A cheat day is not ok!

jessicamichalski

If I DON'T allow myself to have the occasional treat...then I crave it till something really bad happens (like dq cookie dough blizzard...) If I know what my weaknesses are, then I don't overindulge..it's personal preference..and I agree ..I think you comparing it do drug rehab is completely wrong..we are not in rehab..we are changing a lifestyle...which I honestly do not believe you can never ever ever eat sweets again in your whole life..so why cut them out completely when you're trying to lose weight? It's all about moderation and knowing what you want and can or can't do.

not2late

sugar is an addiction.

Mabey its an addiction,but if it is its a minor one.I have yet to see people stealing,lying,or selling themselves for the money to buy a candy bar.I think to compare a sugar addiction to something like herion,meth,or cocain is crazy.
you can be addictied to sugar but you will not go to any length to get your fix and it dosent change you personality as greatly as drugs

The reason you "have yet to see people stealing,lying,or selling themselves for the money to buy a candy bar." is because sugar is cheap and prevalent! If coke was cheap as sugar, and legal, it wouldn't be the problem drug it is today. It would be a different problem drug. I must say I have seen some very ugly scenes fighting over chocolate! In 2000 illicit drugs (heroin, cocaine and amphetamines) caused approximately 223,000 deaths (3 percent of all drug-related deaths) world wide. the World Health Organsation website says

# More than 220 million people worldwide have diabetes.
# In 2004, an estimated 3.4 million people died from consequences of high blood sugar.
# More than 80% of diabetes deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
# WHO projects that diabetes deaths will double between 2005 and 2030.

Giovanni_P

Sundays were my cheat day, and I still do go overboard. But you are right. I take 6 days trying to lose the weight I gained on Sunday

kittyinaz

I would disagree with this topic. Setting aside one day a week where you and the family or you and your spouse enjoy movie and pizza night, or you go out to a nice dinner, and enjoy a dessert together, or 100's of other food centric entertainment options is not only healthy but it is part of the spice of life, and very much part of human interaction and social development and maintenance.

Completely agreed. Food is the most major part of human life. We need it to survive, we celebrate with it, we use it for social interaction with new people and many recipes can be part of religious ceremonies. Food is who we are, but some of us have yet to learn or have yet to get the will power to see that some foods should only be used moderately. -- I knew how to eat before I started losing weight, I just didn't want to. Food tastes good lol. (Try being "the fat girl" in a major of Food and Nutrition Management. I hated going to class because I was a good 150 pounds heavier than all the other students).

I will agree that food is an addiction, BUT I personally know people who are both addicted to food and some that are addicted to drugs, and it is a completely different scenario for each. You can bring someone "off" of food, and yeah they might throw a fit, but their body won't go into withdrawls. Bring someone who's severely addicted to a drug off of it, and watch your *kitten* so you don't get hurt.

larisadixon

dont call it a cheat day! i call it a metabolism booster meal. I personally have found that my body responds to my weightloss better when I "trick" my metabolism by eating high calories. Now it doesnt have to be high calorie bad food, it can be high calorie healthy food, but either way no one should judge anyone for the choices they may or may not be making. good luck to everyone!

omiemar2

I disagree. I lost 60 pounds and I had a once a day cheat day, this helped keep me motivated at that time and gave me something to look forward to. It was a great way to allow myself to eat some pizza or steak sandwich without feeling like I just messed up my diet. Everything is not for everyone though, but it worked for me. My problem was I got tired of exercising all the time, so now I am back trying to get motivated so I can lose this weight for good this time.

FearAnLoathing

sugar is an addiction.

Mabey its an addiction,but if it is its a minor one.I have yet to see people stealing,lying,or selling themselves for the money to buy a candy bar.I think to compare a sugar addiction to something like herion,meth,or cocain is crazy.
you can be addictied to sugar but you will not go to any length to get your fix and it dosent change you personality as greatly as drugs

The reason you "have yet to see people stealing,lying,or selling themselves for the money to buy a candy bar." is because sugar is cheap and prevalent! If coke was cheap as sugar, and legal, it wouldn't be the problem drug it is today. It would be a different problem drug. I must say I have seen some very ugly scenes fighting over chocolate! In 2000 illicit drugs (heroin, cocaine and amphetamines) caused approximately 223,000 deaths (3 percent of all drug-related deaths) world wide. the World Health Organsation website says

# More than 220 million people worldwide have diabetes.
# In 2004, an estimated 3.4 million people died from consequences of high blood sugar.
# More than 80% of diabetes deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
# WHO projects that diabetes deaths will double between 2005 and 2030.

please if someone didnt have any money what so ever they would not go to any lengths to have sugar,crack cocain is VERY cheap you can get a rock for 2 bucks not much more than a candy bar.IMHO comparing sugar addiction to drug addiction is crazy.Im not going by deaths here. Cigarettes are addictive I know I smoke I do not consider them as bad of an addiction as drugs because once again I have yet to see anyone selling themselves or thier whole personality change from not being able to have one.
being cranky and moody is not a personalty change in my book.

bayles1

Its all about choice.If you have a cheat day and you continue to lose weight,then fine.If you know that you have a cheat day and cant control what you eat and gain weight,then get down because you have ruined a weeks worth of good work,then not so fine.But its all about the individual and what works for them.
I dont feel that anyone should be lecturing anyone on what they should be doing with their life when they dont know anything about them.Widespread generic comments just dont help.

LorinaLynn

I have to wonder if the psychology of a "cheat" day is what messes some people up. They think they failed by eating pizza. They don't realize the weight "gain" the next day is just from sodium and will be gone in a day or two. So they get down in the dumps and eat more.

Realistically speaking, it takes a LOT of calories to gain a pound. Around 3500 calories above normal maintenance. It's not easy to do that in one cheat meal or even cheat day. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's a LOT of food for one day. Since you'd likely have a deficit every other day of the week, one day of a total pigout might make you break even for the week, but wouldn't undo weeks of work. Unless you let yourself think you did.

For me, having nothing off limits means there's no possible way for me to fail. Also, having my health and non-scale goals be my primary goal (in my case, it's being able to compete in 5k and keep up with family members who are long time runners) means that as long as I keep working toward that goal, it doesn't matter if I lose or not each week. I'm getting stronger, I'm getting healthier, and the weight will follow. Or it won't. If I'm eating well and physically strong and fit, the number on the scale doesn't much matter. If my body is happy, healthy and strong at a number above what I think it should be, so be it.