Do you have a cheat meal? If so how often?

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  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,646 Member
    You can't cheat on food. It's just food. You make it fit in your calories or don't, log it, and move on.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    I cycle my calories so I have one day a week I can eat at maintenance but overall I'm still in a deficit.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
    rikkejanell2014 wrote: »
    Something unhealthy that you don't have on your regular diet but you love.

    Kinda.... but I don't call it that. I bank calories (eat under calorie goal), so I can have higher calories for one meal/day on the weekend but the weekly average equals my calorie goal. It's not cheating; it's just planning.
  • Dannigreen31
    Dannigreen31 Posts: 557 Member
    Iv just lost 20 pounds and still having a cheat evening once a week. Be it a pizza, Chinese or whatever it was I wanted but I did kind of always even it out by eating less the next day or working out that bit harder
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    i think most people rail against the idea of it being a cheat meal because it implies that something bad will happen if you eat said meal, rather than just making your daily caloric intake fit what you want to eat and that makes you happy...many of the weight loss companies focus on that idea - food that is "bad for you" or that you should avoid (thinking about Oprah's recent I love carbs ad)
  • sarko15
    sarko15 Posts: 330 Member
    edited December 2016
    rikkejanell2014 wrote: »
    Something unhealthy that you don't have on your regular diet but you love.
    I think it's all a matter of semantics and how we refer to things and how they shape our perspectives and journeys.

    I don't call what I'm doing a diet because it implies that I'm doing something different and following a strict set of rules for a controlled period of time and when it's done it's done. I prefer to call it a lifestyle change because the best and healthiest way to keep pounds off long term is to make it your lifestyle.

    Also, the idea of "cheat meals" implies eating outside of a diet's strict regulations, which also has a degree of guilt attached to it. Like, "have a cheat meal" can also mean "you are allowed to be bad today." If you make it a lifestyle, there is no cheating, just eating, and there are no hard and fast rules to break and feel guilty over. It is what it is.

    I don't have cheat meals or days because I don't like the feeling of giving myself free range to make bad decisions and feel guilty over it. It's a negative emotional cycle that doesn't serve me well. But you bet I eat plenty of chocolate and pizza and enjoy a glass of wine more nights than not. I just incorporate it into my calories and make those indulgences part of my lifestyle. By not restricting myself, I don't feel guilt. It just is what it is and if it fits into my calories all the better.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    A cheat meal, day, IDGAF day or whatever it is you want to call it, is for me, not particularly about a particular food that i ban the rest of the time but how much of that food I eat. For example, lets talk about Cheerios :lol: I'm not going to bother with "one serving" as for me it's not a satisfying amount and will just leave me wanting more. So, when the mood strikes me I'll have a bowl, but put in the amount I want which is usually around 120ishg. 15g of peanut butter on a sandwich, no thank you please, I'll whack on however much i want! These episodes happen once every couple to 3 weeks, so not a huge derail in the grand scheme of things.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
    I just follow a weekly calorie goal so I balance whatever I want over 7 days. It's easy and I can fit in anything. I do like to eat leftovers though so if I go for a calorie bomb meal, I usually eat it over a day or two.
  • Justanotherhippy
    Justanotherhippy Posts: 27 Member
    I don't really have cheat days... if i want a piece of candy, I dont have a dressing on my spinach. If i want a subway sandwich, i dont have a night-time snack. I just factor whatever I want into my daily intake.

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