What's the point of cheat meals?

for many, a cheat meal, or even a cheat day is a psychological tool they use to justify counting calories the other 90% or the time.

i don't plan my cheat meals or calorie spike days, but it happens, and its ok. i limit my junk food, so if i cheat, its usually with pizza. i always log everything. on a rest day when i'm going to have a big work out the next day, i'll have a big cheat dinner, like 1000 calories of pasta, meat, sauce, salad, etc. i'll work out like a beat the next morning.

just like intermitten fasting, or eating 6 meals a day, its another tool to help you lose weight. you may or may not respond well to them, but the only way to find out is to try. every body is different, and you need to find out what combination of things works for you.

I have a cheat day once a week where I allow myself anything (within reason). It helps mentally, but also can shock my metabolism a bit. My body is used to 1400-1600 cals a day and hitting it with 2000+ is a wake up call.

I have a splurge meal every Friday night. My boyfriend and I traditionally go out for dinner that evening. I behave the rest of the week, but I know that on Friday night, I can have whatever I want. I've changed my eating habits so much though, that I am usually pretty careful even during my splurge meal. My splurge meal may take me 500-700 calories over for the entire day, but I don't worry about it, or try to make up for it with exercise, etc.

For me its about moderation. My splurge meals are fun, guilt free, and help keep me on track the rest of the week.

for me cheat meal is when i eat junk food and go over in cals, i have it like once or twice in a month

Oh okay thanks for the info! I probably won't have cheat days because I'm scared to go over and feel extremely guilty if I eat anything bad. However, is intermittent fasting any good?
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I have been trying to challenge these guilt feelings. I know exactly what you mean - and I believe it has been one of the things that has kept weight on me - I stressed about everything that wasn't a lettuce basically (not quite but you know what I mean). The beauty of MFP is often I 'think' I have gorged - purely because of feeling full or guilty about something - and when I actually put it in the diary - things aren't that bad - so I am just trying to re educate my brain I guess.

I have a "cheat" day (more like a meal, though) every week.

I normally still stay within my calories but eat things I usually wouldn't eat - white potatoes, white rice, sauces (like BBQ), restaurant food, red meat, maybe a margarita, a decadent dessert, fried foods - just more "unhealthy" or high calorie foods in general.

I don't see it as a reward or a break, just a way to have a more relaxed day about what I am eating and a chance to eat something different.

It's worked very well for me.


Edit: Typo Queen

9 years ago, when I lost 91 pounds, and kept it off for 3 years before becoming pregnant with my son, I had a cheat day, which was Saturdays. When I first started out, that day was a free-for-all, but I was still losing weight because Sunday-Friday I was very rigid about what I ate. As time went on, it was still my cheat day, but I physically could not eat a lot of food so it was more things like pizza and soda that I didn't eat the other days of the week. I also was going out dancing every Saturday night which helped burn it off.
This time around, I'm not planning on any cheat meals or days. I'm tired of struggling to lose the weight again and I don't think a cheat meal or cheat day will help me at all. Maybe as time goes on and I start losing, I'll incorporate a meal or two back in that I consider "cheating"

In my opinion:

Cheat Meal is a silly concept. You are either within your daily limits of calories and macronutrients in which case you are not cheating, or you are over your target intake which makes it a cheat day.

EDIT: And additionally, I think cheat days are a viable strategy for some people, for both physiological and psychological reasons.

I do splurges here and there by zig-zagging my calories. I track my calories by the week, not the day, as your body doesn't automatically reset itself every 24 hours anyway. So I might have days where I've eaten under my 1200 net due to extra clean eating and just not being very hungry so those calories are banked to use later in the week if I have a day where my hunger levels are higher or am going to an event where there will be food items I'll want to eat that are more calorie-dense and typically off my eating plan. It all works out. Even with splurges, I rarely go over my weekly calorie target.

I feel bad when I read that someone feels guilty for eating something off-plan. Food is a part of the way we celebrate together and I figure even thin people eat things that aren't "diet food". It's just a matter of balancing times of eating off plan so they don't over-ride the days you've eaten on plan.

Even if you have a day a week or couple days a month where you eat way over and go over your calories for the week, it shouldn't really result in any gain (although you might see a gain on the scale due to water and bloat) but it will go away quickly. There is evidence that this is a good thing for your metabolism as it shakes things up, so to speak.

Anyway, I'm more concerned about the guilt feelings being expressed here than anything. Occasionally eating off plan doesn't make you a bad person so you shouldn't feel guilty. It just means you're human.

If I have a meal or several that puts me under my calorie goal still I don't count it as a cheat meal/day as I'm under my target, and that was the goal I will eat whatever I feel like as long as it fits my macros (junk food all day would NOT fit my macros even if I was under cals so the majority of what I eat is healthy)

For me a "cheat day" is when I would go over my calorie goal. It works well for some people, especially if their usual goal is quite low (1200?) as it helps them not feel too restricted and can sometimes break a plateau.
I don't plan them personally though, I go over occasionally anyway without planning for it so to me it seems silly to plan more.

Some people say cheat days or cheat meals 'mess' with your metabolism and help with weight loss. I don't quite buy that - but I could be convinced with some solid evidence. I think going over one day a week isn't going to harm your weight loss though, provided that you're still in a caloric deficit overall. I do think it's a good tool psychologically for some, because it gives them that flexibility. Also there are days when you will just go over your target, or even your maintenance, because you've eaten something quite high in calories (such as Indian food) .. it can happen more easily than you think

I have a cheat day (usually Saturday) to enhance my social life (so i'm not the girl eating tuna, or bacon, or eggs, or salads ALL the time). It helps me relax around friends and family. And I find it helps me to keep losing. When my body gets toooo low on calories (easy with low carbing) I can add an extra 600-1000 calories to a Saturday. Satiating.

I am still careful, because now that I eat better, bad stuff tastes BAD.

I don't have planned cheat days. With me, whatever happens is what happens. I usually have my three meals and 2 snacks planned for the day. But sometimes if I have a date or if someone wants to get dinner, then I may end up going over.

Also, I agree that having an occasional cheat day, maybe once or twice a month, helps your metabolism stay up. I've noticed that I lose weight a lot easier the week after having a cheat day.

from what ive read and things ive done cheat days are are not needed but at the same time are.. it depends on the person .. genetic..etc i personally have 1 cheat day a week which is usually Saturday.. from what ive read from other forums and things like that... people have cheat days in order to avoid a stress hormone called cortisol.. its release into the body when you are physically or mentally stressing.. stress also comes from not eating specific foods you crave.. lets so hypothetically you and your friends go out and there eating pizza .. the average person will crave it and either a. cheat and eat it or b not eat it and crave it.. the cheat day pretty much is to avoid stressing over food and risking the chance to cheat through out the week.. its better to plan to cheat then it is to cheat on your plan... when i cheat it wasnt an all out buffet.. when i was above 21% body fat i only allowed 1 cheat meal break fast or lunch... once i reached 17% body fat i went to 2 cheat meals... and now im 13.5% body fat and i do 3 cheat meals on saturday... take into consideration im up at 8 am cus i go running early in the morning so i have the entire day to burn everything off... and usually since my cheats are planned load on carbs drop protein a tad bit to make up for the low amount i eat through out the week.. and i dont drink my calories on the cheat day i eat it.. i consider drinking calories a waist to be honest..
well im talking to much i hope this helped a little and please anyone that reads this if im off on the info feel free to correct me im always willing to learn and never want to give false information.. thanks alot and good luck
o and one more thing for thoughs who dont know cortisol is a hormone that inhibits muscle growth and cause's fat gains usually around the love handle area's