How crazy can I go on my cheat meal?

[tominator]

I'm guessing that I probably shouldn't go buck-wild and eat a whole pepperoni and sausage pizza, 1/2 rack of ribs and a big-ass cheeseburger covered in mayo with a bunch of root beer to wash it down and about a pint of Cold Stone ice cream with the Reese's cups mixed in for dessert.

Someone want to recommend a happy medium?

 

[Suareezay]

salt and pepper on your chicken breast, instead of the usual plain?

a cheat meal with a little common sense will do fuckall in terms of your gains/progress.

 

[rjx]

Just eat whatever you want for ONE meal. Eat 5 burgers, go to a buffet, whatever. Just eat what you want and see if you still make progress for the week. If not, then you know to put restrictions on the cheat day.

 

[DocJ]

I just eat what I would on a typical bulking diet. Don't go hog wild. Stay away from buffets...

 

[Dave Carbon]

I try work a 3 strike routine which consists of sticking to the weekly diet but if I fancied something like a double cheeseburger that would be a strike, Pizza? strike 2 and mabey a cupple of beers, strike 3. It seems to work for me I dunno if anyone else does it that way.

 

[nutty75]

You know....when your dieting hardcore all week its difficult for me to put down a lot of food all at once on my cheat day. I just eat whatever shit I can....but I ALWAYS feel like ass for about 6-8 hours after......so I tend to spread it out in little amounts throughout the day.

 

[outlawtas]

are you cutting or bulking? are you competing?

 

[tominator]

are you cutting or bulking? are you competing?

I'll be cutting. I know that I WON'T be cutting if I'm eating cheat meals like the one I described' so I'm just looking for some suggestions so I don't go overboard. Thanks.

 

[rjx]

Today is my cheat day and I will be having beer battered oinion rings and a big burger. And maybe a little pepsi.

 

[carolinacrackah]

I like to have a whole cheat day once per week. The rest of the week I stick to chicken,egg whites, tuna and protien powder.

 

[DADAWG]

I'll be cutting. I know that I WON'T be cutting if I'm eating cheat meals like the one I described' so I'm just looking for some suggestions so I don't go overboard. Thanks.

dont gorge yourself . but definately treat yourself to a nice meal , make it a event by going to a nice restaurant and order any 1 meal on the menu .

 

[darthtexan]

I am of the school of thought that says that it is impossible to overdo it on a free day, as long as it is ONLY ONE free day a week. There is no way the body will erase 6 days of progress in one day. The stomache and esophagus simply will not allow it. Your stomach may be temporarily bigger during the day but that is because of the undigested food. It will go away by the next day. If you are paranoid about overdoing it on the free day, have a very intense weight training workout early in the morning. That will help to minimize any chances of fat gain. Also, you might try not to combine carbs and fats in your cheat meals. You can have a little protein and tons of carbs in one meal, or a little protiein and tons of fats in another meal. Just dont combine carbs and fats - saturated or unsaturated. Honestly, I just throw all the rules out of the window on the free day. I do try to make sure I am getting a little protein and tons of carbs, but I dont worry about the saturated fat. I just conciously try to gorge myself. I am of the belief that the cheat day actually helps you lose fat in the long run because it helps to reprime your leptin levels and other fat burning hormones.

 

[Starkraven]

I honestly think it IS possible to erase 6 days of progress just like that. It also depends on your body type. eating mcdonalds 3 times (2kcals per meal) is 6kcals right there, maybe a pound of fat gain right there with an additional 5-8 pounds of water. some eat cookies and a bunch of junk with that too. Cupcakes, brownies, chocolate shakes, etc and I really think that a cheat day isn't good for the endomorph. A cheat meal is better although some people's metabolisms are different. The naturally leaner you are, the more you can cheat. Pure endos should have a cheat meal and not day. An ecto or meso can have a cheat day. Stories of those being strict mon-fri and cheating ALL day saturday and carbing up high ALL days sunday are left to the genetically superior individuals that are 6'0 286 pounds and real lean, but not the average joe with average endomorph fattening genetics.

I am of the school of thought that says that it is impossible to overdo it on a free day, as long as it is ONLY ONE free day a week. There is no way the body will erase 6 days of progress in one day. The stomache and esophagus simply will not allow it. Your stomach may be temporarily bigger during the day but that is because of the undigested food. It will go away by the next day. If you are paranoid about overdoing it on the free day, have a very intense weight training workout early in the morning. That will help to minimize any chances of fat gain. Also, you might try not to combine carbs and fats in your cheat meals. You can have a little protein and tons of carbs in one meal, or a little protiein and tons of fats in another meal. Just dont combine carbs and fats - saturated or unsaturated. Honestly, I just throw all the rules out of the window on the free day. I do try to make sure I am getting a little protein and tons of carbs, but I dont worry about the saturated fat. I just conciously try to gorge myself. I am of the belief that the cheat day actually helps you lose fat in the long run because it helps to reprime your leptin levels and other fat burning hormones.

 

[tjc]

Is it bad if you never cheat? I have never cheated before. the way i see it is all the hard work I have doin writing down macrounits and finding calorie needs and breaking it up to 5 even meals and preparing all those meals, most the time in advanced because of school and eating real clean. One meal isnt worth all that. And I think I would hate myself (lol)

 

[Bigdaddy_vh]

ive always read that it is absolutely necessary to cheat b/c the body will become accustomed to the restricted diet and fat loss will become minimized over time. The cheat meal allows the body to realize it is not starving and you should be able to continue seeing muscle gains and fat loss. Or something like that...

 

[vendela99]

dude I actually ate almost everything you mentioned in your post on Saturday. Hadn't had a good cheat day in a few months. Can't tail gate anymore...shotgun a couple beers and self control is out the window. 2 pepperoni pizzas, ribs, 8 beers, and 2 chocolate peanut butter protein shakes....hating myself today. Typically a cheat meal for me would be something carb heavy in the evening (since I stop carbs at 5) or a meal out at a restaurant where I still try to eat something fairly clean.

 

[theincredible1]

I am of the school of thought that says that it is impossible to overdo it on a free day, as long as it is ONLY ONE free day a week. There is no way the body will erase 6 days of progress in one day. The stomache and esophagus simply will not allow it. Your stomach may be temporarily bigger during the day but that is because of the undigested food. It will go away by the next day. If you are paranoid about overdoing it on the free day, have a very intense weight training workout early in the morning. That will help to minimize any chances of fat gain. Also, you might try not to combine carbs and fats in your cheat meals. You can have a little protein and tons of carbs in one meal, or a little protiein and tons of fats in another meal. Just dont combine carbs and fats - saturated or unsaturated. Honestly, I just throw all the rules out of the window on the free day. I do try to make sure I am getting a little protein and tons of carbs, but I dont worry about the saturated fat. I just conciously try to gorge myself. I am of the belief that the cheat day actually helps you lose fat in the long run because it helps to reprime your leptin levels and other fat burning hormones.

that is quite possibly the dumbest thing to have been posted on this forum... for a person who is bulking a free day is a day where you should take the whole day to eat what you would like, however throw the carbs, protein, and fats out the window and pay attention to just calories.. If your current diet on regular days is 5,000 cals. then your cheat day should also be in the 5,000 cal. area..... however as tominator stated he is cutting.. cutting is not like bulking, while cutting you have a cheat meal.. 1 meal a week... you should not get too carried away with this meal but it can be a pleasure meal.. It puzzles me when people say for cheat day i eat a xtra large. peperoni pizza, why not eat a xtra large veggie pizza something will be pleasurable and still not be bad for you to eat once a week... however there are many other cheat meal possibilities for cutting heres some of my favoritte options to choose from

dark beer, veggie pizza, hamburger, baked fries, and my favoritte: bag of chips and french onion dip.

 

[theincredible1]

one thing I forgot to add is.. if you dont have a cheat day that is perfectly fine just in most peoples minds a cheat day will keep your body steadily losing fat and gaining muscle.

 

[vendela99]

I am a firm believer that a good cheat day re-stimulates the metabolism. Even though it feels wrong, the results are right. This week was affirmation again for me. After having the cheat day that I had mentioned above on Saturday which was all out, I hit a new low today at 163.4 lbs. I have been eating the same macros for 3 months now, and had plateaued at 164.8 for the last several weeks. My diet has not changed, but I have been starving all week which is not normal. I definitely recommend cheat meals/days.