Cheat meal question?

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shonako
shonako Posts: 98 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Had a crazy cheat meal today at a new Mexican resturant. 2600 calories to be exact! The whole day came to 3,400 calories. Is that too much? How much do yall cheat meals be?

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  • socioseguro
    socioseguro Posts: 1,679 Member
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    Just eat your favorite meals. There is no "standard" meal calorie range.
    If you wish to lose body weight, you have to eat at a deficit. If you eat more calories than you burn you will gain weight.
    I do not have "cheat" meals. I plan my weekly food but sometimes life happens and I eat more calories than I planned. No problem, I logged it, I owned it and I go back to my nutrition plan.
    I hope you enjoyed your 2600 calorie meal.
    Good luck in your healthy journey
  • triciab79
    triciab79 Posts: 1,713 Member
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    CharonCharon wrote: »
    Don't do cheat meals.
    I know one that tried this and for a YEAR she got no where.
    She is now doing her regular 1,500 calories a day, but having 2 days a week where she does less than 1,000 cals a day to confuse her body.
    She is down 30 pounds in just 3 months.

    Your body does not get confused. It does not have independent thought from you. If you eat less than you burn you lose weight. If you eat more than you burn you gain weight.

    If you eat 3400 calories in one day when your maintenance goal is 1500 then you ate 1900 calories too many and you will have to spend 6.33 days eating 1200 calories a day just to make up for that one cheat day. If it is worth that to you then go for it. Personally I don't want to spend a whole week working just so I can have one excessive meal and no progress, but now that I am at my goal weight I do balance by the season. I cut March -Sept so that I can eat a bit more Oct-Feb. I also balance a bit on the week. I save all of my exercise calories M-F so that I can eat out with my husband (still not 2400 calories) on either Sat or Sun.
  • Katzedernacht
    Katzedernacht Posts: 266 Member
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    wow 2,600, no I do have a cheat meal but it won't go beyond some extra 200-300 maybe calories, I don't like overdoing it, I'm having chilaquiles tonight, that's about as wild as I go. I love my cheat meal once a week,sometimes twice but I try to keep it healthysh, and not over the top.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I have them. I can still have a 3400 day and keep a small deficit for the week though, and it's what matters to me. 3400 = 1200 calories over maintenance for me, so I just need to have a deficit of 300 for 4 days to make up for it.

    But obviously it means losing less that week. It's all about choices.
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
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    My cheat meals are zero because I don't cheat. If I know I'm going to splurge, I eat light the rest of the day. If eating light doesn't give me enough breathing room, it's time to lace up the tennis shoes. If exercise can't make up the balance, I'm not able to eat that much of that food.
  • patrickwharton13
    patrickwharton13 Posts: 5 Member
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    You are ment to have at least one cheat meal a week if your are trying to lose weight your body needs the fat sometimes the day after your cheat meal you look leaner as your body has used up the nutirents that you have been neglicting your body while dieting and exercising.
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
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    patrickwharton13 wrote: »
    You are ment to have at least one cheat meal a week if your are trying to lose weight your body needs the fat sometimes the day after your cheat meal you look leaner as your body has used up the nutirents that you have been neglicting your body while dieting and exercising.
    If you have to have a cheat meal to make up for missing macros and micros, you need to reevaluate your regular meal choices. You can get all the protein, fat, and carbs you need on a daily basis without needing to splurge on calorie-dense foods, regardless of their nutritional density.
  • ohmscheeks
    ohmscheeks Posts: 840 Member
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    The "cheat day" concept is simply an exercise in self-acceptance over self-deprecation. It helps people see minor reversions to over-eating as a part of the weigh loss journey (good) instead of a failure (bad)
    My self-esteem is pretty high. So, I don't have a "built-in" cheat day. But, when I backslide, it could be anywhere from 1,700 to 3,200 cals. Why don't you look at your net calorie overages/shortages for a couple weeks? Perhaps you are still within the calorie goal overall (even though you went over this particularly day).

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