does anyone have a cheat meal or even a cheat day???

monne
monne Posts: 24
edited September 19 in Health and Weight Loss
I have a cheat meal every weekend i either go to a restaurant or order in. I feel that i work hard and deserve it. Should i just stick to healthy food? I also have 1 night that i will have a small bag of chips (when we play cards on saturdays). To me this is not a big hing because i don't cheat any other time plus i i'm not a drinker so what do you think!!!

Monique


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Replies

  • monne
    monne Posts: 24
    I have a cheat meal every weekend i either go to a restaurant or order in. I feel that i work hard and deserve it. Should i just stick to healthy food? I also have 1 night that i will have a small bag of chips (when we play cards on saturdays). To me this is not a big hing because i don't cheat any other time plus i i'm not a drinker so what do you think!!!

    Monique


    95390.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Calorie Counter
  • Losing_It
    Losing_It Posts: 3,271 Member
    I don't usually plan my cheat meals/days..they just happen!:noway: My lunch today turned into an all out binge-fest so I had to work by butt off on the stationary. :grumble:
  • p90x_Dude
    p90x_Dude Posts: 332
    Everyday could potentially be a cheat day for me, I have gotten better. There is soooooo much room for improvement though.
  • raincloud
    raincloud Posts: 405 Member
    I do not. If I eat something bad it really hurts me for a long time. Not only with consistent weight loss, but it also makes me crave when I wasn't craving before.

    Every so often I will go out to eat but I ALWAYS stay within my calories. Like tonight my brother is coming home from college for his birthday and we're going out to applebees, but I am getting the weight watches soup and weight watchers chicken.

    In 14 weeks I have only gone over my calories 2 times, and I don't plan on doing it again for a little bit (probably for tailgating at a football game... I want to drink :drinker: )
  • chrissyh
    chrissyh Posts: 8,235 Member
    Here's something I did...
    Last weekend my husband and I had a "date" and went to Carrabba's
    I LOVE the Chicken Marsala, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Ceaser Salad and the bread with oil/season... so I got the Chicken since of the list it's my fav, had sauteed broccoli instead of Mashed taters (yes I am in the south) and a house salad which was a vinagrette rather than the creamy ceaser. Limited myself to one piece of the bread. I know it's probably terrible in calories BUT it's much better than I would have done a month ago and BOY WAS IT GOOD!!!
  • Anna_Banana
    Anna_Banana Posts: 2,939 Member
    I throw one Free day in a week. I eat what I want on that day and then I don't crave things as bad the rest of the week because I know I can have them on my free day. This also lets your body know it won't be getting only 1200 calories for the rest of its life.
  • firegirlred
    firegirlred Posts: 674 Member
    Most people think of weight loss in 24 hour periods. For most people, this will work. But, depending the amount of calories someone takes in, you can erase the deficit you've earned over the last six days in just one. I asked the same question and received the answer that food should never be a reward. I didn't like the answer, but I've needed to apply it to my life. Ultimately, weight will equal calories in minus calories out.

    Having said that, I do "cheat." If I know I'm going out to eat pizza, I find ways to accommodate that calorie load into my diet. Yesterday, I burned 1100 calories in exercise, but only ate 400 of them in addition to my normal deficit. I'm running a race tomorrow, so I'm not eating at a deficit today. This means I've got 700 from yesterday and 500 that I'm eating that I usually don't. In other words, I've got a pizza sitting in the kitchen. Instead of eating half the pizza for a meal (which I can do), I ate two pieces. This is what MFP has done for me.

    Obviously, different things work for different people. You should find what works for you.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    Thanks for making me think about this. I realize I used to have a cheat day, but now my tastes are more for the whole foods cooked without fat.

    So when I went to Olive Garden with my friends I ordered grilled shrimp on pasta. I ate salad and 1 bread stick and a bowl of minestrone soup. By the time the food came I wasnt hungry-so all shared the grilled shrimp and I brought the pasta home.

    I looked it up and it was 1500 calories, 1800 sodium and 30 grams of fat! OMG if I had eaten that I would have (literally) had a heart attack.

    So now I go out, splurge on bread, and order fresh fish,veggies and clear soup.

    So no, I guess because my thinking has changed, my tastes have also. I dont enjoy the high fat stuff I used to.
    :flowerforyou:
  • artnoren
    artnoren Posts: 54
    Outback Steakhouse. Eat in or pick up. Try the six oz. sirloin special with a baked potato (without all the fixings) just a little butter and sour cream, and steamed vegtables. If you like add a house salad with oil and vinegar on the side(no cheese or croutons). A slice of their great bread without butter.

    Also try Applebee's as they have a healthy menu.

    If you go upscale order fish meat or chicken without sauces or fried, or pasta with a marinara sauce. Fresh vegetables, salad with oil and red wine vinegar. Potatoes not fried (be careful of the mashed) Watch portion control. Share a dessert.
  • TaraJ16
    TaraJ16 Posts: 304
    before i started my diet we used to have pizza every weekend. now i treat myself to a pizza once a month at the end of the month.
  • magichatter06
    magichatter06 Posts: 3,593 Member
    Yep! For the past week, it seems like everyday, haha! Well, it's only because I just came back from vacation...

    Normally, it's about one day for me
  • dujennifer
    dujennifer Posts: 162 Member
    My diet/exercise program (Body for Life) actually allows (even borderline requires) a cheat day each week. A couple reasons:

    1. If you tell yourself, I can never.....You set yourself up to fail.
    2. It shocks the system and kicks metabolism into gear.
    3. It is a good reminder of how the bad food makes you feel not so good and helps us appreciate the good stuff more.

    This is not a free pass to spend a whole day eating crap, but if you have to have a burger and some fries, splurge!
  • monne
    monne Posts: 24
    Thanks everyone!!!

    I did have a cheat day this week and it was today for supper. I had chinesse food. It was good but i only eat half my plate and now i'm good till next week. I do know that there's alot of salt so i've already had 12 glasses of water today and i'm going to try to fit another 4-6 before i go to bed tonight. That way i"ll flush the salt out. Thanks again everyone!!!

    YOU ALL ROCK!!!:happy:
  • Phoenix_Rising
    Phoenix_Rising Posts: 11,417 Member
    heh heh
    I'm a bottomless pit, sucking in all the food near me suddenly.
    I'm gonna have a HUGE cheat dinner tonight!:noway: :laugh:
  • arjames82
    arjames82 Posts: 154
    I have cheat meal every Saturday:bigsmile:. I started doing this last year when I was watching the Biggest Loser and Bob said that all of contestants get a cheat meal after their weekly weigh in. But, they still have to stick to their regular workout routine. He said that when you're eating healthy all of the time, incoporating an occassional high calorie meal can help to boost your metabolism

    So on Saturday mornings, I weigh in at Weight Watchers at 6:00 a.m., take my group cycling class at 8:30 a.m., and then treat myself to a nice big cheat meal for dinner (usually chinese or pizza).
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Yes, I have one BIG cheat day every month or two. I used to be able to do some damage hehe...:devil:
    But now I prefer healthy food and don't even crave sweets. I actually was going to allow myself a treat during the week for acing a HARD exam, but decided to wait several days to split it (a sundae) with my bf so I don't eat as much. I will also be eating ethiopian cuisine which is one of my favorites, but it's healthy. Now my free days just consist of a little junk food; mostly I just snack when I want and give myself a day off of counting. As long as you're not having just huge cheats that you're vastly reducing your 3500 calorie weekly deficit, don't worry about it. :smile:
  • NewMK08
    NewMK08 Posts: 399 Member
    I've thought about incorporating a cheat day into my week, but I want to have a few solid weeks of healthy eating so that I get a feel for the healthy foods before cheating! Plus, I'm afraid that if I started right now that I would go CRAZY instead of actually enjoying the food!

    Maybe after a month of MFPing I'll start to have a cheat day/meal or something!
  • footballmom
    footballmom Posts: 7
    I decided to have a cheat night last night after reading this post.. We have pizza on Fridays and I LOVE pizza so I had some, and it was yummy, I had two big pieces and I was stuffed, felt a little guilty, but I am going to workout hard today!
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