Do you do a cheat meal/day?

I don't do cheat days. Especially planned cheat days. I may go over sometimes (like holidays or special occasions) but I always try to eat modest portions and I just log it and don't worry if I go over on those days. Most weeks I stick to my goals and just work in treats that I like every day so I don't feel deprived. I find that as I'm losing weight I am less likely to want treats that will put me over my calorie goal and since I know I can have them if I want I don't feel like I'm missing something. I still eat fast food about once a week and have a beer now and then. I eat something sweet almost every day. I have not tried to cut out anything completely. If I'm going to keep the weight off I need to learn how to eat the things I like in portions that will keep me at my goal weight.

ParadiseLost91 wrote: »

I do cheat meals. I'm on 1200 daily calories and I'm STARVING, it takes all my willpower to go to bed hungry every day and pretty much always be hungry (yes I eat protein and fibers, my stomach is just used to big portions).

There is no way I can fit in the food that I crave on an everyday basis, as some people here suggest. There just aren't enough calories.
So I do a cheat meal (not a day, just a meal), where I allow myself to have whatever I want, with no thoughts on calories. I eat normally the whole day, and then "cheat" in the evening.

I don't have a specific time I do this, usually when I can't contain the craving anymore haha. My only rule is that there cannot be two cheat meals in one week, there has to be at least one week in between.

Because I'm already faily low in daily calories, I don't feel like it ruins my weight loss. And it's definitly worth it for me, because then I can have the foods that I normally don't have room for on a daily basis (pizza, spaghetti carbonara (my fave), sushi etc).

You should consider upping your daily goal if you are that hungry all the time. Weight loss is a marathon not a sprint. There is no reason for you to be starving all week. I'm at 1300 and I'm rarely hungry. I started at 1200 but I felt that was too low so I upped it to 1300.

I'm quoting an MFP friend here: "maintenance is deficit plus cheating"

At least I've found this to be true!

I'm going to buck the trend and say yes I do a cheat night on a Saturday night where I deliberately allow myself to eat a main and pudding that are far higher in cals than I usually would. For more it's psychologically very helpful as it means I can simply assign certain things to a possible Saturday night option instead of eating them more often. My husband is also dieting with me and he definitely needs this! It doesn't seem to have any effect on my weight loss overall but I am well below my cals for the rest of the week.

I'm far from a "clean eater," so I have plenty of foods that some may consider unhealthy on a daily basis. I eat dessert every single night. I also eat out every Saturday night, but I make it fit my macros (which are higher on weekends). But one Saturday per month, I go nuts and eat all the food. It's planned every four weeks and my husband and I have a blast eating an insane number of calories each. The scale goes up for a few days due to water and maybe a little fat, but it all evens out and goes back to normal within a week. I lost all of my weight while doing this.

I don't consider it "cheating" - it's just living. Sometimes you eat within your goals and sometimes you don't. It's okay. But calling it a cheat day is just easy and people automatically know what you mean when you say it like that. I prefer "fat kid day," because that's what I am...a fat kid at heart.

Fitting treats into your daily calorie/macro goals is great, but when you like food as much as I do and have an appetite as voracious as mine, you need a day every so often to eat things that would never in a million years fit into your goals. This Saturday we're going to Cheesecake Factory and, lemme tell ya, this girl ain't ordering from no Skinnylicious menu and skipping dessert. I plan to eat a huge plate of chicken and pasta and one of the highest calorie slices of cheesecake on the menu. I'll probably feel sick afterward. Sorry not sorry.

Everything in moderation, including moderation. The way I eat is a lifestyle and not a diet, and I'm not constantly hungry and miserable, but I'm also a human being and I'm going to do what the hell I want every now and then. And that's okay.

I look at this process as a lifestyle change so I prefer to balance my calories out over the course of a week. I wear a Fitbit and if my average daily TDEE is anywhere from 1,800-2,000 calories depending on activity I just keep my gross daily calories at 1,300-1,400. This allows me to eat less some days and more on others like Saturday's where I eat at or above maintaince. The nutrition tab in the app is a great tool to balance out calories for the week.

Yes. Saturday nights I generally allow myself to eat something I've been craving as a 'cheat'. So for example, last week it was chicken wings with ranch. The week before it was a loaded Italian sub. This weekend it's my husband's birthday, so we're going out somewhere nice for dinner where I absolutely plan to eat something rich and probably high in calories, but you know. That's life. I tend to operate on a small deficit during the week by default, and I'm in the gym 5 days a week. In the end, everything balances itself out.

In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with a little flexibility. I'm human, not a machine so I won't be able to track 100% of everything 100% of the time and I'm ok with that. It's what works for me.

CollieFit wrote: »

I don't like the whole discourse of "cheating" and "treats" and all that. I believe that the words we use matter and many people would be better off having a relationship with food which does not involve phrases around rewards or punishment.

Food is food. It's what fuels my body and my activities. I don't need to "cheat" because it's not a game. If I want something I'll have it within the remit of my deficit.

Let's just have our nutrition via pills like Brave New World.

No. If I want something I eat it, log it, and keep going./

zyxst wrote: »

endlessfall16 wrote: »

What's the "rule" of a cheat meal/day?

The "rule" for me is to eat as much as possible without bothering to stay within my goals.

For me, a cheat day is going all out. I'm not staying in my calorie goal for the day and I'm eating what I want until I'm satisfied. I tried doing it like other people suggest - a cheat meal or day once a week or month - and I learned quickly that my idea of a cheat day/meal will wipe out any deficit. A year ago, I decided to have 3 designated cheat days - wedding anniversary, birthday, and Xmas. I can easily clock in 3000 calories a day and not be bothered about it.

I incorporate treats into my every day meals so I don't get deprived or the urge to overeat.

Interesting. You probably feel that you must keep up (eat) with all your daily allowance everyday so a huge surplus would take many days for you to repay.

For me, I have done several experiments , I can definitely eat beyond 3000 calories in one meal but not thousands more before I'd feel sick (how many more above 1350 to add 1.1 lbs in a day?) but in the next couple days I just wind down to 500-700 per day and remind myself to move more. That should take care of things nicely.

Without being aware of the term "cheat meal/day" I'm already doing it on a weekly basis and this practice is what keeps my life going, ie not too much change/upset.