Cheat meals - OK or a no-no?

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Replies

  • verptwerp
    verptwerp Posts: 3,659 Member
    No food is a cheat for me, but I plan for when I'll eat the tricky stuff ....... if I go to a ballgame, then I want a hotdog or pizza or chips, but hopefully not all three LOL During the summer my town has a carnival ........ my husband will want to go and eat "dinner" there, so I just eat light those days ..... or go to the gym ..... or do both :drinker:

    Years ago I had to take diabetic meds ....... don't want to do that again ....... so it's a habit to think twice about the foods I eat, especially sugars & carbs.

    Happy losing & best of luck !
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
    i tend to cheat once a month
  • TravisBurns
    TravisBurns Posts: 353 Member
    Absolutely okay in my opinion. I dropped 80 lbs in just a few months and I had cheat days on a pretty frequent basis.
  • DakotaKeogh
    DakotaKeogh Posts: 693 Member
    Personally I don't do cheat days or the get me wanting more all the time. The main thing is to find what is sustainable for you. We're all wired differently. Take the time to try different things and see what works for you without driving yourself crazy.
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,446 Member
    Cool, I don't intend on having a cheat day, just a cheat meal with a dessert.

    Also do any of you find major fluctuations throughout the day?

    For example I weighed myself this morning and was at 160, then a couple of hours later down to 158, then back up to 161. This was with wearing the same clothes. I thought perhaps it was just my scales, but it does this on others too.

    I am only weighing in once a week so I don't know how accurate my weight will be if there are such fluctuations. I always weigh myself at roughly the same time in the morning before eating anything and after going to the toilet.

    Your weight will change 3-5 pounds over the course of a day depending on food, hydration level etc. Just weigh in once a week at the same time, and don't worry about the fluctuations. You are looking for overall trends, not ounces.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    You're already eating very little, so adding one slightly larger meal a week is probably only getting you closer to a healthy calorie intake.
    (I'm the same height and similar weight - if I was eating less than 1200 cals/day I would be SERIOUSLY grumpy).
  • Ke22yB
    Ke22yB Posts: 969 Member
    I find having CHEAT meals days whatever is an absolute no no I say that because I never cheat there are days I eat more some days less I may go out for dinner with friends and eat more or be home on a cheat day meal and not have anything worth cheating with My point is people that are living a normal life dont think they are cheating so why should we just because we are working on weight loss and fitness think that we are cheating because we have a meal we enjoy or enjoy to much so we do it again the next day. Live life make tghe right choices but never cheat or cheat yourself
  • MrsBully4
    MrsBully4 Posts: 304 Member
    I don't want to deprive myself all week and then reward myself with a food blowout, so no, I don't do cheat meals. At least for me, they're not a good idea.

    Instead I have dessert every day within my calorie budget.
  • mlbrowninsc
    mlbrowninsc Posts: 22
    I basically do a 80/20 plan. Five days a week Mon-Fri I am strict to my lifestyle and on Sat and Sun I loosen up the rules a bit and if I want to go out and get a burger and fries then so be it. I generally still track as much as possible those days as well. I generally lose 1 to 2 pounds a week and going by weekly number rather than daily are under my calorie goals most weeks. Works for my, your mileage may vary.
  • HealthyLivingKathy
    HealthyLivingKathy Posts: 190 Member
    I find it more helpful for me if I think of all food as "healthy" vs "less healthy." I can choose to eat very healthy or choose to eat less healthy. The word "cheat" puts such a bad connotation on the food for me. I'm changing my relationship with food and working on changing how I "label" or think about food.

    When I did cheat days in the past, it became an excuse to eat anything and everything. Now I may choose to have a mini blizzard, on occasion within my calories. IMO this is helping to train my mind and body for the long run.

    {{{HUGS}}}
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    I think it depends on how well you would be able to control it to one cheat meal. When I first started out I would not have been able to eat one cheat meal and then get back on track the rest of the day. My mentality would have been oh well the day is already ruined I'll just start again tomorrow. And then I would keep saying tomorrow and never get back on track. I didn't have a single cheat for my first month and now I rarely even want "cheat food." If I am going to be eating out or plan to eat something that isn't the healthiest for me, I just find a way to work it into my daily calories so I am still under.

    Also is 1200 what MFP set for you? That is a low amount of calories and it might be hard for you to stick with a new plan that is so restrictive. You might want to give yourself 1400-1600 to start with.

    Best of luck!:smile:

    This! I don't trust myself yet and frankly, I'm really not missing anything to the point of cravings. I don't eat processed sugar - I don't crave it anymore. Everything else I work out a way to have the foods I love- healthy versions - within reason. Best of luck!
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
    Whatever works for you... but I don't like what some people call "cheat" days. It's not a temporary game or "diet". It's your life. You may choose to incorporate a certain amount of flexibility. You may make mistakes. But you can't really cheat your body; it knows how much you ate, exercised, etc. If the partying and eating you did was within the flexibility you allow yourself, then you're fine. If it wasn't, who are you cheating? Yourself? In that case it was a mistake, try not to make it again. On the other hand, I think it's fine to pick a certain number of days where you have a higher calorie limit or a day off from exercise -- again, if it's going to be a lifestyle it needs to be livable.
  • Goal_Line
    Goal_Line Posts: 474 Member
    Everything is ok in moderation.

    I'm not a big believer in self denial, all it does is cause you to lose will power. Allow 20% of calories to be "cheat" although I don't think I like the term. But give yourself something. Just make sure you don;t make a habit of it, don;t feel guilty about it, and exercise. Exercise gives you so much more calories to play with, so you don;t feel deprived. It is all about a life style change not a diet. Deprivation = diet; lifestyle change has room for everything in moderation.
  • HealthyLivingKathy
    HealthyLivingKathy Posts: 190 Member
    Also from reading on here, the males may do better with the "cheat" days than females. Just an observation. Nothin' scientific about it LOL
  • jaded082
    jaded082 Posts: 107 Member
    I have a weekly free day and love it.
    It keeps me sane.
    And where it was once a 24 hour food orgy, now it's more of a few cheat meals on that special day.
    I no longer enjoy certain fast foods as much. I lost 75 pounds doing this, so it works.
    There are psychological as well as physiological benefits.
    It seems to shock the body and rev up a stifled metabolism.
    Works for me; decide for yourself.

    Yep. This is me. It may not work for everyone, but it works very good for me! It gives me something to look forward to. There is a lot of foods that I call no no foods during the week, but on my free day nothing is off limits. It's only one day a week, and yeah it takes me a day or two to recover from it, but by the end of the week I am usually down a lb lower than I was before my cheat day.

    I lost #25 before using this method and then after 3 years gained it all back. But it is coming back off! #10 down so far. :-)
  • Kathy53925
    Kathy53925 Posts: 241 Member
    I like a "treat day" rather than "Cheat day". I don't think I will do it every week, but when something comes up, then yes. If I am getting depressed because "I can't have that" then I'll have it....but occasionally.

    That's how I feel about it..right now anyway.
  • balancedhealth
    balancedhealth Posts: 36
    I just did some research on this. Based on the research, IMO, yes ok to have a cheat meal or free meal. Some research suggests it may boost your metabolism and keep you from gorging if you have cravings that you have been fighting. BUT you have to use common sense and not go too crazy on the portion size. Have something you've been craving or wouldn't normally have on your plan but don't gorge. And, if you don't need it for the week, even better!
  • crosscg
    crosscg Posts: 1 Member
    regarding your fluctuating weight, people can go within a few pounds or so just off of body fluids, so don't worry about it too much and you're doing a good thing by doing it only once a week, don't compulsively weight yourself, this is not your life :-)
  • Goal_Line
    Goal_Line Posts: 474 Member
    I like a "treat day" rather than "Cheat day". I don't think I will do it every week, but when something comes up, then yes. If I am getting depressed because "I can't have that" then I'll have it....but occasionally.

    That's how I feel about it..right now anyway.

    Love it! "Treat" day not "Cheat" day.

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