Do you believe in having a weekly cheat meal? what's your reason?

No.

I try fitting what I want into my weekly goals. If it means going over a day or more, like on holidays or vacations, I can lower my intake to make up for the surplus.

When I was losing weight in an unhealthy manner, eating less than 1k (I did weigh everything), I had a cheat day at the end of the month where I ate whatever I wanted. I always felt sick at the end of the day.

No. Cheating on what? I pre-plan my meals. Some meals will be higher in calories than others, depending on what I have going on that week (events, social stuff, etc).

No. I go by weekly calorie goals. If I go over on one day, I make up for it on another. I try to eat consciously, lot's of veggies and fruit, but if I fancy a burger or ice cream, I will have it. I see it as a "way of life" rather than a diet to quickly loose some weight. I have been maintaining successfully for many months now and for me weekly goals help.

I don't "cheat" and I dislike the word. I also don't like "clean". (LOL @kwtilbury ) "Cheat" infers that you're doing something wrong or against the rules and "clean" means something different to everyone you ask even if you all start out with "foods that aren't processed".

If you want to eat more on one day, do it, but don't think of it as cheating. Log it and own it. And if you feel the need to eat things you don't consider "clean" on your "cheat" day then you're doing it wrong. Eat now like you plan to eat for the rest of your life, just less calories. To do anything else is setting yourself up to gain the weight back later.

kirzz92 wrote: »

What do you classify as too much of a cheat meal?

Like most here, I don't like the terminology "cheat meal"?

But since it's your term, how about defining it? What does "cheat meal" mean to you?

I believe that people do it! I don't, though. I want to be healthy and lose weight every day, not six out seven of them.

This is how I eat now, not how I'm trying to eat or what I'm doing for weight loss.

It works really well for some people and they should do it! It's just not my thing.

I'm a "NO" too. We aim for healthy all the time and I have learned to have no guilt. If I decide I want a McD's oreo Frappe tomorrow...I put it into my diary first...and then fill the rest with lots of fruit, veggies, meats, etc to meet my calorie goal. I don't consider it cheating, I consider it life.

My "cheat meals" are still foods that work with my way of eating but I tend to eat more calories. For instance, last night I wanted to snack, but my "snack" became large and included cheese, pepperoni, and macadamias with coconut. I ate more than I intended for that day, but I'm happy with what I ate.

I won't cheat with sugars or grains. At least not now. Maybe many months in the future when I have mastered maintenance and my health is great.

My rules for eating are very strict to help me stay on my plan. I allow myself packaged meals, and arbitrary amounts of fruit or vegetables. This enables me to eat things I like (fruit and veggies) without worrying, and keep myself alive (via packaged meals) without overindulging. Also packaged foods are much easier to log accurately, as the number is right there on the box.

So by definition for me anything else right now needs some kind of exception - and I call that my cheat day. Language lawyers can go hang ... if you say I "plan" to binge once a week on whatever I happen to choose off a menu, I'd say that's not a "plan", that's a random act of calories.

On the cheat day, I am allowed to either take my wife out for supper (every other week) or have supper with my whole family (on the alternate weeks). So once a week, at a restaurant, I can eat 1,000 or 1,500, or even 2,000 calories, and know that it won't really set me back overall. You can usually see those meals out on my chart the next day, but overall the trend isn't affected.

Osric



[edit to add tracking comment]

OP is this you in the photo? Are you trying to lose weight?

No. You either eat a certain way or you don't. Why would you intentionally schedule to eat foods you otherwise wouldn't? I'm all for eating what is traditionally thought of as clean, but I allow for "life happens" moments without scheduling them. Just eat & move on guilt & stress free.

I think cheat is the wrong term as well. I still call it that but my cheat meal is usually breakfast out and I am still very aware of what I am having and fit it in my calories.

Yes. Its easier for me to stick to my plan by that. It doesn't mean i eat heavy dirty, but i eat for example more carbs than usual.