cheat days?

cdalt24

hey guys! so I tend to be pretty hard on myself if I ever eat something unhealthy or if I don't exercise that day. I know that it's normal to slip every once in a while and I'm slowly letting myself realize, but I can't help feeling guilty. tonight I had a special event to go to, and normally you would think that they would give people healthy choices at these kind of party things. the first course, a salad, was great, but for the main course all they had was pasta and meatballs. it stunned me that they didn't offer healthy alternatives. so, I had a little pasta and a couple of meatballs with the salad and was content. then, the women hosting it brought out her famous to die for cupcakes (she runs a bakery) and I ended up having one since it was a special occasion. I can't remember the last time I ate sweets, so it seemed okay for me to have one special treat. then, I realized I'm going to a wedding soon... which will have wedding cake and many other sweets that I'll obviously want to have because of the occasion. that started to get me nervous and I could already feel the guilt piling on.

so, to sum it all up, what I'm asking you all is how often do you treat yourself? how do you not feel guilty about it? do you only eat sweets on special occasions or do you let yourself have one cheat day a week?

AllegraWilliams

I think the idea of a cheat meal once a week is a great idea. I'm not sure about a whole cheat day, because I think I could definitely over do it given a whole day.

Right now I'm fighting with the Hubbies love of sweets. (He just baked a whole box of brownies, heaven help me.) So I cannot say "this is what I do"... however it is what I would like to aim for.

spiritcrusher

The most important thing to remember is your body doesn't gain 10 lbs overnight.

Cheat days are incredibly important to not only keep yourself happy but to keep yourself from going insane.

If you exercise and eat right all the time, there should be no regrets after going out and treating yourself to a meal you normally don't eat.

Pasta and meatballs are not that bad.

You should see my cheat days, I'll have 60 chicken wings with a pitcher of beer. :P

seobstar

I have a cheat day every single week. And, I've lost 50 pounds since having my baby last May and am still consistently losing! DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, you're totally way over-analyzing it!! Feeling that guilty over eating a few things like that is not healthy mentally!! Hang in there

DeeDeeLHF

Everything that I have learned from this website so far is that cheat days are necessary! You need to do them once in awhile and really go over your calories. This keeps the metabolism fueled.

There is more to it than that and the person to key into is Steve Stroutman...Stroutman81 on here. Read some of his stuff.

D

Kittieshocinski

I totally hear ya man!!! I had a company appriciation thing this morning and all it was for food was a big greasy buffet! Needless to say I didn't have much restraint 8( But every once in a while you need to let a little junk in... I have seen that many people that do the super " i can't touch anything else diet" have completely fallen of the wagon a few times. Don't be too hard on yourself!

LovelySnugs

go look at my diary for today, the first meal i ate. THAT"S a cheat day! my calories are KILLED and i'm not even done yet - i plan on having at least 1 more big snack tonight after my last workout.

i try to let myself have a special treat within my calorie allowance at least once a week. i plan it in with the rest of my eating.

but i let myself have meals like the lunch i had today about once or twice a month. and it is true that i haven't lost very consistently, but i HAVE lost. lol it's the sodium that kills me. but, seriously, one meal every once in awhile won't undo you. you just have to be aware of how you want to handle it, be it cutting other calories that day or doing an extra workout to make up the difference the next day. or you could just do what i do and allow yourself to go over your calories by up to X amount on days when you wanna be "bad". you'll find your way to deal with it.

we all do. cuz if we don't, we know we'll fail. and that makes us sad.

anubis609

What's a cheat day?

callipygianchronicle

It’s only cheating if you think that there are some rules about what you can and cannot eat and deserve punishment when you draw outside the lines. I know many of people are stuck in that thinking mode, and I find it deeply regrettable. At the risk of seeming self-promoting, I’ll point you to a post I wrote last week that touches on this very issue: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/201412-the-white-knuckled-life-change . There is truly no benefit to creating a life where eating a single cupcake leaves us filled with regret.

Kat120285

I don't have cheat days or meals. If I happen to want a cannoli or something not so healthy, I have it. I never feel guilty about it because it's always within my calories. Granted I am partial to healthy food, always have been. But there are times I see something like a small bag of Buffalo Doritos and so I have them, log it and make the next thing I eat something healthy. Its really about balance and moderation.

BabyDuchess

Every Friday is Chocolate Friday. I've done this the entire time I've been losing weight and I have consistently lost 1.5 to 3 lbs per week. On Fridays I allow myself one or two servings of ANY dessert that I want and I'm still losing! It's definitely not realistic to think you're never going to have whatever for the rest of your life. The key to it, in my opinion, is to work it in to your daily calorie allowance and if that means working out a little harder to have that whatever, then I do that too. It's all about balance and consistency......Don't sweat the small stuff!

cdalt24

wow oh my gosh! thanks so much for all of your responses, I really didn't expect that many people to answer and it always makes me so excited to see what new people have to say. thanks for all of your support, I'm definitely going to work on not feeling guilty. i'm a pretty anal person when it comes to going over calories, but I need to cut myself some slack!

drowningsea

We call it our splurge night and my husband and I have it once a week. We've both lost 60 pounds since October and I wouldn't dream of cutting it out. We've even gotten to where every now and then we might have a lunch out, but we try to keep that to something healthier like Chik-Fil-A nuggets with a salad.

We workout 4 days a week and stick to our calories pretty tightly the rest of the week so I don't see any problem with letting yourself have a treat day

draya114

Not only do I have atleast one cheat day a week, I also cheat throughout the week. For instance today I had mini bag of lime and salt popcorn AND a snack size 100 grand. But they were still within my calorie count for the day, so although I know they may not have been the healthiest choice, I can still feel decent about not going too overboard

Spitfirex007

I have "cheat days" all the time. Not like daily or anything, but it's fine (IMO) to eat what you want. Just so you keep working out hard and eat healthy most of the time.

EDIT: I don't look at them as cheat days. Lets be honest, nobody here is ever going to completely cut out sweets and unhealthy foods. It's all about learning how to balance them. And teaching yourself to actually enjoy work outs.

AdAstra47

It depends on how your particular metabolism works. Some people can have cheat days and it won't affect them. For me, carbs are like cigarettes: if I let myself fall off the wagon even once, before I know it I'm back to a pack a day. I have to go cold turkey. You and your doctor are really the only people who can judge whether a cheat day will work for you.

One of my coping mechanisms is that whenever I have to deny myself something I want, I go home and figure out a way to make it myself using ingredients that won't raise my blood sugar. I've come up with very satisfying low-carb substitutes for everything from chocolate cheesecake to Loco Moco. Being proactive like that helps me remember that I am in control. And I don't have to give up the things I want, entirely, I just have to do things a little differently.

anubis609

A day of "increased caloric intake" is nowhere in the realms of cheating. So, again...what is a cheat day?