Cheating

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laurenleola
laurenleola Posts: 8 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How often do ya'll have a cheat meal? Do you cheat the entire day or just one meal? How is this working for you?

Sorry if this has been posted before. Somewhat new here.
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  • Veil5577
    Veil5577 Posts: 868 Member
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    I try not to have an entire "meal" but occasionally I will treat myself to a little snack that is within my calorie limit. I only have a "cheat" day when I'm with family or it's a special occasion, which is not often.
  • laurenleola
    laurenleola Posts: 8 Member
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    Thanks!
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    I never "cheat". I fit items into my macros.
    Like Hershey's kisses today. And a slice of homemade birthday cake last night. Moderation is key, and it's not necessary to label foods as "good" or "bad", so that you have to feel like "cheating" to eat them.

    Just eat the cookie, pizza, or burger, and balance it with the rest of your day!
  • ElliTree
    ElliTree Posts: 23 Member
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    I don't cheat. If I want some fries, I will damn well have some. But when I think that I will have to skip a meal to do it (400 cal at In and Out) it really curbs the craving pretty damn fast.
  • Berkables
    Berkables Posts: 35
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    It's all about what works for you!

    I personally am incapable of having a cookie after dinner and then calling it a day. If I have one cookie, I will have ten cookies. Therefore, I eat very low cal for most of the week but have one planned "cheat day" during which I eat literally anything I want. The trade off is I have to stay within my 1200-calorie goal for the rest of the week, which is difficult. But, I've tried this weight loss thing a bunch of different ways and what works for me is knowing that I'll always have that one, glorious cheat day to look forward to!
  • laurenleola
    laurenleola Posts: 8 Member
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    I try very hard to stay on track and 99% of the time I do. My friend and I were planning on having lunch Saturday at a Mexican restaurant. Probably not the best pick but I don't want to deprive myself either. Thanks for all the great input!
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
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    i don't believe in cheating, that word is not a part of my diet vocabulary. cheating implies you are depriving or restricting yourself and thus must "Cheat" to get what you want.

    i work in the foods i love into my plan. all in moderation and eating them all in a healthier approach
  • fittoday14
    fittoday14 Posts: 128
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    If I cheat, I try to do it by adding in one cheat-type food (ie. cake, cookies, etc). I don't recommend doing it by 'day' because it has had a reverse effect for me. I end up going 2-3 days of "cheat" before getting back on the wagon!
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
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    I find that I do better with zigzagging my calories.. High days/low days. Then I can fit those "cheats" into my overall calorie goal without feeling even a little bit guilty.
  • laurenleola
    laurenleola Posts: 8 Member
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    It's all about what works for you!

    I personally am incapable of having a cookie after dinner and then calling it a day. If I have one cookie, I will have ten cookies. Therefore, I eat very low cal for most of the week but have one planned "cheat day" during which I eat literally anything I want. The trade off is I have to stay within my 1200-calorie goal for the rest of the week, which is difficult. But, I've tried this weight loss thing a bunch of different ways and what works for me is knowing that I'll always have that one, glorious cheat day to look forward to!

    That's what I did last week and still lost 2.8. I'm going to try it again this week. I didn't go crazy on my food either and I still logged everything I ate.
  • mud7urtle
    mud7urtle Posts: 500
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    entire day or bust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUUAynxYIUE
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
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    It's all about what works for you!

    I personally am incapable of having a cookie after dinner and then calling it a day. If I have one cookie, I will have ten cookies. Therefore, I eat very low cal for most of the week but have one planned "cheat day" during which I eat literally anything I want. The trade off is I have to stay within my 1200-calorie goal for the rest of the week, which is difficult. But, I've tried this weight loss thing a bunch of different ways and what works for me is knowing that I'll always have that one, glorious cheat day to look forward to!

    This is what I used to do except I ate about 1400 calories M-F and 3000 on Sat, 2000 on Sunday. Now that I use TDEE -10% and started lifting weights I have more discretionary calories however and don't have to save calories for an effing sweet meal.
  • JDearman143
    JDearman143 Posts: 48 Member
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    I rarely comment on these, but I just had to say THANK YOU for posting this.. It's exactly what I needed to see as I tend to be that "impulse" eater.. Way to keep it positive!
  • chocolatexxmintt
    chocolatexxmintt Posts: 85 Member
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    Moderation. Add in it to your MFP and work it off with cardio.
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
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    I can understand people saying moderation, however there are some times you really feel like putting away a couple pints of beer, three or four slices of pizza, and half a dozen buffalo wings, and that just isn't going to fit very well into most people's macros or calories.

    As long as you aren't doing it all the time, some splurges or cheats are good for a person's sanity. For some it doesn't work, for some it does. I was at my lowest weight using a low cal M-F and high cal Sat and Sun.
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
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    i do think you do what you need to do for yourself.

    but i would argue the reason you can't stop at one slice of pizza or cookie and therefore you need a cheat day to do it is because you are not really allowing yourself to have it.

    if you did not make it the forbidden fruit you would not need 4 slices of pizza or 5 cookies and wouldn't be so tempted. if you know you can have it whenever you want it won't seem so alluring.
    it takes time to get there to think about it differently but over time it works...
  • laurenleola
    laurenleola Posts: 8 Member
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    Last weekend I went out to eat and ordered what I normally do. I couldn't eat near as much as I did before after exercising and counting my calories.
  • sculli123
    sculli123 Posts: 1,221 Member
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    Pretty rare that I even do what I would consider a cheat meal. Whatever I eat I fit into my daily macros, so I basically don't cheat on that. I do however do carb refeeds 1 to 2 times per week. Normally I keep my carbs under 75g but bump that up to over 300 once or twice a week. Calories are usually 2K but bump up to 2600 - 2700 on high carb days.
  • jec285
    jec285 Posts: 145 Member
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    I eat and drink myself half to death 1 day a week. Works for me, but you gotta be careful as 1 day turns to 2, 2 turns to a week, etc.

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