How bad is one cheat meal once a week really?

[Il_Dago]

If you're going to have Wendy's, then no, you shouldn't have a cheat meal. That's far too weak.

When you cheat, make sure it's worth it. The goal is to be saying "God DAMN that hit the spot!" If you're saying "Ugh... Imma have to work so hard to keep that off." then you're doing it wrong.

[Dennis71]

my breakfeast saturday on my cheat day

[eadgbe6]

If you go 7 weeks having one cheat day per week you will be one week behind the progress you would've had if you didn't have any cheats days. Whether that's okay or not is for you to decide.

[pharmamarketer]

If you go 7 weeks having one cheat day per week you will be one week behind the progress you would've had if you didn't have any cheats days. Whether that's okay or not is for you to decide.

That makes no sense

[eadgbe6]

That makes no sense

How? I know I'm not an expert, but I figure if you cheat for 7 days then that's like losing potentially a week's worth of progress? Is having one cheat a week better or worse than this?

[th3pwn3r]

How? I know I'm not an expert, but I figure if you cheat for 7 days then that's like losing potentially a week's worth of progress? Is having one cheat a week better or worse than this?

That actually makes some sense. Every thing you consume that reduces your deficit adds time you need to spend on your cut to reach your goal.

[jcosley]

If you lost 50 lbs doing it, why deviate?

Was thinking the same thing.

[mdrouillard1983]

I know this thread is older but I have to put my two cents in. I think a lot of people here are being too nuts about "calorie limits" on this day, I say who cares! Eat how much you want, eat until you feel like rolling over and passing out into a coma if that's what you need to eat clean for the rest of the week.

I have cut many times and literally had an all you can eat cheat Saturdays, I've probably taken in thousands upon thousands over my calorie limit those days and still lost 2lbs a week. The trick is to do it just once a week.

Everyone seems to think the body is like a machine that means if you
Eat x number you negate the calorie deficit for the week, on paper this is true but this is real life and the body simply doesn't work that way. If it did, eating over 3500 calories on one day would immediately mean exaclty 1lb of weight gain but this doesn't happen - the body is an intricate machine dictated by hormones/exercise and other factors not just calories in and calories out.

These days I don't go that nuts because I simply don't wanna feel like garbage BUT in regards to progress, for gods sake its a cheat day/meal eat how much as you want without giving a *#### about calories. Remember to eat clean the other 6 days and workout hard in the gym/ do that cardio hard and you can REWARD yourself witout limits come your cheat day/meal.

[MagnumPeanut82]

it doesnt work for me

Me neither, prolly a mental thing.

I kinda feel like I am cheating this weekend as I am having carbs and no fat yogurt and stuff.

Feels good man.

If I am really having a strong craving I will have a diet coke. I try not to do that often at all tho.

/strong bump

[Electricheadd]

unlike a lot of folks on here I consider a cheat the amount of food not the meal itself,if I can squeeze a bit of ice cream a burger or a slice of pizza into my day then in it goes its not a cheat.

personally I have found no difference in progress eating clean or not as long as the cals and macros are close enough I have progressed just fine whether thats the same when you are super lean I dont know yet

If you really want the cheat and can you afford it today calorie wise and in terms of your progress which your past record shows you can, then go for it

This is my philosophy too. I want this to be a lifestyle change and even though I'm a hell of a good cook there is only so much you can do with body builder staple foods. So I get my protein in and then eat what I want to my calorie goal.

Cheat meal for me is 500 over maintenance for a day every other week.

[oMc_fRi]

If you can cheat and still be under maintenance, that's what I used to do on my cut, every friday. I would just eat a little bit less throughoout the day to make up for my CHEAT meal.

[Slayer12]

Why not have cheat meals that can still fit inside your daily calories.

me personally, I like to have arbys once a week.

I get 3 jr. roast beefs. Take the meat off one and put it in the other two.

roughly 500 calorie meal with 30g of protein.

Its not the best cheat food but at least i feel like i can eat something from fast food and didn't hurt myself.

[belairdfence99]

Bro the sooner you realize that you can reward yourself for working so hard and that "dirty" food can be manipulated to fit into your overall calories, the happier you will be.

We all work hard and monitor calories and eating food you enjoy should not be out of the question.

[Infinite23]

Its really only 1 meal for that entire week. As long as you eat clean and workout regulary then it won't affect you at all.

[mikede555]

if you are dying here and really craving a cheat meal, you should go for it! one cheat meal a week is not a bad thing... it can be a really good thing actually.

I personally have a whole cheat day every week. 1 day out of 7... it helps keep me focused.

Last thing, if having a cheat meal every week helped you lose that much weight, keep doing whats working! if it worked for you, stick to it!

hope this helps

good luck to you!

[AngelRM]

lol.. one cheat meal a week isn't bad, but if you want more, buy cheaters, lmao

[CasualBuilder]

I Have One Cheat Meal Every Saturday Around 13-14:00 on My Extra/Double Carb Day But It Still Consists of Chicken Just With An Added Sauce And Small Coating, It's Not Preventing My Weight & BodyFat Loss And Suppresses My Need To 'Cheat' Through The Week.