Cheat Meals

I totally cheated really bad today with chipotle and a beer because I've been having a crabby day. Every once in awhile won't hurt, just make sure you still get all of your water. If you're worried about going over on your calories a lot, just work out more that day.

I think cheat days now an then are healthy, my only recommendation would be to make sure you still log the calories and that you have an extra work out.

I don't have a cheat day. But today I wanted a slice of pie, and I said IM GOING TO HAVE THAT PIECE OF PIE. And enjoy it.! Theres nothing wrong with treating yourself.

I never cheated for the first 70.pounds. I knew that if I did id probably fall off the wagon. Now that I've lost 100 I allow myself to cheat a little on the weekends, but I hardly fo because now I want to be as healthy as I can and I feel physically bad when I eat crapy carby foods.

My fiance and I typically allow ourselves one cheat meal a week for "date night." Even still, I try to order what I like but don't stuff myself/leave some on my plate.

I personally prefer to allow small treats each day that are within my calorie budget as opposed to going hog wild every weekend.

Normally, I am trying to get a certain number of carbs, fat, and protein in, and do so by eating pretty clean foods. I DO allow myself cheat meals once every week or two- but when I do, I don't focus on meeting my macros so much, but I just try to keep it within my calorie range.

My husband and I are eating healthy together and I have a lot of weight to lose. We started 2 weeks ago and the urges to eat poorly are still there. So my question is do you allow yourself to have a "cheat meal" every now and then or is it a bad idea? I don't want to fall off the wagon but is it okay to treat yourself once every couple of weeks. I am just starting out on my weight loss journey so any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your support!

Amy

why put ur self through that? its like seeing a ex once a week that u love. not a good idea. u start missing it all over again!!!

Such a delicate balance:
-- if I deny myself too much. It'll be torture and I'll never stick with it and if I can't stick with it what good is it?
-- On the other hand once sugar is out of my system cravings for the most part go away and it's easier to keep up the healthier choices.
-- then again, if I indulge in trigger foods all bets are off. Some treats I can portion control some just call my name until the whole box/bag is gone.

Really you just have to do the best you can.

Rather than being uberstrict with the target MFP set for me I did the math to find out the calories needed to maintain my goal weight and my current weight and I gave myself a range with 1200 as my rock bottom, lose 1 lb/wk as my target and maintain my goal weight as the top of my range. As long as I keep within in this range I'll lose. I tend to naturally zig zag my calories 3-4 at very close to my target and then a higher calorie day closer to the top of my range. This seems to work for me.

I've been working very hard to:
1) not feel deprived
2) break that food-guilt link, after all we all need to eat and
If I'm careful about eating enough nutrient dense foods I get to enjoy some just for fun calories. (aka junk food) and you know what? I DO NOT HAVE TO FEEL GUILTY about this.

My mission is to make food is my friend not the enemy. It is here to nourish and nurture us.
I started by making a list of foods I like (even "bad" foods) then went back and circle all the healthiest options on the list and made them my "go to" foods. This helped make eating healthy food a pleasure not a chore. And the "bad foods" on my list are not everyday foods, but are saved for a special treat.