Cheat meals with a lot to lose

While I was losing the majority of my excess weight, I tried a "cheat meal" a couple of times but it stressed me out because I didn't have a reliable way to estimate the calories. It was much easier and more comfortable for me to plan for small daily treats than to "let go" for a restaurant meal.

I'm close to goal now and I don't have the same tight control of my intake so I eat out about once every 2-3 weeks.

TavistockToad wrote: »

I dont have cheat meals.

I follow IIFYM and fit treats into my weekly goal.

This is how I think about it, except I'm more of an IIFYC kinda girl and pretty much ignore macros all together, I should probably get on that....

OP, like you, I needed a break from rigorous eating/calorie control every once in awhile. Not to mention that I am the chief cook/grocery shopper and, at least once a week I need a break from it all.

First thing, if you are actively losing, just get it out of your head that it is "cheat" meal. That almost gives you permission to go crazy. But recognize that you are going to go out to dinner and you need a way to somewhat fit it in.

For instance, I eat out every Friday and Saturday evening. On Friday at work, I ensure that I am pretty strict during the day. Friday's are for places like Panera or Zoe's Kitchen or maybe even Five Guys (fast casual). At Panera or Zoe's I can always find something to fit into what I have left for dinner calories.

Saturdays when I go to a real restaurant it's a little harder. But I try to be even better with my calories during the day (and more active). I also try to stay away from restaurants that are difficult/impossible to get a moderate caloric meal in.

Last night my husband just wanted to go to The Cheesecake Factory. Not my favorite place. But there were several options here:

1. Get the meal that was 1,300 calories and split it take half home.
2. Get something from their Skinnylicious menu.

I opted for #2 and got White Bean Chicken Chili for 510 calories. I had water rather than a ginger ale and I didn't eat the bread. I'd rather have dessert than bread (unless the bread is out of this world). Now the chili wasn't that great. Honestly Panera does a better job with chili, but I got to eat out, got a break, and didn't "cheat." I was a little over my calorie goal yesterday but that was because I opted to eat a gourmet cupcake left over from my daughter's birthday party the day before. Worth it!!!

loubabes1 wrote: »

this journey will be much more bearable if I can continue to eat out (even just one evening meal a week)

You can still do that and stay within your calorie limit.

Although I always stayed within mine while I was losing weight, I ate a whole pizza once a month and I went out for dinner about once a month. A matter of weeks after I started, I had my birthday weekend ... delicious meal in a Mexican restaurant one night, a picnic the next, and half a cheesecake on the third night. All within my calories.

How?

I exercise a lot.

After two sets of 16 weeks, I had lost 25 kg.

I have a weekly deficit and as long as it averages under maintenance through the week overall all good. Just remember to log, weigh and be as accurate as possible you can totally wipe out a deficit if you go nuts all weekend and bury your head in the sand. I'm the same though and couldn't commit to a long term plan if I had to restrict every day.

Once you get the idea that weight loss/gain/maintenance is all about calories (and not about what you should/shouldn't eat), it makes life a bit easier.

You can have your favourite foods/treats every day and still lose weight. The key is to pay attention to nutrition and have your cake too.

One additional piece of advice: Whatever you choose to eat, log it. If you have to estimate, do so without stressing about it (but don't lowball). Do this whether you're at, above or below goal.

That way, you can evaluate. If you go over goal on a rare occasion, was it worth it? (In my experience, sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't). How long did it delay reaching your goal? How long will it take to lose any real gain from the extra food? How long will it take to bank calories in advance to prepare but still come out even? How much workout time equals that much food?

All of those questions are easily answerable if you log. For me, it enabled a more thoughtful learning-oriented approach while losing 1/3 of my body weight, made future loss and eventual maintenance easier, and turned the whole enterprise into a big, fun science fair project.

Cheat meals don't work for me. I'm too easily drawn off-track, so I haven't let myself do that this time around. However, I eat out. I eat pizza. I have lots of treats that I make fit in my calories (though it's definitely harder know than when I started - fewer calories). If it's a really special day I give myself permission to go over on my calories - like what my maintenance would be. I've lost 100 pounds and have been at it for a bit over a year and a half; I still have about 20 to lose. Today we're going to spend the afternoon with some good friends. I'm not sure what's on the menu. I've eaten less so far then I usually would have, and I'm also open to going a bit over today.

Cheat meals work for some people - probably a lot of people . We are all different. They don't work for me.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

One additional piece of advice: Whatever you choose to eat, log it. If you have to estimate, do so without stressing about it (but don't lowball). Do this whether you're at, above or below goal.

That way, you can evaluate. If you go over goal on a rare occasion, was it worth it? (In my experience, sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't). How long did it delay reaching your goal? How long will it take to lose any real gain from the extra food? How long will it take to bank calories in advance to prepare but still come out even? How much workout time equals that much food?

All of those questions are easily answerable if you log. For me, it enabled a more thoughtful learning-oriented approach while losing 1/3 of my body weight, made future loss and eventual maintenance easier, and turned the whole enterprise into a big, fun science fair project.

This has been so true for me! I am learning so much just by looking at trends in my weight loss vs. what I ate that week. It's been very interesting. I know others have days or meals when they don't track but I can't see myself doing that ever. I am just too curious! I'm so curious about what calorie count, what macros, how much sodium, etc. I just ate. It IS like a big fun science fair project!!

I love to eat out, so I set my goals to average out by week: five days I keep at my lowest comfortable deficit (usually around 1300-1500 kcal), one day I eat around maintenance (about 2400 kcal), and one day I splurge, although I do try and keep it around 500 over maintenance. I've lost 17 lbs of a goal 70 so far this year. It's taken some experimentation to get comfortable and I'm still working at it (last nights splurge was about 500 kcal more than I'd budgeted, oops), but I get to keep doing what I enjoy, I'm losing weight, and it feels sustainable.

I eat what I want, but the same way I buy what I want - keeping in mind the consequences. Sometimes when I go to the grocery store, I eyeball the Ben and Jerry's, then decide I'd rather spend my 1,200 calories on three more giant bowls of oatmeal with fruit, or six chocolate nut bars, which really means I'd rather have a caloric deficit, because I'm not physically capable of eating that much oatmeal. And sometimes I'd rather spend it on ice cream, which I'm entirely capable of eating.

You have to be patient and in it for the long haul if you want to go that route. I lost 35 pounds the first year, 5 the second, and 12 the third. I've got another 5? 25? somewhere in between? to go, and then maintenance is forever, so patience and a long-term outlook are useful.

I feel like, for me, it's just better not to "cheat." It keeps me more disciplined. I believe that in most cases, MFP has you set on a 500 cal deficit by default. Anyone, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. So, if you feel you need to cheat, turn that day into a maintenance day, go over your limit by 500 but no more. That way, you lose no progress made.