sunday, and may chalk it up to a free weekend. I am still going to watch my portions and try to log my food though.

    I see you have lost 31 pounds which is amazing! Great Job! I have a question for you. Do you try to meet a daily calorie goal or are you more concerned about meeting your calorie goal for the week? If it is possible for me to extend exercise during the week to grant myself some more calories for a weekend meal that would help out a lot.
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
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    I don't have days where I set out to cheat, in general. But I do sometimes have days where, if I eat more than my daily goal, I don't sweat it.

    That's usually how I handle unplanned meals, such as when someone from the office retires or is transferring out. I may be going to places where I can't get an accurate calorie count, or to places that mean even just my pre / post workout protein shakes are going to put me over.

    On some occasions, it extends to periods of multiple days, such as when I went on a cruise earlier this month (and actually managed to NOT gain any weight while also enjoying the food).


    But I've still never really approached it from a day where my aim is to eat more than my suggested goal. My goal remains at the "maintenance" level, no matter what day it is. For me, it's all about not kicking myself for going past it.



    Now, if you're talking about eating certain foods qualifying as cheating, I can't really cheat because I don't have any "must not eat" foods. I can generally work them into my daily calories, even if that means ending the day feeling hungrier than usual because I enjoyed some empty calories earlier in the day.
  • TheIrish1981
    TheIrish1981 Posts: 35 Member
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    That is the question =)

    Do you guys/gals ever take a cheat day? I am not suggesting shoveling Big Macs down your throat but more of a nice steak dinner, with baked potato, salad, and an appetizer.

    how is a steak, potato and salad a cheat meal/day? this is a healthy well rounded meal to enjoy EVERY day. this is just silly to me

    I asked that, too. OP hasn't answered yet.

    Has started calling people names, though. Go figure... :smokin:

    I actually did reply. If you go back and read you will see that I am referring to a meal at my favorite steak house which consist of about 1500 calories. Should be somewhere around the 2nd page. I made clear that i'm not talking about a 4 ounce steak...i'm talking about a 16 oz steak, baked potato loaded, pepper poppers, and a salad with honey mustard. This was my favorite meal and I specified that. So in all actuality I did answer your question.
  • TheIrish1981
    TheIrish1981 Posts: 35 Member
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    I don't have days where I set out to cheat, in general. But I do sometimes have days where, if I eat more than my daily goal, I don't sweat it.

    That's usually how I handle unplanned meals, such as when someone from the office retires or is transferring out. I may be going to places where I can't get an accurate calorie count, or to places that mean even just my pre / post workout protein shakes are going to put me over.

    On some occasions, it extends to periods of multiple days, such as when I went on a cruise earlier this month (and actually managed to NOT gain any weight while also enjoying the food).


    But I've still never really approached it from a day where my aim is to eat more than my suggested goal. My goal remains at the "maintenance" level, no matter what day it is. For me, it's all about not kicking myself for going past it.



    Now, if you're talking about eating certain foods qualifying as cheating, I can't really cheat because I don't have any "must not eat" foods. I can generally work them into my daily calories, even if that means ending the day feeling hungrier than usual because I enjoyed some empty calories earlier in the day.

    Thanks for the input my friend. I guess I am simply having a hard time because I am only allowed 1790 calories per day when I'm use to eating about 4000 calories day, so I am simply trying to get the most bang I can for my calorie buck. For instance, I know I could have a Big Mac but i'd be hungry again in an hour, so instead I try to get something with more substance and less calories to free up some snacking later on in the day. I do fully understand I can eat what I want if i'm under my calorie goal, I guess i'm just confused if I should look at my calorie goal by the day....or by the week
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    A grown man should be eating more than 1700 calories a day. Have you figured out your TDEE? Hell I eat 1850 in a deficit and I am much smaller.
  • PJPrimrose
    PJPrimrose Posts: 916 Member
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    ALL food are OK that don't kill you. I can't eat gluten w/o dying. So I avoid it. People are confused by the normal sounding dinner you posted. Steak is fine, potato is fine and even an appetizer is fine. Just don't eat the whole cow, an entire bushel of potatoes and a huge *kitten* appetizer.... see?

    To answer your question directly. Yes, some folks eat a BIT less (I said BIT as in small, tiny like no more than a couple hundred calories for the whole week, less) and eat more on the weekends. Did I mention it should be a small amount? Starving all week and bingeing for the weekend is no bueno. We are tall. We NEED to eat more than a short person on a daily basis. I wouldn't go below 1400 for any reason. My maintenance weight, with exercise is around 3000, at 5'9 and 145lbs. A lot of the women on here are surprised at how much I eat but I'm taller than most women here.

    I wouldn't eat less than 1400 under any circumstances. If your goal is higher (I lost on 1600-1700) don't go below that by much!)
  • TheIrish1981
    TheIrish1981 Posts: 35 Member
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    A grown man should be eating more than 1700 calories a day. Have you figured out your TDEE? Hell I eat 1850 in a deficit and I am much smaller.

    All I did was log my information in to myfitnesspal. I want to lose 2 lbs per week until I hit about 230 and then I was going to scale it back to 1 lb per week. They gave me the number of 1790 per day and I won't lie. I feel very very very hungry at times. I work a desk job, so I don't think I would fall in to the active or even lightly active category, so I chose sedentary.

    I have been walking 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles at night every day for 2 weeks and that gives me some extra calories, but then I have some people saying do eat the extra calories, some saying do not, and some saying eat half. My only goal is to do this the right way and get a result of 2 pounds a week. Once I get down to 230 to 240 I think I will be in a much better position to open up to more extreme exercise.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Look up calorie cycling. There are probably calculators to help you figure out #s if you want to try it, but it does look at weekly #s rather than daily. End result is the same.

    Another way to look at it, if calorie cycling is not enough (I had not read all the comments, see now that you were speaking of a specific meal at a specific restaurant) consider your daily deficit goal. If its 1000 calories for aiming to lose 2 pounds per week, take a day where you eat at maintenance. If 1790 is your goal now, 2790 would be maintenance. 1500 for a meal would easily fit there. And theoretically it takes one more day to reach your final goal. In the overall scheme of things, life goes on.
  • PJPrimrose
    PJPrimrose Posts: 916 Member
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    If you walk or run you are not sedimentary . BTW, if you're a GUY ignore everything I said. I thought you were female from your profile pic! My bad.
  • DWBalboa
    DWBalboa Posts: 37,259 Member
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    I asked the wife about having a cheat day and boy did she get pissed!!! :smile:

    I'll eat like a pig once a week or every other week and it hasn't killed me yet. There's nothing wrong with a little self indulgence from time to time, life was meant to be enjoyed.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    A grown man should be eating more than 1700 calories a day. Have you figured out your TDEE? Hell I eat 1850 in a deficit and I am much smaller.

    All I did was log my information in to myfitnesspal. I want to lose 2 lbs per week until I hit about 230 and then I was going to scale it back to 1 lb per week. They gave me the number of 1790 per day and I won't lie. I feel very very very hungry at times. I work a desk job, so I don't think I would fall in to the active or even lightly active category, so I chose sedentary.

    I have been walking 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles at night every day for 2 weeks and that gives me some extra calories, but then I have some people saying do eat the extra calories, some saying do not, and some saying eat half. My only goal is to do this the right way and get a result of 2 pounds a week. Once I get down to 230 to 240 I think I will be in a much better position to open up to more extreme exercise.

    I would read this thread:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    It contains a lot of useful information regarding long term success and weight loss.
  • TheIrish1981
    TheIrish1981 Posts: 35 Member
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    If you walk or run you are not sedimentary . BTW, if you're a GUY ignore everything I said. I thought you were female from your profile pic! My bad.

    Yes, I put my daughter as my profile pic =) Helps to keep me motivated
  • TheIrish1981
    TheIrish1981 Posts: 35 Member
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    thx, I will read it now

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