Cheat or not to Cheat?

13

Replies

  • ErinRibbens
    ErinRibbens Posts: 370 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    thx, I will read it now
  • beckyjeanleemaddox
    beckyjeanleemaddox Posts: 154 Member
    I had cake last night but it made me feel awful until I exercised. I pretty much stay away from sugar b/c I noticed I didn't get fat until I started eating sugar every day. I ate a steak and veggies for lunch but fit it into my calories. I weighed the steak so I knew how much I was eating calorie wise. Generally I eat about the same things all the time. Occ I eat a Mcdonald's hamburger which is like a cheat for me b/c I don't eat bread usually. I just try to have a calorie deficit and eat what I want but I have cut down on bread, sugar, potatoes, corn, chips and all pastries. Way down. I think if you want something every now and then that you consider cheating is okay. I, personally have to be careful b/c carbs, chips and sweets trigger binges for me so I generally stay away from it.:smile:
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
    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

    It is definitely a shock when you find yourself paying attention to your calories.

    But to answer your query in the last sentence, the key is to have that defecit over time. Generally, part of why I can go easy on myself for going over one day is that I'm usually under my goal on others. So if you go 200 calories over your goal today and then are 200 calories short of it, tomorrow, or if you eat 200 fewer calories today so that you can have 200 more tomorrow, the overages and shortfalls will cancel each other out.

    The main thing is figuring out a timeframe you can effectively manage. Many find it easier to just go day by day and focus on that, yielding a "take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves" effect. They focus on maintaining a 500 caloie a day defecit for losing one pound a week. Alternatively, you might find yourself in a situation where worrying about the weekly defecit is easier, such as if you're in a position where you plan out all your meals for the week beforehand and can plan out having a 3500 calorie weekly defecit by eating more on some days and less on others.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I don't recommend them really, they slow your weight loss down. I do have them though, on Holidays or other special days, but typically I'm too stuffed to eat more than 3500 calories or so anyway.

    Typically I eat what I want within my calories (or try to) and try to keep my protein up. If we go to that awesome restaurant we only go to once every 3 years or something though... I don't really care if I go over (but I'll make sure I really get something that will be worth it and that I can't get elsewhere). My downfall is dessert though and it's really tough to fit that in my calories when we go out...
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    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.

    Since when is a steak considered cheating? I'm not sure if you're serious...
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    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.

    That is not the question you originally asked. A normal portion size steak-based meal is not 1500 calories. What you are talking about is pigging out.

    If you want to eat 1500 calorie meal on a 1700 calorie budget, your options are obviously going to be extremely limited. And yes, your weight loss will slow down (or worse) if you eat more than you're supposed to.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,281 Member
    I fit it into my calories. I calorie cycle, so I'll have some low cal days followed by a high cal day or two. This week I've had pizza, chinese and a roast pork and gravy roll (with crackling) and I'm still expecting a loss.

    And hell, a steak, baked potato and salad is a normal dinner at my place...

    So if you go under calories one day or more in the week, do you then use them on another day? If that is possible that might make things a little easier because I could squeeze a cheat meal in every week if that is something that you have done and yet have still had success

    Yes!.
    this is a much better way to do it IMO - go by your weekly goal - ie some days will be under and some days will be over and as long as the weekly amount is close to goal it will even out.

    I am not talking about silly extremes like only eating few hundred calories some days and pigging out others - but if you are planning to go out for dinner or have a big meal one day of the week, shave, say, a hundred calories per day off the other days to bank up for it.
    That approach works much better than feeling a compulsion to be under every single day - and it is the average that matters, not the amount from every individual day.
  • Keepcalmanddontblink
    Keepcalmanddontblink Posts: 718 Member
    Some people say that don't consider a steak dinner cheating. Perhaps I should clarify. I'm talking about a 16 oz steak, Salad with honey mustard dressing, baked potato loaded, and an order of Pepper Poppers. We are talking about a 1500 calorie meal. If that isn't a cheat meal.....I don't know what is

    Still not cheating. If it fits your calories, nothing wrong with it *shrug*... Most of my dinners are 1000+ calories. :ohwell:
    Perhaps the clarification should be that, you calorie limit doesn't support a 1500 calorie meal unless its the only meal you are eating all day? (I don't know what your calorie limit is. Mine is 1500 before workouts.) If I am really craving something, I will skip lunch (not recommended), or workout big time and earn the extra calories, (totally recommended), so I can enjoy the meal without feeling guilty.
  • ravenmiss
    ravenmiss Posts: 384 Member
    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.

    Sounds like a pretty regular dinner to me.

    I thought the same. I can easily fit that into my calories.

    As for "cheating" then no, I want to see results not stall them. If by cheating you mean being out of a deficit for the week.
  • _KitKat_
    _KitKat_ Posts: 1,066 Member
    I eat what I want, just fit it in my calories.... rarely go over but if I do, I just watch my weekly intake and never go over on that. Cheating can wipe out a deficient but I have never been one to binge so I also have no understanding of that desire either. The only thing I have done that I viewed as cheating was.....I went to a casino buffet with family and had no way to log. That really upset me and I put down 1000 calories for that dinner. Most likely it was less because my choices were healthy and the main was grilled salmon. To me if you are honest and record everything and eat within your calories there should not be a need to "cheat'.

    If I went on vacation I most likely would eat near maintenance for that time frame.
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