Is alcohol a cheat meal?

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xosunny520
xosunny520 Posts: 23 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm not asking if you think it is a good idea to use alcohol as your cheat meal -- I know that your cheat meal could be whatever you like.

My question is: if you were going to have a night of drinking, would you consider that your cheat meal, or would you go to the McDonald's drive thru later in the week and get a large fry?

Replies

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    I'm completely confused by the question. Treat alcohol like anything else. It has calories so simply track it in MFP. I treat a bud light the same way I'd treat a glass of orange juice. I guess it's only a "cheat" if you go over your calories. I would say the same for the McDonald's fry. It's not a cheat either unless it puts you over your goals. The only time I really consider what I've done to be "cheating" is when I go over my goals by a large margin or I don't track at all. And that's only if the event was unplanned. If I plan ahead I can save calories from the week to account for the overages again making it not "cheating". I guess it depends what a "cheat" means to you.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,068 Member
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    I would do none, either, or both - depending which I wanted to have and which would fit into my calorie goal for the week.

    But I don't do specific cheat meals, just fit whatever into my weekly calories.
  • Nertak
    Nertak Posts: 34 Member
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    Doesn't matter. The point of the cheat meal or day is to give yourself the leeway to maintain your diet the rest of the week. All that matters is whether or not you are reaching your weight loss goal for the week. If you can meet your goal while including a night of drinking and buffalo wings then who cares? If you can't then you gotta make some choices and rearrange something somewhere.

    Some people advocate a cheat meal, some a cheat day, and others say no cheating at all. None are right or wrong, different things work for different people.

    Personally I can't include any cheat meals in my diet or a completely derail.
  • LaurenBrooke1843
    LaurenBrooke1843 Posts: 73 Member
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    Drinking is definitely a cheat for me, so many calories! The only way I can make it not a cheat is if I just don't eat that day and only drink vodka/diet coke.
    I wish there was a 0 calorie alcohol!!! :(
  • Smoofalz
    Smoofalz Posts: 36 Member
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    I treat alcohol just as any extra snack and still try to make it fit within my calorie goals. I usually only drink on the weekends, and when I know I am going to be drinking, I do a longer workout. The calories in most drinks add up fast.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    I don't consider it cheating. You aren't breaking any rule you didn't set up. You're just changing your rules.

    Since they're your rules, you can make them up as you go! :) If they don't work out, change them.

    It just depends on how motivated you are, how much you want to lose the weight and whether you want to eat McDonald's you'll have to work off. :)
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    Heck no, it's a test of willpower. How blitzed can I get without wreaking havoc on the raisins and cashews in the fridge?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I do treat meals rather than cheat meals and plan my weekly calories to allow for them. So if I "spent" a bunch of calories on alcohol then it would probably end up being my treat meal since there wouldn't be calories left for a different type of treat.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    Is alcohol a cheat meal?

    I like you, we should go drinking, you sound like you could possibly keep up with me.

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