Cheat meals

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I would like to get the opinion of others on cheat meals. I always hear mixed opinions of some people hating cheat meals while others loving them. I've been allowing myself to have one cheat meal a month, but I just want to know if it will hinder my progress

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  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
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    I don't attach negative associations to food, so no, I don't have cheat meals.
    I do eat treat foods, but they fit my goals. I eat less calories most days to enable me to eat more calories on one or two days.
  • Pamshebamm181
    Pamshebamm181 Posts: 92 Member
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    My "cheat days" mean I just don't log.
    Weddings, birthdays, holidays, etc., I eat what I want, and probably go over my goal a bit but I try not to go overboard with it.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    I don't stigmatize food, or I'm trying not to. I have days I log and days I don't. I try to log more than I don't. Sometimes I go over by my calories. "Cheat" makes it sound like binging to me, or secret eating.
  • sdolan91
    sdolan91 Posts: 250 Member
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    I have cheat meals. Which I just consider things I can't log. Special occations, where I couldn't possibly weight the food or know around how many calories I'm eating.
    Other than that, I eat whatever, nothing is off limits as long as long as I hit my calorie goal.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    What do you consider "cheating"
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    Unless your daily average deficit is very small there is not much chance that one meal per month could be big enough to stop your progress. Of course any day that is higher than others will hinder it somewhat because, calories. But seriously, it's one meal out of dozens. You'll be fine.
  • Spiderpug
    Spiderpug Posts: 159 Member
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    Can't be bothered to cheat. I count it, eat it and accept any repuccusions!
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,868 Member
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    No cheat meals.

    I organise my calorie intake so that I eat the foods I like regularly.

    And then I'll take planned diet breaks occasionally, usually coinciding with travel, when it is a pain to log accurately anyway. And by diet break, I mean that I don't log, I do eat more freely than usual, and I often exercise more than I usually do.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    You are changing the way you eat for the rest of your life. That means you need a sustainable approach to food, not a “diet” that you sometimes cheat on and that will eventually end. When it ends, the weight will come back unless you make long term changes to maintain your new weight. If you want to sustain long term weight loss, then you have to get rid of the mindset that you are on a diet and sometimes you “cheat” on it. Some days we all eat more than on other days. If you’re frequently overeating or binging, then you don’t have a sustainable approach to food.