Cheat meal

There's no easy answer to that. If you can make it fit your weekly defecit, then yes it's fine, but that requires cutting calories elsewhere. Some people 'bank' calories throughout the week, others will eat really lightly/fast on the day in question, leading up to the treat meal.

I wake up , take my pills (fish oil,bcaa, lose weight pill, aspirin ) + coffee (no sugar no creamer) all you need is the caffeine. 10:30 am Hit the gym on empty stomach with strength training and I end it up with 10-15 min of hit cardio (always put your cardio at the end). 12:00 pm Come home have protein shake and that is my lunch. Between 12 and 5 I may have a snack like a protein bar. 5-6 pm I eat a big *kitten* pizza w soda and whatever else I feel like to eat. 8 pm I may get a cup of ice cream and the rest of the pizza w some wings . And that's it .
When you train in fasted state more calories you burn, because there are studies that show that early in the morning when your blood is clean and the insulin levels are low you burn more calories then when you are not fasting. So if you prepare to have a cheat meal on Sunday, make sure you stay in the fasted mode for at least 8 hours and you will be just fine. You will actually have burned more calorie in the first half of the day that you actually eat. I do this all the time and next morning I am the same weight. Some people will say that that is "completely wrong" or "that's not how you do it" , u Know what , let me tell you something. You are not going to loose any weight by exercising and eating right 1 day out of seven the same way like "eating 1 day junk and not exercising, will not get you fat. Exercise and fast for 8 hours and than have any cheat meal you want and you will be like nothing happened. Trust me.

The advice from @lucian_simion sounds ill-advised.

Bank your calories so that you can splurge on a nice meal if you want to. I have banked around 700 calories in anticipation of tonight's dinner at the bf's brother. And I still managed to eat tons of sweet stuff yesterday while remaining under my calorie goal.

lucian_simion wrote: »

I wake up , take my pills (fish oil,bcaa, lose weight pill, aspirin ) + coffee (no sugar no creamer) all you need is the caffeine. 10:30 am Hit the gym on empty stomach with strength training and I end it up with 10-15 min of hit cardio (always put your cardio at the end). 12:00 pm Come home have protein shake and that is my lunch. Between 12 and 5 I may have a snack like a protein bar. 5-6 pm I eat a big *kitten* pizza w soda and whatever else I feel like to eat. 8 pm I may get a cup of ice cream and the rest of the pizza w some wings . And that's it .
When you train in fasted state more calories you burn, because there are studies that show that early in the morning when your blood is clean and the insulin levels are low you burn more calories then when you are not fasting. So if you prepare to have a cheat meal on Sunday, make sure you stay in the fasted mode for at least 8 hours and you will be just fine. You will actually have burned more calorie in the first half of the day that you actually eat. I do this all the time and next morning I am the same weight. Some people will say that that is "completely wrong" or "that's not how you do it" , u Know what , let me tell you something. You are not going to loose any weight by exercising and eating right 1 day out of seven the same way like "eating 1 day junk and not exercising, will not get you fat. Exercise and fast for 8 hours and than have any cheat meal you want and you will be like nothing happened. Trust me.

"Hit the gym on empty stomach with strength training - I guess some can do it, I read about it on the Internet, but I have yet to meet one in person who can put a decent weight lifting session in a fasted state. Cardio fasted for weight loss is excellent.

"always put your cardio at the end" - that just depends on your goal. If you goar is to gain muscles, doing cardio after your weight lifting will put a big dent into that plan.

When you train in fasted state more calories you burn, because there are studies that show that early in the morning when your blood is clean and the insulin levels are low you burn more calories then when you are not fasting - That's just wrong. What studies? Do you have any references? All you can do with fasted training is somewhat influence the source of the energy your body uses but your body burns the same calories for the same activity.

So if you prepare to have a cheat meal on Sunday, make sure you stay in the fasted mode for at least 8 hours and you will be just fine. You will actually have burned more calorie in the first half of the day that you actually eat - this just doesnt make any sense. Are you saying that a cheat meal can be effectively offset by prior fasting of 8 hours? How does that work? I could easily cheat at Olive Gorden with 5000 calories - how's 8 hours prior fasting would "burn more calories in the first half of the day"?

eating 1 day junk and not exercising, will not get you fat - you wana bet? One day junk food could very easily amount to 3-5k calories. That's a big chunk of calories. If your weekly deficit is set to 0.5 lb or 1 lb per week, that one day of junk food could negate the entire week of your deficit and then add some pounds. Do the math.

'Trust me. - I'd rather not. Sorry.

I eat what I want just careful about when and how much.
I don't like cheat days, but I do like to work my cheat meals into the schedule.
It's all really about what works for you.
I would advise you tho not to go super crazy on cheat meals and make them work in your daily calorie goals, or at least close.

I don't really think about having cheat meals or cheat days. To me that puts me in the mind set that I am doing something wrong. Plus I don't want to reward myself with food. But I think it is perfectly fine to go over your calories occasionally. I eat out all the time. I just try to make what I eat fit into my goal for the day. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. As long as it fits in more often than I go over then I don't worry about it.

I'm in the same camp as a lot of others and don't designate any cheat days or even really cheat meals. I just try to make everything fit into my calorie goal for the day and for the week. If I happen to go over one day, I don't sweat it because I never allow myself to go over by more than a few hundred calories, which I can burn off with exercise or keeping my calories a bit lower for the next few days. Since I still eat what I want, I don't feel I need cheat days or meals. I also tend to keep my calorie intake a little lower during the week so I have some extra calories for the weekend, when I know I'll eat at least one meal out and therefore have less control of the calories. I still don't consider meals out "cheat" meals because at least for me, eating out is a regular part of life and I have to learn out to eat out sensibly and without complete overindulgence.

That being said, cheat days and cheat meals really seem to help some people stay on track. If it helps you, more power to you.

dawndionisi wrote: »

Does anyone have weekly cheat meals? I followed my diet all day saturday and went to olive garden for vday. Is that ok to do once a week?

Calling it a "cheat" meal is not a good thing. The word cheat implies that you've done something wrong, or something you are guilty of. If you make the conscious choice to allow yourself extra food/calories on any given day - then view it as that, you allowed yourself to exceed your daily calorie goal and enjoy it as an occasional treat vs. a cheat.

Is it ok to do? That's totally up to you. Realize that one meal out, especially in a place like Olive garden where you're getting processed white carbs with bread and high calorie sauces, may be a thousand calories or more for just one meal. You can always look at the online menu and view the calories of each item and pick the lowest calorie option in advanced. Being prepared is good damage control.
Skip the bread, not only is it high in calories, is also going to trigger cravings. Have a small serving of pasta with Red sauce - the cream or cheese based sauces are wicked high in calories, saturated fat and sodium and load up on the salad with the dressing on the side so you can control the amount. Drink lots of water before and during your meal.

If you do allow yourself an occasional treat, acknowledge the potential consequences in advance. The high sodium meals can cause a temporary climb on the scale due to increased water retention that Sodium often causes and you'll probably face a few days of increased cravings. Some people do have a weekly treat, but that's far different than an "all you can eat cheat day" Allowing unlimited calories one day a week might negate everything you lost the other six days of that week. You need to burn off or reduce calories by 3500 per week to get a one pound a week weight loss. For a two pound weekly loss you need 7000 less calories per week. If your cheat day/treat day each week totals an extra thousands calories, that's more than 4000 per month so you'll actually GAIN a pound that month, vs lose.

If you have a treat, keep it simple. Instead of a full meal loaded with saturated fat, excessive sodium and ridiculous calories, or an entire day of endless eating, have two cookies or a scoop of ice cream or a piece of dark chocolate and up your exercise the next day to reduce the impact. That way you can enjoy the TREAT with no guilt of a CHEAT and it won't derail your progress.

You don't want your treat to result in undoing everything you did the rest of the week, and causing a gain instead of the loss you were working toward. Allowing a weekly cheat day vs. an occasional small treat might send the scale and your waistline in the wrong direction.

Hope this helps.

Lisa L.

pzarnosky wrote: »

I have a huge cheat meal every week. It keeps me sane and capable of being strict and good to my body all week. I have been consistently losing by doing this. If you need a cheat meal to stick with it the rest of the week then go for it. One meal isn't going to set you back much IF you are accurate with your logging the rest of the week. Any significant weight gained from a cheat meal will be water weight, aka, if you step on the scale the morning after a cheat meal and you weigh 5lbs more, it's water, not fat.

Good advice, Pz. I also cheat once a week. I have to use portion control, though ... too much fat, sodium, carbs, sugar, etc, in a meal will make me lethargic the next day, no matter how much water I drink.

@pzarnosky A big Thank You ! you know what I am talking about
@MasterVal and everybody else here, please google how a cheat meal can help you lose more weight than dieting alone. There are tons of studies out there. Is it called the 90/10 Rule. ALWAYS HAVE A CHEAT MEAL, guys !!! Trust me !

I do have cheat meals, and more than I should because my husband likes to go out to eat. Sometimes we go to a restaurant where I can't find the nutritional info for the meals. If I know that's going to happen, I eat one small meal earlier in the day and hope I don't go over my calorie intake for the day. I'm starting to realize I don't like the concept of a cheat meal because it's counter-intuitive. It also seems to encourage my husband to eat more poorly, who then encourages me to eat poorly. I know I'm only accountable for myself, but if I want people in my life to take my effort seriously I have to set the example.

I don't have cheat meals or cheat days. To me that connotes something bad and there is nothing bad about a healthy lifestyle change. I do however, have days where I choose to eat a little more, go to a Chinese buffet or other restaurant. I try not to eat out more than once a week. I like to plan and not eat the full meal, most of the time it is way too much anyway. Buffet is a one trip with a small plate of fruit for dessert. It has taken a long time but my relationship with food is changing to where I am now in control.

dawndionisi wrote: »

Does anyone have weekly cheat meals? I followed my diet all day saturday and went to olive garden for vday. Is that ok to do once a week?

In my opinion, I think it's perfectly okay (in moderation)! However, I don't do cheat meals.... I do CHEAT DESSERTS! And yes, I love using the word CHEAT because I feel like I'm getting something awesomely bad and still losing weight.

After a week of working out and intermittent fasting, I maintain my "healthy" eating into the weekend, BUT on Saturday or Sunday I'll pick a local place to go to for dessert. There are so many yummy bakeries and homemade ice cream shops that I could pick one a week and have places to go for months.

This last Saturday I got some homemade banana cream pic ice cream. It was divine. I felt absolutely no guilt and woke up the next morning feeling lighter than ever! I am pretty mindful of my calories and try not to go over, but if I do by a few *shrug* it's all good. Good luck and happy cheating! :-)

lucian_simion wrote: »

I wake up , take my pills (fish oil,bcaa, lose weight pill, aspirin ) + coffee (no sugar no creamer) all you need is the caffeine. 10:30 am Hit the gym on empty stomach with strength training and I end it up with 10-15 min of hit cardio (always put your cardio at the end). 12:00 pm Come home have protein shake and that is my lunch. Between 12 and 5 I may have a snack like a protein bar. 5-6 pm I eat a big *kitten* pizza w soda and whatever else I feel like to eat. 8 pm I may get a cup of ice cream and the rest of the pizza w some wings . And that's it .
When you train in fasted state more calories you burn, because there are studies that show that early in the morning when your blood is clean and the insulin levels are low you burn more calories then when you are not fasting. So if you prepare to have a cheat meal on Sunday, make sure you stay in the fasted mode for at least 8 hours and you will be just fine. You will actually have burned more calorie in the first half of the day that you actually eat. I do this all the time and next morning I am the same weight. Some people will say that that is "completely wrong" or "that's not how you do it" , u Know what , let me tell you something. You are not going to loose any weight by exercising and eating right 1 day out of seven the same way like "eating 1 day junk and not exercising, will not get you fat. Exercise and fast for 8 hours and than have any cheat meal you want and you will be like nothing happened. Trust me.

COUGH$#(BUl1$H1T)#$COUGH

As long as my WEEKLY calorie deficit remains at 3500+, then I don't worry about whether a meal (or day) is crazy.