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Can we please talk “Cheat meals”
**long post alert* If you don’t have time to read, you can jump to last paragraph and you will get my questions there**
I have been struggling with the concept of a Cheat meal or a Cheat day for a while now, so I’m here because I need help.
Let me start with a brief history of my journey;
I am a binge eater (well, let’s say ‘used to be’ to be more accurate), and in the past, I would binge, feel sick and force myself to throw up the food. I never became “addicted” to “throwing up” as I didn’t do it that often, but it did have its other side effects. I don’t do it now though, I’m completely off that. (Side note: if you struggle with this, I suggest you get help; especially if you can’t help if anymore. It’s a real sickness.)
Okay, back to it...
The reason why I have struggled with cheat days/meals in the past is because:
1) I generally have very little self control - this means that I can’t have one packed of small chips, I’ll have a BIG packed ALL.AT.ONCE 🤭
2) After having that Cheat day, my cravings come back and I go through the cycle of trying to detox all over again. Which is very very painful and can sometimes take weeks! Because I’ll fall off the wagon and get on and fall off and... 😩
3) I generally find that cheat days erase the progress I made during the week. For instance, are you allowed to go over your calorie intake on Cheat day? I find that By virtue of what I eat, I generally do Go over; which shows up on the scale 👺
4) for those that do IF: is a cheat MEAL more appropriate and then fasting for the rest of the day? - the question of how big should the meal be still applies here though.
The approach I have taken in the past is to aim to eat healthy for the rest of life, and hope that eventually I won’t crave the “bad stuff”. but, I do wonder if I am depriving myself somewhat.
Also, I generally find that, if I have been off sugar for MONTHS and the have to eat someone’s birthday cake, that night for my by the end of that week, I will have made s trip to woolies to buy my own Red velvet because “I have missed it so much”. In such cases, i will wonder if moderate eating of such is not better than being completely off it and then falling off the wagon when I get a taste.
A very long long post (I do apologize) but I do hope you guys get where I am coming from and can help me 😭 - in short: do cheat days work for you and if so, how do you do them without reversing the work you have done over the last week? Also, so you CHEAT outside of your diet? (i.e. if Banting/on Keto, will you have bread/sugar on cheat day?)
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 Komentarze
I allow myself a cheat meal, not a cheat day. Then I go off plan for that one meal, I do not count the calories and because I eat low carb now, I will have whatever carbs I want, funny thing is lately even with my cheat meal I tend to go for the healthier options. I understand your frustration, you have to keep your head right and control what you eat regardless if it's a cheat meal or not. Hang in there, the struggle is real!
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Annelizej40
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Thank you Annelize! 😂 I’ll hang on! Interested to also find out how a “cheat day” would go. Do you not count calories in general or you don’t do it for this particular meal?
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Mandi_SA
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I count calories in general, but not for my cheat meal.
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Annelizej40
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I have a cheat meal now and again and that is a pizza (usually a Friday evening) The crust is so thin I doubt there's much carbs in it. That pizza will be my OMAD. Drinking wine is my biggest mistake, cause then I can't fast my minimum 16 hours and the scale won't budge for a good couple days but at least no weight gain.
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Mariaan74
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That makes sense. Thanks Annelize!
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Mandi_SA
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Thanks for the your comment Mariaan. I guess if it’s only one meal for the day, you can actually eat what you want and still “cheat”. Thank goodness I don’t have a wine problem 🙈 I’m already such a foodie so it would be disastrous
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Mandi_SA
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Don't beat your self up about it , try not to over eat if you cheat , because then u going to bring your food up , I have been though all that , thank god it's pass, and I'm in a better mindset now , I had a cheat day yesterday , because my body needed fiber , more than the veggies give, this morning I'm back on the Keto swing ,
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: candi crush
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Man, feels like I'm reading my own thoughts. I don't have an answer for you as I struggle with the exact same thing. I keep wanting to lose weight but whenever my sister eats slap chips or a milkshake it feels like I'm punishing myself. Then I think of how I hate being the fat friend and not wanting to go shopping. And the cycle repeats just with different food. I'm always hungry and I try not to be but damn it's hard.
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Patat04
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I agree with the whole term of “cheat meals” and not “cheat days” if it’s a Saturday night and you’ve been good the whole week with exercise and diet then have the pizza you want or the burger you need! Life is also to short to not enjoy the little things!
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: CallumLeesam
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I don't know if there is a correcr answer. Personally, I avoid cheat days/meals, unless there's been an occasion or I have some "unhealthy" foods stocked up I need to get rid off. I do find that planning my cheats helps me not to stray too far off the tracks. I do OMAD and follow low carb (but not keto) way of eating, so when cheating, it's generally more carbs. But that may be more of a refeed than a cheat (I don't know the difference).
I know some people that will eat whatever they want, whenever and it works for them (intuitive eating is the trend at the moment, I think). What I've found is that when I do "cheat", it's best to let it go and get back to your normal way of eating asap. I used to do extra cardio or eat way less as punishment, but that only increased my cravings and started a cycle if bad eating, guilt and punishment. What I do try to do now is have low carb/healthier versions of things I like to enjoy when I feel like it.
That felt like a ramble and I'm not really sure it helped any, lol!
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: escapistArt
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And that one cheat meal a week is something to look forward to. I won't beat myself up about it too much.
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Mariaan74
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i can't do cheats. i start by saying okay one extra or something. and then i chow like 3k calories in 1 hour and end up making myself sick for a week. its very difficult for me to have a simple cheat. in my personal case i find it easier to have none than to have one
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: LothaireD
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I have full on cheat days which I work into my weekly calorie "allowance". I still track everything I eat. So while I was actively losing weight, I still maintained a calorie deficit. It worked well for me.
I am however trying to move more towards the "everything in moderation" approach. So I'll have less nutritious food/treats when I feel like it...
I dont follow a specific diet (just basically counting calories) but I can say that my cheat day food is probably not allowed on any diet haha. Chocolate, McDonald's etc etc 😅
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: amyrealllly
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Thank you so much everyone! I’m reading these and I am getting ideas of how I can maybe experiment on my side. @Patat it’s such a struggle! Which lifestyle do you follow? Are you on Keto or Banting or low carb? The “constantly hungry” (and constantly craving) thing is soooooo relatable to me 😩 It’s so hard to get out of that cycle when you are in one. 😑
But after reading these, I somehow feel that maybe there is a way that I can moderate the concept of “cheat” to fit me. I have ruled out cheat days for now 😂 because I feel they are the reason why I yo-yo around one spot. I’ll give you all feedback soon 🤞🏾
08 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Mandi_SA
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09 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Ntokzin
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I have done Banting , keto and Dukan. with all of them the deprivation was too much. now all I do is the calorie counting. I think a cheat day is too much. perhaps a cheat meal once a week and you work it into the total calorie intake. I am managing to fit chocolate in three times a week on the calorie counting and it makes it so much easier to stay on track.
09 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: JS MysMan
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Thank you Ntokzin! @JS thank you so much for your advice. I also find calorie counting very effective. I must say, before I put up this post, it never occurred to me that I could do my calorie counts for the WEEK; I’ve always seen it as a daily thing. The week thing makes a lot of sense to me actually. It frees one from also throwing in the towel because they messed up on the one day. I feel somewhat liberated 😂
09 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Mandi_SA
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well today I had a Woolies triple chocolate sundae after lunch. but I have worked out that as long as I don't have potatoes with my dinner tonight then I can stay under my calorie limit for the day. it is all about trade offs.
09 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: JS MysMan
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Better late than never right? I believe a cheat day or meal is unhealthy- my personal opinion. I am currently trying to loose weight and have found calorie counting works for me, I love my coffee and my sweets, so my coffee and a small chocie is automatically added to my daily (yes daily) count whether or not I eat my sweet or not, I had made an allowance for it- I try to stick between 800 and 1200 calories everyday. Every person is different, we all do things our way, I'm tired of diets etc. I want to eat my everyday food and will do so but in smaller quantities and somethings prepared 'healthier'
09 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Tinkerbelle88
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Preach @Tinkerbell !! 🙌🏾🙌🏾😄
10 wrz 18 przez użytkownika: Mandi_SA
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