Cheatmeal/Cheatday..What's your longterm resolution for this topic?
sabaraba
Posts: 42
So,
recently I've had some issues with cheatmeals/cheatdays.
When I first started this journey O'd never had problems with this topic, just hat a juge cheatmeal every 2 weeks and that's about it, but now, that I am longer in this weightloss joruney I think I may have become a little tired of all the counting and weighing my food and stuff. So, I want to take a dietbriek in the christmas holidays ( not going overboard or stuff, just eating for like 2 weeks at maintenance, so I can get my head and my soul a little rest
. )
but before that, I want to lose some more weight.
Now, how do you do it? I feel like a cheatmeal a week is a bit much ( even if it isn't huge) and could cause my weightloss to stall.
Doing a cheatmeal every 2 weeks isn't the easiest thing..I know that I begin to struggle with this after one week, so that the second one is always hard and not really "enjoyable".
Cheatdays are too much for my cup of tea..
I just know, I need a dietbreak, but I want to wait with this until christmas..and until then I need some kind of concept.
Ideas?
Thanks in advance
recently I've had some issues with cheatmeals/cheatdays.
When I first started this journey O'd never had problems with this topic, just hat a juge cheatmeal every 2 weeks and that's about it, but now, that I am longer in this weightloss joruney I think I may have become a little tired of all the counting and weighing my food and stuff. So, I want to take a dietbriek in the christmas holidays ( not going overboard or stuff, just eating for like 2 weeks at maintenance, so I can get my head and my soul a little rest
. )but before that, I want to lose some more weight.
Now, how do you do it? I feel like a cheatmeal a week is a bit much ( even if it isn't huge) and could cause my weightloss to stall.
Doing a cheatmeal every 2 weeks isn't the easiest thing..I know that I begin to struggle with this after one week, so that the second one is always hard and not really "enjoyable".
Cheatdays are too much for my cup of tea..
I just know, I need a dietbreak, but I want to wait with this until christmas..and until then I need some kind of concept.
Ideas?
Thanks in advance
0
Replies
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one way to have a day when you can eat more than you usually do and splurge a bit is to approach your caloric goal on a weekly basis rather than a daily one. If you are at 1500 cals per day, go 6 days at 1400 then on the 7th day you can have and extra 600 calories. Our bodies do not work on a 24 hour cycle. It is a continuous process so if your weekly deficit is still within your overall caloric goal you will have the same process. plus, many believe that having a day or two that jumps up in calories ever so often can have a positive impact.0
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Dave198lbs wrote: »one way to have a day when you can eat more than you usually do and splurge a bit is to approach your caloric goal on a weekly basis rather than a daily one. If you are at 1500 cals per day, go 6 days at 1400 then on the 7th day you can have and extra 600 calories. Our bodies do not work on a 24 hour cycle. It is a continuous process so if your weekly deficit is still within your overall caloric goal you will have the same process. plus, many believe that having a day or two that jumps up in calories ever so often can have a positive impact.
The thing is, I really can't stand feeling deprived of anything. I just ate for few weeks 1400- 1450 calories daily, but that's already pretty hard for me. ( I'm doing sports 6 times a week, strength, cardio, hiit whatsoever)
As a result I started feeling like depriving myself of a lot of stuff, and I hated watching every single calorie I took in. Now I upped to 1600 calories since onlinecalculators tell me anyways to eat something from 1600-1700 to lose weight ( 1 lbs/week ).
But If I know I can eat one day more and not hurting my goals that may be a good resolution.
Thanks!0 -
Since you said once a week is too often but once in 2 weeks is too long - what about a cheat meal every 10 days. I don't love calling it a "cheat" because that implies that what I'm doing is wrong, and it's not. I give myself permission to eat to maintenance (which means any "gain" will be temporary due to water retention/replenishing glycogen stores) 2-3 times a month. Some months that's 3 days in a row (hello PMS
) and some months it it's only once, but I have the permission and the freedom. It also helps me to look at the weekly averages as Dave mentioned - when I can see where my weekly net is, it makes the decision to (or not to) have a maintenance day that much easier. (I don't think you can see weekly net on the website but you can on the iPhone app - not sure on Android) 0 -
If you are working out 6x/wk, probably could stand to up your calories. Have you put your stats into a BMR/TDEE calculator to determine your daily caloric needs? If not, do so.
This is a good place to start...
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/975025/in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet0 -
i look at a week or month rather than a day works for me ive been at this over 7 months and ive found this to be the easiest way0
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I wish you had said how long you'd been on this diet for. At first i'd thought you'd been doing it for a long time already and then i thought, hmmm sounds like you've just started.
Anyway , my suggestion for you is as eat as much as you can and still lose weight. This is the easiest way. Work out your TDEE using a TDEE calculator or add your exercise calories and your BMR together. That's your TDEE. Then take off a 250. And eat whatever that number is.
The food you eat makes a difference to how satisfied/hungry you get. so make sure you eat good healthy whole foods most of the time.
I never have cheat days but that's my preference. If you do it the way i suggest, you may be able to factor in some of your favourite calorie foods from time to time. But what i've found is that if you eat a wide variety of delicious but healthy foods all the time, you will never feel like cheating. That's where the real challenge comes into it. Because you need to think about how you are going to eat for the long term. I mean once you get to goal, you just can't expect to eat whatever you want and not gain weight.
You have to make a decision about how you are going eat for the long term and so that means accepting that some foods that you ate a lot of before, you will either rarely eat or not eat very often. But instead you will eat a lot more fruit and vegetables and find more healthy foods to eat more often. So if your food is not much fun right now, you probably need to learn to cook.0 -
Last Christmas I said the same thing. I was sick of counting and measuring. I wanted a break, plus counting during the holidays can be tough with so many parties and snacks and dinners. So I took a break. Told myself I'd get right back to it at New Years.
I didn't weigh or measure any food again until October and gained back almost 20 pounds when I had lost 40. And now that I'm trying to get back into it, it's harder than ever. I can't stop feeling hungry and binge eating and all I think about is food.
Do not stop. Do not take a break. Unless you have iron clad will power, do not do it. You will regret it every second that your clothes no longer fit and your reflection in the mirror is right back to what it was.0 -
Patttience wrote: »I wish you had said how long you'd been on this diet for. At first i'd thought you'd been doing it for a long time already and then i thought, hmmm sounds like you've just started.
Anyway , my suggestion for you is as eat as much as you can and still lose weight. This is the easiest way. Work out your TDEE using a TDEE calculator or add your exercise calories and your BMR together. That's your TDEE. Then take off a 250. And eat whatever that number is.
The food you eat makes a difference to how satisfied/hungry you get. so make sure you eat good healthy whole foods most of the time.
I never have cheat days but that's my preference. If you do it the way i suggest, you may be able to factor in some of your favourite calorie foods from time to time. But what i've found is that if you eat a wide variety of delicious but healthy foods all the time, you will never feel like cheating. That's where the real challenge comes into it. Because you need to think about how you are going to eat for the long term. I mean once you get to goal, you just can't expect to eat whatever you want and not gain weight.
You have to make a decision about how you are going eat for the long term and so that means accepting that some foods that you ate a lot of before, you will either rarely eat or not eat very often. But instead you will eat a lot more fruit and vegetables and find more healthy foods to eat more often. So if your food is not much fun right now, you probably need to learn to cook.
So, I'm in to this for 7-8 months
Well, I know, I know that I'm not on a diet, I'm never going back to eat the way I used to..I just also don't always want to cut off calories haha:). That's the only thing, I just sometimes need a mental break, so that I don't feel like I need to binge whatesoever
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I don't care for the term "cheat", as I'm doing nothing wrong. I eat whatever I want everyday and just make it fit into my caloric allotment. If I happen to go over, I log it and move on. All that being said, four weeks ago, I took a two week diet break. It was wonderful and something that I will do again. I didn't spend the time mindlessly eating, after awhile you get pretty good at this, so I can safely say I wasn't really eating that many more calories. I just wasn't weighing and measuring everything.0
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Phrick and dave gave you some good common sense solutions. Imo you are overcomplicating it. People hate the idea of calling it a cheat anything its juts food, just log it and then enjoy eating it for goodness sake, as long as you appreciate the difference it makes in your diet schedule.
You seem to be doing a lot of exercise 6x a week (no idea on effort or duration) and you dont say whether you are eating back or not. How long have you been dieting and is your ticker accurate. Just use some of those calories to have this extra calorie meal when you feel like it. I find knowing I have done enough exercise gives me choice and I can eat it or not.0 -
Last Christmas I said the same thing. I was sick of counting and measuring. I wanted a break, plus counting during the holidays can be tough with so many parties and snacks and dinners. So I took a break. Told myself I'd get right back to it at New Years.
I didn't weigh or measure any food again until October and gained back almost 20 pounds when I had lost 40. And now that I'm trying to get back into it, it's harder than ever. I can't stop feeling hungry and binge eating and all I think about is food.
Do not stop. Do not take a break. Unless you have iron clad will power, do not do it. You will regret it every second that your clothes no longer fit and your reflection in the mirror is right back to what it was.
No, I'm pretty sure I can handle this. I don't even look forward to stuff myself, just enjoying christmas and not need to think about my caloric intake too much. Sure I will still log here and then, to make sure I really don't underestimate what I am eating.
I've already lost a total of 28 kg, I feel like if I want to take once a break it's ok.
Beeing consequent is one side of nutrition, but to feel good you also need to sometimes let go and don't think about every single calorie
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i did write a blog on this -- essentially you cheat SOMEONE you cheat on a spouse you cheat your opponent. The very fact that we call these cheatmeals and cheatdays means we are doing something underhanded TO OURSELVES. It's the mentality that needs to go away, you really can undo a whole week by one cheat day. Instead eat what you love everyday and stop with diet "drama" which is stressing you out to the point of sabotaging your own efforts.
http://coachmarybacon.com/1/post/2014/09/cheat-days-recipe-for-failure.html0 -
Phrick and dave gave you some good common sense solutions. Imo you are overcomplicating it. People hate the idea of calling it a cheat anything its juts food, just log it and then enjoy eating it for goodness sake, as long as you appreciate the difference it makes in your diet schedule.
You seem to be doing a lot of exercise 6x a week (no idea on effort or duration) and you dont say whether you are eating back or not. How long have you been dieting and is your ticker accurate. Just use some of those calories to have this extra calorie meal when you feel like it. I find knowing I have done enough exercise gives me choice and I can eat it or not.
Well, sorry for the lack of information.
So: I'm in to this for about 7-8 months, I went from 89 kg to 61 kg.
I'm doing Fitnessblender 8 week fatloss programs, including HIIT, Strength, Pilates, cardiovascular etc.
I'd say my total hours of sports in a week would be anywhere from 4-7 hours. ( therefore I'm always saying moderatly active )
I am 5 '2.
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »I don't care for the term "cheat", as I'm doing nothing wrong. I eat whatever I want everyday and just make it fit into my caloric allotment. If I happen to go over, I log it and move on. All that being said, four weeks ago, I took a two week diet break. It was wonderful and something that I will do again. I didn't spend the time mindlessly eating, after awhile you get pretty good at this, so I can safely say I wasn't really eating that many more calories. I just wasn't weighing and measuring everything.
Exactly this is what I want to do for my holiday break!
Not going overboard, just giving myelf a little bit rest from the whole calorie counting and thinking about food stuff.
I know I am now able to listen to my body and making the right choices..and the right choice sometimes maybe even is to just eat the donut! 0 -
The great thing for me about Holidays is either I am working or they are hosted at my home. Thanksgiving is at my house this year and I will be too busy watching kids for my guest and making sure things are ok that I won't have time to binge on everything .
What I eat I will try to compensate by exercise. I don't think it is cheating. Tomorrow is always a new day .
I have to say though we nurses love when people actually bring us healthy treats instead of cakes, pies etc. So if you have family in the hospital, nursing home or rehab and treat their nurses think about sending something nourishing 0 -
Liftng4Lis wrote: »I don't care for the term "cheat", as I'm doing nothing wrong. I eat whatever I want everyday and just make it fit into my caloric allotment. If I happen to go over, I log it and move on. All that being said, four weeks ago, I took a two week diet break. It was wonderful and something that I will do again. I didn't spend the time mindlessly eating, after awhile you get pretty good at this, so I can safely say I wasn't really eating that many more calories. I just wasn't weighing and measuring everything.
Exactly this is what I want to do for my holiday break!
Not going overboard, just giving myelf a little bit rest from the whole calorie counting and thinking about food stuff.
I know I am now able to listen to my body and making the right choices..and the right choice sometimes maybe even is to just eat the donut!
You'll do fantastic! Enjoy it.0 -
For me, the main goal is to fit what I crave in my calories (which is very possible most of the time). Once in a while though I just need a cheat meal, so I have one (and some days I'm just starving or having major cravings). And I try to keep a bigger deficit the other days to make up for it (ideally I'd still like to lose a few pounds anyway).0
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I don't have cheat meals because I eat "bad" food all the time. Fits my macros. So I eat my goals.
If I need to eat more calories, then that's not a cheat meal. That's simply eating at maintenance, or eating a bit above my deficit goals.0 -
Ok too many people hung up on semantics again, but yeah I'm totally CHEATING on my diet for Christmas and not feeling bad about it. And I'm not talking about eating 'bad food' because I do that all the time, or eating at maintenance either, for me cheating is eating 800 or more over maintenance... but it will only be for a day or two (we always visit friends on Christmas Eve too). I will keep my deficit or more the rest of the time (hopefully!).0
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I do not cheat. It's not helpful to my goals. I stopped feeling the need to "cheat" after losing the weight, actually. I think the key is that I eat ONLY stuff that I like. I don't eat anything just because it's available, or at the office, or because someone made it. By eating only what I want, within my calorie range, I never ever feel deprived. I would now much rather eat a huge plate of asparagus with cracked sea salt and some grass-fed butter instead of a tiny piece of factory-produced stale chocolate cake. It's worked for me -- I've lost a ton of weight and have kept it off successfully for almost two years. The key is really finding what works for you.0
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I go to lunch with some work colleagues on Fridays, and I always get a burger. I also got used to hitting a certain drive-thru every Friday on my way home. I've kept up both things, although I've dropped the fries/onion rings from the lunch. That plus a beer puts me at around maintenance for the day (and I may still do a little exercise). Every other day, I'm under my goal (keeping in mind that I may still be underestimating calories in and overestimating calories out). It's funny how less pleasant those Friday meals have been getting, though--a lot of carbs and salt. Ugh.0
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Do cheat snacks like me everyday! Makes it easier to not have cheat meals so you're actually kind of doing yourself a favor. Jut don't go overboard with the snack0
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