Cheat meal

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gregem13
gregem13 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I started my diet last Monday and am down 9 pounds:) I feel like I need a cheat day or cheat meal. Do you guys do cheat days/meal? How much do you cheat and does it affect the diet? I don't want to gain 2 or 3 pounds back from cheating. Any advice is appreciated!

Replies

  • dancing_daisy
    dancing_daisy Posts: 162 Member
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    You've lost 9 pounds in 12 days?
  • moonchildisme
    moonchildisme Posts: 83 Member
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    Everyone has there own way of dealing, me I have a little something extra and count it. I have done cheat days heck cheat weekends but my weight loss doc told me every time I do that I am starting over....hate starting over and over and over so FINALLY learned needed better accountability. But That's me...we are all different. Good luck and congrats on loosing!
  • gregem13
    gregem13 Posts: 5 Member
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    Roughly 9 pounds yes. I fluctuate between 1 to 3 pounds when I wasn't on a diet. 3 weeks ago I was at 220. Last Monday I was 218 and I weighed today and I was 211. I'm 5'9. I think I hide my weight pretty well. Trying to get down to 180. Pre 3 kids.
  • dancing_daisy
    dancing_daisy Posts: 162 Member
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    I should've just asked the full question, sorry. It seems like a lot for such a short time and I wondered if you were doing keto? Early stages of the keto diet leads to rapid weight loss but its water weight. 12 days wouldn't long enough before you had a cheat day or you'd gain, possibly, all of that back and kick yourself out of keto.
    If you're not doing keto then maybes 9 pounds is about right for your loss, it seemed like a lot so quickly.
  • raeif
    raeif Posts: 4 Member
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    The best thing to do is try and change the way you look at food rather than think of it as restricting yourself from the "bad" foods you eat, hence wanting a cheat day to indulge. Once you hit your target weight, have you thought about what you are going to do? Keep using MFP to track calories forever? Or figure the diet is done so you don't need to track them anymore? Its a trap that usually leads to gaining some if not all of the weight back. If you change the way you look at food and learn to enjoy the healthier foods or find healthy recipes that you enjoy, you won't need a cheat day because you're already satisfying those urges every day. It's not an easy thing to do at all, but in the end it will lead to far better results IMHO.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
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    You cannot NOT (temporarily) put on 1-5 lbs after a full treat day. It's not for the faint of heart.

    Eating well every other 3, 4 days to me is like 1 step back 2 steps forward.
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
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    Why do you feel like you need a cheat day? Mentally tired of a deficit? Physically tired? Cravings?

    When I need extra calories, I have extra food that I normally have- like some avocado, sweet potato, etc. It doesn't have to be a big blowout restaraunt dinner with tons of sodium that puts you up 5 pounds.
  • keepupwithjack
    keepupwithjack Posts: 44 Member
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    My husband and I do a cheat night every week, the night after we weigh. I log all day and sometimes even log that meal as well. I love to bake so I make a very small batch of something. We eat out, and I might have a margarita or something. I'm finding that I just don't want the portion that I was eating before I started logging. We've been pretty successful--I've lost 27 pounds and my husband has lost 32 since January 23.
  • CrossfitOCRunner
    CrossfitOCRunner Posts: 61 Member
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    Yes, I'm super strict 6 days and I have one day that's a "cheat." my first meal is always clean and high-protein. then I either eat some dirty foods in modest amounts or cleaner foods in higher amounts. Its a high calorie day regardless. but if im craving pizza or cheeseburgers or pasta, I have it that day. I cheat every 7-14 days. It really depends on my training cycle, and sometimes I don't get to cheat because I only eat good food, not crap just for the sake of eating crap. I prep through the weekends so its never an issue. but I feel like it helps me be sustainable and still enjoy life, not that my clean eating is hard, but I can feel like I never go too long without having anything I want. and it helps me keep losing consistently. I haven't plateaued yet and I'm nearly done. If a day wont work, i'll have 2 open meals per week on non-consecutive days where I don't have anything. I also have a few supps that help me. im usually the same or lighter after a cheat day, but its not a *kitten* if im a little heavier the day after.
  • gregem13
    gregem13 Posts: 5 Member
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    I don't know what keto is. I am sticking to the 1420 calorie diet that mfp is telling me. I've been doing the sit down bike(can't think of the real name)for 20 minutes in the morning and trying to go on a mile or 2 walk later on in the day. My biggest problem before starting a diet would be portion control. After logging what I eat I now know the calories of what I was eating and it's scary.
  • gregem13
    gregem13 Posts: 5 Member
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    As far as wanting a cheat meal I was at the grocery store and someone had gotten the Chinese express. So I was craving it but then I entered the calories and was like wow. I was shocked so now I feel like I can never have Chinese or Mexican..I am looking at this all wrong? I can't see myself not having any of those foods..I hardly have Chinese it just sounded good but didn't want to gain what I have been working hard for the past 2 weeks.
  • ritzbits190
    ritzbits190 Posts: 36 Member
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    If you are struggling I would recommend a maintenance day. Eat at maintenance for one day. I have a feeling some of those pounds that you lost are water weight so I would hate for you to put it back on and lose your momentum.
  • lml852014
    lml852014 Posts: 243 Member
    edited May 2016
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    I mostly eat what I want and make it fit into my calorie goals for the day BUT on Saturdays I tend to go out to eat or out for drinks sometimes both so I eat at maintenance for the day. I also "bank" cals for weekends too. So I will eat less throughout the week and this way I can eat more on weekends. I've been consistently losing since end of Jan at .5 a week!
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    edited May 2016
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    dancing_daisy wrote: »
    You've lost 9 pounds in 12 days?

    A lot of people lose a huge amount in the first weeks of cutting back and losing weight.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    gregem13 wrote: »
    So I started my diet last Monday and am down 9 pounds:) I feel like I need a cheat day or cheat meal. Do you guys do cheat days/meal? How much do you cheat and does it affect the diet? I don't want to gain 2 or 3 pounds back from cheating. Any advice is appreciated!

    I don't have cheat days. Sometimes I go over my goal for the day, it isn't ideal but if it's a rare thing, it won't be a huge set back. I guess the way that's different from "a cheat day" is I don't usually go far over my goal or feel like I've given myself free reign, I just eat if I'm really hungry.

    When I want what most people would recognize as "a cheat day" I'll do a lot of exercise to earn it. I have a 46 mile bike ride planned for tomorrow, it doesn't sound like much but 26 of those miles will be on steep dirt. By the time it's said and done, I won't be able to eat enough calories to make up what I burned. :smile:
  • ummijaaz560
    ummijaaz560 Posts: 228 Member
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    You could Google Chinese food recipes and make it at home. That's what I do. It's better to know what's going in the food and you can sometimes make exchanges in the recipes to make it healthier.

    I make shrimp, chicken and beef fried rice. Just use cold rice in a non stick pan and add your meat and vegetables. They sell all of the sauces at the market. You can do it and still keep to your deficit.

    If you like the noodles the market has those as well. They even sell the egg roll wrappers at the market, and the sky's the limit with those.

    Whenever I feel like I want something I make it fit into my calories. Best to start doing it now, when you get to goal weight you're going to have to do it.

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