Cheat Meals

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LashaMonique
LashaMonique Posts: 20 Member
in Food and Nutrition
When is it okay to have a cheat day? well I wouldn't really want to have a cheat day because I don't want to throw away my hard work.. but a cheat meal when is that okay? How long after you starting changing your lifestyle should you wait? Because I miss certain foods.
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Replies

  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    How about not cutting out any foods and just work them into your calorie goal? That's what most people do around here.
  • LashaMonique
    LashaMonique Posts: 20 Member
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    But fast food & things like that can't certainly be good always having fit into your "calorie goal" I love fries and that alone takes away a lot of calories. I really have changed the way I eat, I stay away from fried foods which I also miss. I had a personal trainer & she had me fixed on "Clean Eating" so I'm always afraid to eat anything other than healthy choices.
  • Debmal77
    Debmal77 Posts: 4,770 Member
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    hollydubs85 wrote: »
    How about not cutting out any foods and just work them into your calorie goal? That's what most people do around here.

    Holly is right. That is what we do. I eat everything I like. I refuse to go without the things I love. I just eat less of it and fit it into my day.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
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    I'm with Holly on this one. There's no bad food, there's just food. If it fits into your calorie goal and suits your nutritional needs then why can't you the burger or fries once in a while. What is clean eating anyway? I think everyone and their mother has their own definition of what clean eating is.

    I eat clean by the way, I wash all of my veggies and there's no dirt on anything I eat.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    LashaMonique wrote: »
    But fast food & things like that can't certainly be good always having fit into your "calorie goal" I love fries and that alone takes away a lot of calories. I really have changed the way I eat, I stay away from fried foods which I also miss. I had a personal trainer & she had me fixed on "Clean Eating" so I'm always afraid to eat anything other than healthy choices.

    Did she explain what "clean eating" is? And does she have any kind of training in nutrition other than what she sees on Pinterest?

    Yeah, fast food typically is a lot of calories, but that doesn't make it inherently bad for you. I get a chicken sandwich from Wendy's at least once a week, and it's only 400 calories. I make it fit into my day.

    Also, calling something a "cheat meal" or "cheat day" connotes that you are doing something bad. There's nothing bad about eating food that you like. There's no right or wrong foods to eat in order to lose weight. It's just food.
  • LashaMonique
    LashaMonique Posts: 20 Member
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    my log always gets checked & I swear she says No to everything so I guess my trainer's idea of healthy eating is pretty much to have nothing lol. but I'm going to try eating some of the things I like and see how it works with me limiting the intake of it.

  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    I've always been a proponent of the "cheat day" and I lost a lot of weight previously while doing it...however I have noticed that after a cheat day it's much harder to get back on track. Honestly I think I'm starting to agree with the "eat whatever and just fit it in your goals" group. You won't feel (as) deprived and you'll still lose weight.
  • LashaMonique
    LashaMonique Posts: 20 Member
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    That's what I thought, & yes I'm going to go for it because I want something other than the food she suggest. It's not like I'm going to go all wild and eat types of junk or anything but at least one meal should be something I want even if it fries.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    LashaMonique wrote: »
    my log always gets checked & I swear she says No to everything so I guess my trainer's idea of healthy eating is pretty much to have nothing lol. but I'm going to try eating some of the things I like and see how it works with me limiting the intake of it.

    That's discouraging. (Your trainer, not you.) I'm curious what her opinion is on cheat meals now.

    Honestly, I'd just stick to your calorie goal and eat whatever your heart desires. Prove to her and to yourself that you don't have to restrict all the things you love in order to lose weight. Sure, aim for an overall healthy day, but if you have 100 calories leftover at the end, sure, have a piece of chocolate or something.
  • LashaMonique
    LashaMonique Posts: 20 Member
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    I honestly do feel deprived, I have to just start fitting it into my goal because going with out and then trying to have "Cheat days" can't be good either.
  • LashaMonique
    LashaMonique Posts: 20 Member
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    hollydubs85 wrote: »
    LashaMonique wrote: »
    my log always gets checked & I swear she says No to everything so I guess my trainer's idea of healthy eating is pretty much to have nothing lol. but I'm going to try eating some of the things I like and see how it works with me limiting the intake of it.

    That's discouraging. (Your trainer, not you.) I'm curious what her opinion is on cheat meals now.

    Honestly, I'd just stick to your calorie goal and eat whatever your heart desires. Prove to her and to yourself that you don't have to restrict all the things you love in order to lose weight. Sure, aim for an overall healthy day, but if you have 100 calories leftover at the end, sure, have a piece of chocolate or something.

    Thanks, Holly
    I appreciate you're support. Her view on "cheat days" are not to have them she suggest changing dressings as a reward or a cheat. I kind of wanted other opinions because well she is a trainer/ nutritionist so of course she's going to push me against everything. However, I like your views.
  • Ryanstwin
    Ryanstwin Posts: 70 Member
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    Try healthy alternatives to foods that you crave . I like fries a lot too so what I do is go get alexia natural fries. 98% fat free bake them crispy.. Just as good.
  • LashaMonique
    LashaMonique Posts: 20 Member
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    Ryanstwin wrote: »
    Try healthy alternatives to foods that you crave . I like fries a lot too so what I do is go get alexia natural fries. 98% fat free bake them crispy.. Just as good.

    Thank You, I will add them to my shopping list & give them a try
  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    Ryanstwin wrote: »
    Try healthy alternatives to foods that you crave . I like fries a lot too so what I do is go get alexia natural fries. 98% fat free bake them crispy.. Just as good.

    Yeah these are good. I buy them too sometimes.
  • aloranger7708
    aloranger7708 Posts: 422 Member
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    Your trainer kind of sounds like a nightmare. If I were you I'd drop her... I get she's trying to help you, but plenty of people here lose weight just eating at a deficit and working out on their own.

    If I were you, I'd probably eat junk then log it as 'quick add.' When she asked what it was I would say vegetables. Haha

    There are a lot of recipes for 'clean eating' treats like clean eating brownies, cookies, etc. Pinterest has a lot of good ideas!
  • LashaMonique
    LashaMonique Posts: 20 Member
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    aloranger7708 wrote: »
    Your trainer kind of sounds like a nightmare. If I were you I'd drop her... I get she's trying to help you, but plenty of people here lose weight just eating at a deficit and working out on their own.

    If I were you, I'd probably eat junk then log it as 'quick add.' When she asked what it was I would say vegetables. Haha

    There are a lot of recipes for 'clean eating' treats like clean eating brownies, cookies, etc. Pinterest has a lot of good ideas!


    She is a nightmare you have no idea, I've been thinking about dropping her as well, I pretty much know the basics of exercising and the routines down so I don't really need her anymore. I just have to learn some discipline on my own.
  • Bizurke51
    Bizurke51 Posts: 190 Member
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    LashaMonique wrote: »
    When is it okay to have a cheat day? well I wouldn't really want to have a cheat day because I don't want to throw away my hard work.. but a cheat meal when is that okay? How long after you starting changing your lifestyle should you wait? Because I miss certain foods.

    Everyone is different when it comes to cheat days. I've always had trouble getting on the eat something cheaty everyday if it fits your calories bandwagon. Yet, cheat days are very useful. In fact, i tried to cut them out and my weight loss slowed until I put em back in!

    I've lost 56 lbs in 310 days and my philosphy was every cheat day or meal has to be done under budget. Basically I would run for an hour and then eat very lightly all day until it was time for cheat food. I never had any issues. In addition to this I did 1 Epic Cheat Day a month, but I always was sure to do my best to off set it.

    My advice is to do what you feel is best, its your body. If you do a cheat meal figure its only 1 or 2 meals out of 21 per week. Not going to kill you.
  • LashaMonique
    LashaMonique Posts: 20 Member
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    Bizurke51 wrote: »
    LashaMonique wrote: »
    When is it okay to have a cheat day? well I wouldn't really want to have a cheat day because I don't want to throw away my hard work.. but a cheat meal when is that okay? How long after you starting changing your lifestyle should you wait? Because I miss certain foods.

    Everyone is different when it comes to cheat days. I've always had trouble getting on the eat something cheaty everyday if it fits your calories bandwagon. Yet, cheat days are very useful. In fact, i tried to cut them out and my weight loss slowed until I put em back in!

    I've lost 56 lbs in 310 days and my philosphy was every cheat day or meal has to be done under budget. Basically I would run for an hour and then eat very lightly all day until it was time for cheat food. I never had any issues. In addition to this I did 1 Epic Cheat Day a month, but I always was sure to do my best to off set it.

    My advice is to do what you feel is best, its your body. If you do a cheat meal figure its only 1 or 2 meals out of 21 per week. Not going to kill you.

    Congratulations, on the weight lost ! Those are great suggestions, maybe I will start trying to off set it and see if it keeps me at a steady pace. Thank you so much, & again congratulations.
  • aComputerHero
    aComputerHero Posts: 20 Member
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    This time around I haven't been doing "cheat days". But I have been doing crazy-stupid-starve-all-day-to-save-up-for-a-nice-dinner days. I might have nothing but a V8 for breakfast, an apple for lunch, and then have the calories left to eat a fajita platter for dinner or something.

    My main reason for not having true "cheat days" is that when I finally failed on Weight Watchers 5 years back and MFP the first time about 2 years back, it was shortly after I started letting myself exceed my daily budget on occasion.
  • LashaMonique
    LashaMonique Posts: 20 Member
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    aComputerHero wrote: »
    This time around I haven't been doing "cheat days". But I have been doing crazy-stupid-starve-all-day-to-save-up-for-a-nice-dinner days. I might have nothing but a V8 for breakfast, an apple for lunch, and then have the calories left to eat a fajita platter for dinner or something.

    My main reason for not having true "cheat days" is that when I finally failed on Weight Watchers 5 years back and MFP the first time about 2 years back, it was shortly after I started letting myself exceed my daily budget on occasion.

    That's what I was thinking maybe eat lightly so that I have remaining calories for a meal that I actually want.

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