Cheat meals: The low down

One thousand percent agreed. Thank you.

cheers to that!! life is for living!!

Just do it smartly :drinker:

2 thumbs up

Agreed!!

I'm kind of confused by what you're getting at with this post. Sometimes at the end of my "free day", I look at my diary and find that I've hit my calorie target and macros. This is sort of a failed free day. When that happens, I try harder the next day, and get a bacon cheeseburger and a beer or something.

Sounds like a valid technique, I guess. I would rather stay fully disciplined 6 days a week, eating as clean as possible, then have any sort of splurge I want on Saturday or Sunday. I go over 500-1000 calories very regularly. Do I look like I'm throwing my progress to the wind?

Missing my point man.

"Cheat" to me implies bad/wrong. I'm sorry, but I'm an adult and don't need to "cheat". If I want something "bad", I am going to work it into my diary and make good choices the rest of the day. It may take some planning, but I consider it a skill I am learning because there will be times that I am going to have to eat "bad".

OP, is that close?

I'm saying instead of throwing progress to the wind by having a "no count" day, or a "cheat day" where you eat what you want "in moderation," just incorporate the calories and such of said meal into your average day.

If you have 1/4 cup of Ben and Jerrys for example, and you FIT THAT INTO your daily calories and pro/fat/carb limits, then it's not cheating. It's just another meal, you've satisfied that craving and you don't even feel bad.

I am confused. I have a free day once a week and I am progressing very good.
To each their own I guess. Again there is no one size fits all solution. Everyone is doing it the way it works for them and that is how it should be. If I had to lose weight by doing what people on here think should be the standard I would never be able to. I'd quit out of frustration and feeling like a failure cuz I ate a candy bar and put bad chemicals in my body and went over my calories. I tried the no cheat day approach for the good first part of my progress and I got so tired of being restrictive. Once I started to have a free day I noticed - FOR ME - that I actually lost more weight from it. I guess I threw off my metabolism or whatever the research had told me. Again...to each their own. People do what works for you and worry about you.

I couldnt agree more I eat all my regular foods just try to make it more healthy and the right size portions , I watch my sodium, sugar and carb intake bc I have found those have more of a reaction to my body but I eat whatever I want in moderation every day and I dont make special meals different from the family, I feel that if I have complete cheat days where I dont watch what I eat one day will become two then three then ill be right back where I started, I want this to be a lifestyle change not be on a DIET for the rest of my life.

I am going to have to disagree with deathtaco (no offence intended) and agree with flutterqueen04.

I am no expert but...

Based on some research I have done and articles I have read all over the internet I have found that having a cheat or free or whatever you want to call it day once a week is and can actually be a very good thing for a couple of reasons.

1. Psychologically: If you are restricting yourself of certain foods and restricting yourself of calories for a time eating whatever you want and not counting your calories for a day is good for the mind and for some people (not all) can help them stay on track to their target. I have found myself that having a day off calorie restriction helps me to keep focused and I am easily able to stay with my assigned calories every day during the week.

2. Metabolism: By restricting calories we are telling the body that there is less food/nutrients available than what I thinks it should be getting. The longer you do this the more your body adjusts and eventually it will go into what is called starvation mode, where the metabolism shuts down and stops processing food as fast, hence a halt in fat burning. I have learnt that the metabolism is in direct connection with a hormone called Leptin. When leptin levels drop in the body, the metabolism shuts down and fat burning stops. This can take about a week to occur. I have also discovered that you can correct this and restore leptin/metabolism back to optimal levels by having an over-feeding/cheat/free day once per week because it only takes 12 hours to restore the damage done to ones metabolism.

If you want a better explanation of this go to the link in my signature. This is the guy who came up with this concept (or one of the guys), I've used his program before.....it's very good.

These are the reasons that flutterqueen04 is seeing such consistent results, because she is restoring her metabolism and by staying with her calorie goals for the rest of the week it is allowing her body to be at maximum fat burning efficiency.

This is not a personal attack at anybody this is just my opinion and what I have discovered works for me and many other people. I personally lost 1.5kg (3 pounds) last week and at the start of that week on the Sunday i went 2000 cals over my daily goal. If you're telling me it doesn't work, I'm walking proof that it does.

:flowerforyou:
Not "cheating" and not seeing this as a diet but a life-change is also working for me.
I know...I know ...everyone is different and kudos to you if what ever you are doing is working for you.
I eat in moderation whatever I work my butt off to get in that day.
I don't deny myself b/c I am trying to have a totally different relationships and respect with food and yes...I admit it, I was an emotional eater and have issues to come to terms with.
This isn't JUST about food and cals and exercise for me.
It is the whole healthy package for me.
I am glad you posted DeathTaco.
If what you are doing is working for you, by all means keep doing it.
If it is NOT working for you (at least not like you think it should) then maybe you will get the motivation you need from his post as it was intended.

Well said. I think of it in terms of opportunity costs. Most days my normal diet is sufficient to meet my calorie goals, as long as I'm paying attention.

Sure, bad days happen...sometimes poor planning, lack of resources, etc

But I certainly dont "plan" a cheat day. I may plan to hit the treadmill for an extra 20 so that I can have steak. But again, that's just opportunity costs

I'm saying instead of throwing progress to the wind by having a "no count" day, or a "cheat day" where you eat what you want "in moderation," just incorporate the calories and such of said meal into your average day.

If you have 1/4 cup of Ben and Jerrys for example, and you FIT THAT INTO your daily calories and pro/fat/carb limits, then it's not cheating. It's just another meal, you've satisfied that craving and you don't even feel bad.

This is what I do and it works well for me.

There are a couple of things I 100% avoid because I know that giving in to the craving will just make the craving worse and that NOT eating it gets easier with time (thinking of potato chips here). That's just an individual trait that I know I have.

I love tortilla chips and salsa. LOVE! So I will workout longer or harder, or if its a day where my calories are are already a little low, and weigh out an ounce of chips and work it into my day.

Likewise with Sharon's Passion Fruit Sorbet - I measure out a cup and savour every mouthful of it.

I agree! I find I can still eat things outside of my normal eating plan (like pizza hut pizza)and still be under my goals in all categories. I only count it as a cheat if it's actual way too much sugar because of being Diabetic.

I don't have cheat meals either. I eat what ever I want that fits into my calorie count for the day. I am careful about serving sizes . I hardly ever eat fried foods because it doesn't agree with me. I don't feel like I am on a diet at all. I am losing weight now...slowly but surely and in the mean time I am learning to eat better and enjoying the things I like to eat. This is something I can live with. I suppose everyone must find what works for them. I am no expert...I'm just an everday person.