Does anyone else feel guilty after cheating on their diet?

mcr0980

I try so hard to eat healthy, but when I'm at home for the summer I'm around my family who do not eat generally very healthy. So I find it hard not to fall to my cravings, and then once I fall I fall hard and binge. After that, I feel ridiculously guilty and upset and feel like I just wasted a week of good eating. It is really upsetting. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you handle it?

BigT555

yes, most people feel some sort of guilt or shame after deviating from their diet (or lifestyle change )

you just have to move on, get back on that train and realize one week out of 10 isnt going to kill you, but it will slow your progress

Aaron_K123

Sounds to me like you would be better off following IIFYM and not beating yourself up and forcing yourself to only "eat healthy" however you are defining that. Not doing you any favors.

SezxyStef

how does one "cheat" ? Going over daily goal? eating a particular food?

I never feel guilty about eating food..that is a dangerous path to go down.

If it is going over daily goal by how much?
Going over maitenance? but still in weekly goal?
Blowing it for an entire week?

Eh I have done all of the above and still didn't feel guilty...

I would only feel bad if I decided that I was done and gained all the weight back...that would make me feel bad.

jrek521

Nope--I'm not perfect & I'm going to slip up. Yesterday was Jimmy John's & McDonalds, today is fresh vegetables, lean protein, and complex carbs. I've been more successful with losing weight and getting healthier now that I'm not super strict and don't give up!!

feralkitten1010

I went over my calorie goal by a few calories and posted it to Facebook out of pure humor. I felt not one ounce of guilt. Some days, I crave things that are "bad" so I rearrange my regular habits to indulge -- within my deficit.

kristiekay87

I'm the same way and I beat myself up over it. I'm learning not to but its hard. I'm trying not to use the word "diet". I'm trying to learn to eat better and still have goodies. I cant stay on a diet very long so its better for me to watch what i eat and cut back on my portions. If i have a desert I make sure I have enough calories.

You only live once so I'm trying not to be too picky but stay healthy.

kristie

Julzanne72

Nope because Mon-Saturday as long as it fits in my macros I eat it, there should be no guilt involved in that. sundays I generally take a break and don't log, but try to still be aware of what I am eating and it works. I don't really overindulge anymore because I don't want to feel sick

usmcmp

Nope. I focus on 80% coming from whole foods and 20% coming from treats. Makes it easier. I also refuse to think of foods as bad or good, just nutrient dense compared to calorie dense. If I do go over I cut myself some slack and remember that it's long term, sometimes our bodies need extra energy.

Leggylass

nope i see it more of a game.. if i dont make the effort i lose and tomorrows another day try and try again.

levitateme

No. I don't look at anything I do as "cheating." If I eat too much, I log it and move on.

When you start shaming yourself you're more likely to get into the mindset that it's all or nothing. It shouldn't be "I'm either on a diet or not" it should be "this is my life, sometimes I eat more than I intended, but I keep myself accountable for it and keep moving forward."

Or something.

kmorgan221

No. President Clinton said that doesn't count, so I have nothing to feel guilty about.

janatarnhem

I do if I do not log the excess! Feel like I am being dishonest. Otherwise, not really, because some days I just feel hungrier than others. I do try to make an effort to cut down a bit for the next/ few days! Sometimes, if it is too big an amount, I just chalk it up to experience and forget it! I definitely can't do perfection!! LOL!

TMM211073

No because I'm not on a diet - I am eating healthier and being more active, so there is no such thing as cheating.... This is not an exam, who and what exactly is there to cheat....!?!

Stop seeing this as a diet and start seeing results

xXx

MysteriousMerlin

Nope, primarily because I'm not on a diet. I also don't consider eating something I want to be cheating, as I usually work to make what I want fit into my calories, but if it doesn't, I don't go over my goals often enough to make a big difference.

futuresize8

I think deviating from what you do most of the time isn't a bad thing at all.

If 95% of the time, I'm eating healthy foods and sticking to the caloric deficit I need, then 5% of the time I can eat something I normally wouldn't or I could eat a little more than I usually would and it's no biggie.

That is why what I am doing has been slow, steady and sustainable! No guilt when the occasional indulgence is built into the equation.

At the same time, if I stopped doing what I was doing altogether (eating healthy and exercising), then yes, I'd feel extremely guilty and sad about giving up the health I've found.

970Mikaela1

Nope. I'm not on a diet.

JidMarston

According to some scientific research in the book that I've read called Bigger, Leaner, Stronger by Mike Matthews, he talks about how having 1 cheat MEAL (not a cheat day) is actually psychologically and physiologically good for you. It helps your body and mind.

But you're right. It's really easy to fall and fall hard. I'd suggest keeping to your healthy eating, and then plan out when you'll have a cheat meal. If you have a cheat meal, have more carbs and protein than fats, if you can!

Good luck!

adreal

I don't feel gulity about it. I just work out a little harder the next day. I have learned that if I deny myself what I like to eat or something that is just junk then I will just eat everything in sight and give up. So I just eat in moderation and log everything. If I go over its okay. I usually have enough from other days to make it up.

Rabid_Hamster

I don't feel guilty anymore. I've noticed myself seeing it all as basic math... "If I eat that, it will take X amount of time on the treadmill to burn it off."

If I'm OK with that math, then I eat it.. Mostly, I find it's not worth extra time working out and avoid it. A few cases, I've foregone the math and done the extra exercise the next couple of days.

amw5471

I used to be just like you, feeling upset when I "cheat" and eat something bad. Now I try to live by the 80/20 rule, I eat healthy 80% of the time but sometimes you just want/need pizza! I don't feel guilty because I eat very well the majority of the time and I don't let the 20% stop me. Plus I know that if I didn't have that little bit of wiggle I would totally binge and be in a never ending cycle. I've been eating like this since October so it has really worked for me!

SueInAz

No, I don't feel guilty at all. For me this isn't some short term "diet", it's a nutritional way of life. Some days I drink beer and eat junk, most days I don't. There's no guilt involved because in the end it's just me and my body. I'm not doing this for anyone else and there's no pressure to meet a specific goal at a specific time.

StaciMarie1974

I don't 'diet' and I can't 'cheat' on myself.

To me diet is noun. Its the sum-collective of all the food I eat. To diet, as in to eat special foods expecting some special result, is silly in my opinion.

I eat what I want - tempered with a system where what I eat (total) each day needs to fit in certain parameters. Sometimes that means I decide I don't want XYZ enough to fit it in today, or if I do then I a) have a limited portion of it or b) remove something else from my daily food plan or c) move more & burn more calories so that I can add it in.

No guilt. The guilt stopped when I stopped mindless eating. I would feel bad about that I suppose.

SnuggleSmacks

Not in the least.

I look at it this way: My goal is 500 calories less than I burn. If I indulge one day, if I keep it under 500 calories then I'm just not progressing toward my weight goal that day. If it goes over 500 then I just wiped out my deficit on another day. And it's no big deal because I'm not in a race, and I like eating around maintenance when I've had a heavy workout anyway because I want to add a bit of muscle.

I want to maintain a healthy relationship with my food, and I want to enjoy it rather than have it be a source of anxiety. But I also keep my average deficit small (around 350 cals) and steadily lose about 1 pound every 10 days, and I fluctuate by eating under my goal for a few days and then over for a day, so I never feel deprived.

JasonPC2

I've got a sorta funny story about this.


I ate a square of mom's baked ziti yesterday and wrote it off as a generous 900 calories (it was a normal portion, but the recipe used lots of cheese and meat). But then I saw my log (written). I was already at my daily goal for the day. So I was seriously upset with myself. I jumped in the pool (water was cold but I wasn't taking any excuses) and swam for an hour (interval laps/rest). Towards the end, I realized I must have double counted something earlier.


So in all I got extra exercise and had a light dinner. So far I haven't overeaten at all since the start of my diet nearly 2 months ago.

richardheath

I try so hard to eat healthy, but when I'm at home for the summer I'm around my family who do not eat generally very healthy. So I find it hard not to fall to my cravings, and then once I fall I fall hard and binge. After that, I feel ridiculously guilty and upset and feel like I just wasted a week of good eating. It is really upsetting. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you handle it?

Sounds to me like maybe you over-restrict with your "healthy" eating, then binge when presented something on your "unhealthy" list as you don't normally let yourself eat it. My suggestion would be to not restrict too much in the first place, then you would probably be less likely to binge. Try to eat a balanced diet that includes foods you love (in moderation).

I may be wrong though...or YMMV.

6ftamazon

You shouldn't feel guilty for eating more every once in a while. eVERYONE overeats on occasion. Don't let food be your life.

sassyrayofsunshine

no. do it. move on. make better choices next time. don't sweat the small stuff Cheats are good for your diet every now and then

FindingAmy77

My weekend days are like that. I preplan first thing in the morning or the night before everything I will be eating that day. I make sure I get in extra exercise above what I usually do so I can have extra calories. I keep fruit like grapes, blueberries and bananas in the freezer. WHen shopping I make sure I buy low cal snacks and easy to make stuff like almond milk (makes a good smoothie with my almond milk) or lettuce so I can have a "taco" salad with salsa, lettuce, tomatoes and black beans. I drink extra water before I let myself grab extra stuff beyond the meal times to eat. I also make sure I have it planned to eat six times a day. Sometimes I am just counting the minutes until my next meal when I feel extra snacky or hungry. I think preplanning helps out so much to help us stay on track. Its my best advice to anyone. I say to plan your food around your typical days. Grab a bowl of frozen grapes (1 cup/100g) and snack away guilt free. I feel guilty when I don't preplan or workout. You aren't alone in this.

Iwishyouwell

I did. For over 20 years I did, ever since I started dieting in middle school.

Over the last year something inside me clicked that moralizing food choices was stupid, foolish, and unproductive. Who have I "cheated" on? I decided to free myself from all that bull#(@! and give myself permission to eat what I wanted, as much as I wanted, without guilt or shame.

Utterly lifechanging. I discovered that when I took the morality out of eating it became much easier to say "maybe later". And if I do have "too much" of one of my previously "bad" foods? I enjoy it and move the hell on.

Luckyfish72

I know when I cheat, like mcdonalds I had for lunch, I shouldn't eat it. By the time I made it back to work to dive into my Big Mac I made myself nauseous thinking about all the fat and calories I was going to consume! I are like 3 bites and trashed the rest. When I do cheat or eat something I shouldn't, I make sure I double up on my nightly exercise and the next day is a clean day. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't...