What's a better name than "cheat meal"?

You eat, you log, you move on. Sometimes you eat more. It's that simple.

Tonight I shall call it : Dinner.

I can see how some people might need a term, because you might want to mark out or plan those days in your diary, in that case, I like the "replacement day" suggestion above or anything completely uncharged and neutral where you are not labeling yourself a crazed food lunatic loosed on the world for having a larger meal within a more standard deficit.

Non Standard Day?

I look at my week rather than my day, so naming a meal or a day would be strange to me. Also, why should I single out the big meals when I am not singling out the small ones? Some days I have tiny meals in anticipation of a hearty meal later in the week. I don't call those "starve meals" or "deprivation days".

I call mine a treat (meal). It implies that what I'm doing isn't something that should happen everyday but it is something that I can incorporate into a balanced diet. I ought to enjoy the meal, but I don't want to say that I am necessarily being "bad" for deviating from my normal diet. Heck, most of the time those "treat meals" fit perfectly into my calorie goals.

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

You eat, you log, you move on. Sometimes you eat more. It's that simple.

+1

A cheat meal means you are doing something wrong. Or naughty. Which I hate, because this whole losing weight thing isn't about punishment. So enjoy the foods you'd 'cheat' with in small quanities all the time.

Before I lost 50lbs my diet consisted of bagels, donuts, chicken nuggets, french fries and an amazing amount of potato chips. I still eat those things, just in my smaller quantities. Nothing SHOULD be off limits, you just have to learn that you can't eat a whole bag, unless that's all you want to eat today - and since I'm hungry every 2-3hrs NO MATTER WHAT I ate, the whole bag thin doesn't work for me.

"But cheat? How am I "cheating"? I'm making a conscious decision to eat a little more 1 time and burning it off after. I'm not cheating anything. I'm living. So what's a better name for it? "

But if you are "burning it off after" you would be staying within your caloric limits (including exercise calories) and therefore not "cheating". This would be a meal.

I always considered a "cheat meal" be to one that took me over my calorie limit for the day. In that case, enjoy it, log it and move on. Such is life. I prefer to look at my daily weekly averages for a truer picture of my adherence to my limits. One day, one meal, really doesn't mess things up too badly. Even Thanksgiving week was under my weekly caloric limit. Not by much, but under ;-)

Cheat meal, Feast, Banquet, Over doing it for the fun of it, Moment of weakness, Splurge meal, treat (meal). Call it want you want. Don't call it anything at all. What's in a name, that by which we call a rose, by any other, would smell as sweet.

Personally, I just don't bother calling it anything.

For example tonight: I'm going to see STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS and at every movie I eat- 2 hot dogs, a nachos, a small bag of buttered popcorn, a Milk Duds and a diet Pepsi or Coke. About 1600 calories worth of food. Best choices? Nah, but it's part of my lifestyle when I go to the movies.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

JohnBarth wrote: »

Splurge meal.

^this.

It's a splurge. Much like buying yourself a little luxury you can afford. Nothing wrong with that, just fit it in your budget and move on.

If you must call it something, why not an 'indulgent meal' or 'day of indulgence'? Or 'Super-mega-awesome-deliciousness'?

I don't call it anything. It isn't a treat or a cheat. I'm not being good or bad if I eat a certain number of calories or avoid certain foods. I haven't made some pledge in blood never to go over my calorie limit.
If I choose to go over my calorie goal for the day but I am still at or under my maintenance level of calories then I suppose I could call that day a maintenance day. If I go over one day but stay under my weekly calorie goal then that larger meal hasn't had an impact at all. If I have enough maintenance calorie days then obviously my weight loss will slow down or stop.

We could collectively call it a "stop being so dramatic and just log it and move on" meal.

Planned Caloric Surplus Meal

percolater wrote: »

I would much rather read an interesting rant than a smug little statement that starts with a derisive "erm."

"Cheat meal," is a term long used in magazines and diet books to refer to a day planned to go off your diet and eat whatever looks good. I agree that it's not a good term.

A few alternative suggestions:

Free Day.
Feast Day. ( Particularly good for celebrations with religious roots like Easter, Passover, Christmas, etc.
Mental Health Day)
Date Night
Replacement Day. ( I believe, for some people, cravings are due to a deficient in the diet. They may crave cheese because they need calcium. Replacement days might actually be good for them.)

Agree! Love your name and avatar, too, by the way!

Nothing.

Nothing is needed.

It's just food. The nomecoleture of which has no bearing on its calorie and macronutrient content.