Dificult day

sinbadfxdl

The evening of halloween was tough. My kids and i were trick or treating so they were constantly offering their bounty of candy. We were also with other neighbors who had pizza waiting for us . My cheat day was the next day. I knew that if I cheated 2 days in a row that I may be derailed from my goals. I can see how these up-coming hollidays Are going to be difficult. Any suggestions or experiences would be helpful thanks.

Liftng4Lis

They should be like every other day and not affect you at all. Moderation, self-discipline and being conscientious will do wonders.

Lounmoun

Don't be dramatic about it. You aren't doomed. Plan ahead as much as you can. These are not surprise events.
Eat smaller portions of higher calorie stuff. (Bring a veggie tray or salad to share and eat 1 slice of pizza with your veggies.)
Ditch the idea of cheat days. Fit foods into your goal.
Look at your weekly calories instead of just your daily calories. You can go a bit over your goal one day and eat just a little less the other days of the week and not go over your weekly goal at all.
Plan to eat at maintenance on holidays and get back to your deficit after.
Get some extra exercise during the holidays to even things out.

Abby2205

I'm not sure what you are saying about two cheat days in a row. If Sunday is your regular cheat day, how about saying that this week your cheat day was Saturday and eat at your regular deficit on Sunday.

Unknown

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gutznglory

Lounmoun wrote: »

Plan to eat at maintenance on holidays and get back to your deficit after.
Get some extra exercise during the holidays to even things out.

This is great advice. You know you'll eat more on holidays, so be okay with that, and plan ahead. Exercise and eating at maintenance are the way to go! You can do it!

mthakkar2014

Abby2205 wrote: »

I'm not sure what you are saying about two cheat days in a row. If Sunday is your regular cheat day, how about saying that this week your cheat day was Saturday and eat at your regular deficit on Sunday.

^exactly!

sinbadfxdl

Abby2205 wrote: »

I'm not sure what you are saying about two cheat days in a row. If Sunday is your regular cheat day, how about saying that this week your cheat day was Saturday and eat at your regular deficit on Sunday.

I cheat on football day with my companions. Halloween Saturday cheat day is next day. Hard to resist all that good food on Saturday when I know all my friends will be eating away on Sunday in front of me.

sinbadfxdl

gutznglory wrote: »

Lounmoun wrote: »

Plan to eat at maintenance on holidays and get back to your deficit after.
Get some extra exercise during the holidays to even things out.

This is great advice. You know you'll eat more on holidays, so be okay with that, and plan ahead. Exercise and eating at maintenance are the way to go! You can do it!

Awesome good plan! Will do.

SLLRunner

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

They should be like every other day and not affect you at all. Moderation, self-discipline and being conscientious will do wonders.

This. Cheating implies doing something wrong, and you are doing nothing wrong when eating any type of food on any day.

Why not just plan those special foods into your diety plan on a regular basis while staying in your calorie goals?

judyvalentine512

That's great advice, which I plan to follow as well. I don't have 'cheat' days per se, but I know that come Friday night, I may over eat a little. This week, it was this morning. I ate Hallowe'en candy, went over my calorie and carb goals(including what I plan for supper). I have thrown the rest of the candy in the trash, and back on track. I actually feel ill after eating the candy.
Good luck Sinbad.

TracyeS4

I don't have cheat days. I try to always have a healthy option available. So, if I am going to a party I eat before and take a fruit bowel and/or veggie tray. If I want a taste of something, I don't necessarily deny myself, but I won't eat as much of it.

GF4EVER2014

I tried the cheat day idea, but it spins me out of control and I have trouble getting back on track. I have found a free meal once a week works better for me. It's a little bit easier to stay on track if I know at the end of the day I'm going to have a meal that is special. I worry about the holidays as I love baking and people at work are bringing in as well

booksandchocolate12

So, your small children force fed you candy, and then your neighbors held a gun to your head and made you eat pizza. Sounds like you had a rough day.

Seriously, though....this is why I hate the notion of "cheat" days. Nothing is cheating if you can fit it into your plan. Now, I understand it might've been hard to fit in a boatload of candy and pizza in one day. But did you have to eat the candy that your kids offered? Could you have taken one piece and called it day, saving calories for the pizza?

Or, in the alternative, couldn't you have eaten the candy and the pizza, and not had a cheat day today? Where is it written in stone that today has to be your cheat day.

Be a little more flexible with yourself. Maybe rid your vocabulary of the word "cheat" and incorporate treats into your daily plan so you don't feel doomed when faced with children with candy and neighbors with pizza.

rankinsect

I don't do any regular cheat meals or cheat days - I work all the foods I love into my daily calorie / macro goals, so I never feel deprived. For me, having something indulgent just means I need to cut back on other things and plan my day accordingly.

I do take certain holidays "off" - I still log as best I can but I don't set goals for those days. Those are things like Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthday, etc. Only a couple of days a year. They are not excuses for unrestricted binging, but rather times I can enjoy meals in the company of family and keep to moderate, but unmeasured, portions.

kbmnurse

Plan ahead. Stop making a big deal about it.

Debmal77

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

They should be like every other day and not affect you at all. Moderation, self-discipline and being conscientious will do wonders.

This

SLLRunner wrote: »

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

They should be like every other day and not affect you at all. Moderation, self-discipline and being conscientious will do wonders.

This. Cheating implies doing something wrong, and you are doing nothing wrong when eating any type of food on any day.

Why not just plan those special foods into your diet plan on a regular basis while staying in your calorie goals?

And this.

shadowfax_c11

I made a conscious choice to enjoy the free chocolate as much as I liked, while being conscious of how many calories I was consuming, and then logged all of it. A day or two of indulgence isn't going to wreck my long term progress, because I intend on getting right back to work tomorrow. It will possibly slow it down a bit. And I am okay with that.

Weight loss does not have a deadline and should not have to mean never enjoying a holiday.

sinbadfxdl

SLLRunner wrote: »

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

They should be like every other day and not affect you at all. Moderation, self-discipline and being conscientious will do wonders.

This. Cheating implies doing something wrong, and you are doing nothing wrong when eating any type of food on any day.

Why not just plan those special foods into your diety plan on a regular basis while staying in your calorie goals?

Cheating means that I will blow the calorie budget. It keeps my sanity. I still lose one to two lbs a week because I'm never in starvation mode. I end up drinking a lot and eating loads of fat food that day. I also reduce my breakfast cal., no snacks and only veggies for dinner. I'm eating like 2500 cal lunch. Lol

sinbadfxdl

Books and choc. Sounds like you have this thing figured out. I was referring to cheating (indulging) two days in a row. It's just tempting. I'm losing like a freight train going to its destination in time. I like that. When your in the moment, let me know how it feels.

sinbadfxdl

kbmnurse wrote: »

Plan ahead. Stop making a big deal about it.

Getting close to my goal and holidays are in the way. Just looking for advice on handling leftovers, partys. Dinner with extended family. No Big Deal Right!

sinbadfxdl

Thanks for the support. I'll take the great points offered. Thanks again.

sinbadfxdl

GF4EVER2014 wrote: »

I tried the cheat day idea, but it spins me out of control and I have trouble getting back on track. I have found a free meal once a week works better for me. It's a little bit easier to stay on track if I know at the end of the day I'm going to have a meal that is special. I worry about the holidays as I love baking and people at work are bringing in as well

My point exactly. It's new territory. I always dieted in the spring and let loose till the holidays are over and found myself out of control. This time i'm doing it all the way to my lowest weight since 15 yrs ago. That means through the holidays. In essence; my cheat days (once a week ) are my free meal days. It's going to take about six months. I'd go crazy without a day of indulging once a week.

booksandchocolate12

sinbadfxdl wrote: »

Books and choc. Sounds like you have this thing figured out. I was referring to cheating (indulging) two days in a row. It's just tempting. I'm losing like a freight train going to its destination in time. I like that. When your in the moment, let me know how it feels.

Hmm. Not sure what you mean by "in the moment". What moment? "Losing like a freight train going to its destination on time"? Nope. I honestly don't have any idea what that feels like. Because I don't set a time limit on my weight loss; it comes off when it comes off. I have MFP set to lose a leisurely .5 lb a week. I don't feel that the point is to lose as fast as I can; it's to eat as much as I can while still being able to lose.

Or were you referring to the temptation to cheat? I'm not sure how to answer this. Like everyone else, I have been tempted to overindulge and eat more than my calorie allotment (and I have on occasion given in to this temptation). However, I don't consider it cheating, because cheating implies that you're doing something wrong, or bad, and I learned a long time ago not to put an food (or behavior associated with food) in those categories. In other words, I'm not going to get all high and mighty and say, "Oh, I have NEVER exceeded my calorie goal", because that would be untrue (and obnoxious). But when I do exceed my calorie goal, I'm not going act like I did something wrong; I'm not going to post about how difficult it is to keep from "cheating" two days in a row, because I don't consider it cheating.

I incorporate treats into my plan every day. I'm a chocolate lover, as my user name suggests, so often that treat is some good dark chocolate. Sometimes it's cookies or potato chips. The fact that I eat a small portion of those types of food every day is what keeps me from needing a regularly scheduled day to "cheat" and eat "bad" foods.

I wish you good luck, and hope that your train reaches its destination soon.

ETA (because I'm not sure I made it clear): I'm not suggesting that you change what you're doing. If you're happy with how you're losing, then why would you? I was merely suggesting that you change your approach a little bit, and, as I said earlier, take the word "cheat" out of the equation.

sinbadfxdl

Why are some of us so obsessed over the word cheat. It's about me getting past the holidays with obtaining my goals. My approach is fine. I was looking for tips only. Don't bother with the word cheat day please. Lol

sinbadfxdl

Again. Got what I needed. Thanks a million.

absoluttalent

If I know I am not going to hit my daily goal, I atleast swap to a maintenance day. As long as I don't go 3000 calories over maintenance, I'm golden. All damage can be reversed that week by making a day or 2 a 1.5lb deficit then go back to my normal 1lb deficit and get back on track. I try not to sweat it and show some more self control with the candy. Also helps the "elf on the shelf"is coming out early and helping the kids eat their candy stash *cough*garbage*cough*

sinbadfxdl

Sounds good.