Do you guys do "cheat" meals?

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Replies

  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
    edited February 2020
    My response will probably sound generic but. No I don’t do cheat meals or cheat days. I don’t consider any type of food to be cheating. I eat what I want to eat, every day. Period. To lose weight I control calories. I think my overall diet is pretty healthy, and I also eat things like chips and cookies and chocolate. Sometimes I skip logging if I’m having a particularly complicated day (parties with homemade food, eating out at restaurants that don’t have nutrition info available etc) so maybe to some that could be considered cheating.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,846 Member
    Blooperss wrote: »
    I know some are going to say they don't cheat, yadada, but seriously, anyone in here do an actual cheat where you just eat whatever you want every now and then? I used to cheat once a week and I would go HARD. I'm talking pastas, chocolate, pizza, burgers, fries, just everything. In my experience, how is it that this one day of cheating and the weight gain ALWAYS falls off within 2-3 days when I'm back to my calorie limit? If I didn't "cheat" beyond that one day, my weight loss stayed at a consistent downward trend too.

    I don't do cheat days anymore, but rather, cheat meals and I try to accomodate so that they fit into my goals. I realized after many many years that this is a healthier way of thinking since it's a lifestyle change that I'm going after and not a one time fix. Having 2-3 "bad" meals each week has been more sustainable for me.

    Based on your experience, you were either having a pretty aggressive calorie deficit earlier in the week or your definition of HARD contains considerably less calories than mine would ;)
  • 13bbird13
    13bbird13 Posts: 425 Member
    I rarely go out to eat, but when I do go with a group of friends, I order what I want. I guess technically it's a cheat because I pay no attention to my calorie intake for that meal. I could order a nice salad... but I won't, when chicken pot pie or fettuccine Alfredo is calling my name. If we go out locally I'll try and take half home for a second meal, but if we're too far out of town for a doggie bag I'll finish as much of it as I feel like eating. That happened last weekend, but doing my regular tracking through the week still resulted in the loss of a pound.
  • KevinWH87
    KevinWH87 Posts: 74 Member
    I don't think this is what you had in mind, but I'll sometimes add a little cheese or extra butter/guac to my sandwich. It's still healthy but I get that rewarding feeling of treating myself. I savor that extra deliciousness and don't feel the need to splurge/binge any further. Except when I do, of course, but I'm trying to kick that habit :D
  • As someone that used to struggle with BED/bulimia, I don't do cheat days/meals. I feel like that's just a recipe for disaster. I think it's much better to incorporate all sorts of foods within my daily calorie budget/going over slightly when I want to indulge some days.

    That being said, I've also found substitutions/variations for things which has helped a lot, too. Rather than eating a whole candy bar at once, I'll break it into chunks to enjoy throughout the day. I opt for spring rolls instead of sandwiches. Cucumbers and ranch instead of chips. Banana ice cream (bananas + almond milk + chocolate chips + a little honey) rather than ice cream.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    edited February 2020
    Blooperss wrote: »
    I know some are going to say they don't cheat, yadada, but seriously, anyone in here do an actual cheat where you just eat whatever you want every now and then? I used to cheat once a week and I would go HARD. I'm talking pastas, chocolate, pizza, burgers, fries, just everything. In my experience, how is it that this one day of cheating and the weight gain ALWAYS falls off within 2-3 days when I'm back to my calorie limit? If I didn't "cheat" beyond that one day, my weight loss stayed at a consistent downward trend too.

    I don't do cheat days anymore, but rather, cheat meals and I try to accomodate so that they fit into my goals. I realized after many many years that this is a healthier way of thinking since it's a lifestyle change that I'm going after and not a one time fix. Having 2-3 "bad" meals each week has been more sustainable for me.

    Because you don't gain actual fat in one day. The weight gain you see on the scale after a day like this is attributable to water retention and more inherent waste in your system. Gaining actual weight (fat) or losing actual weight (fat) requires a consistent surplus or deficit over time, not some one time occurrence...like if you fasted once per week for 24 hours you aren't going to just burn a ton of fat...you're going to lose water weight and have less waste in your system and the weight on the scale is going to bump back up when you eat again.

    I tend to look at my nutrition on the whole rather than the minutia of one particular meal or one particular day. I have pizza most Friday nights as that is our family pizza and movie night...I don't consider it cheating or a "bad meal" within the context of the rest of my diet. It doesn't magically undo my nutrition for the week and in the big picture is pretty immaterial to my overall nutrition.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    I don’t like framing it as “cheating” for the same reason I don’t view myself as “on a diet.” My goal is to improve my nutrition and my fitness, and I am losing the weight that was caused by poor nutrition. So if I have a week where calorie restriction interferes with my physical or psychological well-being, I’ll eat at maintenance for a week. If there’s a special occasion, like a birthday or holiday, I recognize the sociological function of food and partake in delicacies that are harder to fit into a balanced diet. If I want a specific treat, I’ll adjust what I eat the rest of the day accordingly. In addition to being significantly happier than most dieters, I am also less likely to fall into the trap of, “Well, if I’m already eating ice cream, I might as well eat the whole pint.”
  • Samanthor
    Samanthor Posts: 85 Member
    I do a cheat meal once a week. To me, that doesn't mean a meal where I am trying to eat everything I can, just a meal where I can eat something that would be hard to log -- i.e., going to a local restaurant where they have a unique dish -- and eat it without worrying about it.
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
    I go out for pizza every Friday night. On a normal week it's the only meal I don't make at home. I still track it and estimate the calories.

    I don't overdo it though. I usually eat a garden salad, have 2 maybe 3 slices and drink water with it and maybe a small dessert if I wanted it. So this "cheat" is not high in calories, but I look forward to it.
  • Skyle33
    Skyle33 Posts: 43 Member
    Totally necessary. Personally, I have a list of restaurants and foods I want to visit/cook so once every month or two I splurge. It’s technically a cheat day (since I’m good at eating a day’s worth of calories in one sitting lol). Like 5k-7k calories worth of food 6-10 times a year. I don’t really like fast food but sometimes I feel like getting nasty and I’ll splurged on carry out pizza, wings, Chick-fil-A, or Taco Bell 😂 (probably 3 times a year)
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    I have my version of a "full English breakfast" every Sunday morning. Hey, wait a minute, it is Sunday morning. I better get to it. Still, I make up for it at dinner and never go over my goal. It just means shrimp and french fries for dinner.
  • twelstand
    twelstand Posts: 18 Member
    To be honest once a week i will have a day where my dinner and dessert is definitely not what i would have down normally, such as pizza and ice cream. however on they day that i do this, i will make sure it is not on a rest day and i will push myself harder and longer during my exercise routines. i will always try to make sure that even though i wont be in a calorie deficit, i am at least at a level for weight maintenance.