Cheat meals During Weight Loss

It all comes down to the numbers. If you wipe out your calorie deficit with your cheat meal, then you won't lose weight.

SLLRunner wrote: »

kennedyharris9 wrote: »

I am currently in the middle of trying to lose weight before I go back to college and I was wondering if it was okay if I allowed myself to have one cheat meal a week? I guess I was wondering because instead of thinking of my new healthy changes as a "diet" I like to think of them as lifestyle changes. Therefore, in life we sometimes are allowed to indulge, right? Or will these completely impede my progress?

I learned a long time ago to let go of the concept of cheat meals because cheating implies doing something wrong. However, since weight loss happens from a calorie deficit, I allow myself treats each day unless my calories do not allow it.

This.
I think I first heard of cheat meals at weight watchers. Definitely a diet concept - you diet, you cheat. So much better to call it "life" and practice daily habits (e.g., exercise, calorie count, brush and floss your teeth, etc.) to make it a high quality one.

I do not plan cheat meals. I do, however, have days that I go over. These are generally days where I have social functions planned. On these days I try to do two things 1) get in a good workout in the morning and 2) make the best decisions I can while out enjoying time with friends and family.

To me there is a significant difference in mentality. I'm not waiting all week to spurge and the focus is not on the food itself. What it is about is incorporating new "healthy lifestyle" practices into my actual life. About finding a balance of being healthy and enjoying life. What I have found is that when I (estimate) log all items I consumed the next day, I'm rarely over maintenance for the day. The couple times I did go over maintenance, it wasn't enough to negate me weekly deficit. As such, while I may have lost a bit less on those weeks, I haven't noticed any significant impact on my weight loss.

I eat what I like whenever I like. If I'm craving something, I make sure it fits in my calories for the day. If it doesn't fit, then you exercise a bit more to allow room for a calorie deficit. This is a lifestyle change and restricting yourself of your favorite foods will lead to bingeing later. You can also learn how to make your favorite meals to be more healthier and have less calories. It's all about being more mindful of what you're eating.

I've never understood the point of a "cheat" meal. I don't view food as bad/cheating..it's just eating what I like. Plus, my deficit is only set for enough for .5lb/wk, and I could easily wipe that out with one meal. So yes, one big meal very well can affect weight loss. A "cheat" meal is really only cheating yourself. Why not just eat what you want, when you want it, and make it fit?

Since I don't have an aggressive calorie deficit and I exercise, I can fit large meals in once or twice a week and not go over my weekly calorie budget.

Whatever you decide to do, do log it.

What constitutes a "cheat meal"? Why not just eat at maintenance every now and again, or even over? All you're doing is making a choice to lose weight more slowly.

Every newbie seems to want a cheat meal every week. Whom are you hoping to cheat? Once you have clearly identified whom you wish to cheat, and recognize that cheating that person will cause that person dismay, chagrin, perhaps even crushing depression and, in the best possible case, suicide, you are ready to proceed.

In the technical sense, you are suggesting that you can assemble a weekly calorie deficit of sufficient calories that a weekly large meal does not exceed your calorie deficit, allowing you to lose weight over the course of 7 days.
In order to do that, you have to know your calorie deficit. To do that, you have to accurately and diligently record everything you eat and all your exercises. Once you've done that for 6 days, you have to enter all that into a spreadsheet to sum up your total calorie deficit. Then you have to calculate exactly how much of a big meal you can fit into your weekly calorie deficit for the week. It makes my head spin. You can try it. You can explain to your friends and significant others that CICO doesn't work because you tried it and gained weight, but that would be cheating.

We're going to an all you can eat buffet tomorrow, so i guess this will be classed as my cheat day Trying to guesstimate the calories seems like a pointless task. I added 3000 calories into my diary, but it could be way more, or less, who the F knows!!