To cheat, or not to cheat?

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  • wedjul05
    wedjul05 Posts: 472
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    I think everyone needs a cheat meal/treat. I feel it keeps you sane.
  • Victoria2448
    Victoria2448 Posts: 559 Member
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    I am all for a TREAT (I refuse to use the word cheat,LOL)

    I feel a treat meal is fine if:

    a) it is planned in advance...too many people just eat badly and call it their "treat"

    b) You stick to your clean eating nutritional plan at least 6 weeks without, to get the ball rolling so to speak. I work with a few people who think just because they exercised they can treat themselves...UM NO!

    c) You don't go HOG WILD
  • suzikay
    suzikay Posts: 50
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    Just ask who you are cheating if you cheat...
    There are times when it's hard to stick within the calorie guidelines for losing weight, but you can make up for it in some respects by more exercise and cutting back on other days.
    Oh holiday we had a number of meals out, but I was walking way more than usual which helped, and I tried to make healthier choices. I found I had continued to lose weight while away, even without being able to weigh out my foods or weigh myself there. I'm losing more now I'm home and in my kitchen again, though!
    You can have your treats occasionally, or your meals out. It's up to you how you eat and down to you what you eat (and how much of it). I personally wouldn't call "relaxed diet days" cheating but I would call it that if I was eating foods and not counting them in, and I know I would be cheating nobody but myself.
  • surfinbernard
    surfinbernard Posts: 53
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    The way I see it the only person I'd be cheating is myself. I prefer to try not to see food as the only pleasure, the only reward and the only 'treat' because I could reward myself with something other than food and stop struggling to control my weight!
  • rossi02
    rossi02 Posts: 549 Member
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    I don't see it as a "cheat", I think by making it off limits or "evil" you give whatever that food is, power over you. I'm trying to be of the mindset that if mainly stick to a healthy diet and excersie.. it's okay to splurge every so often, but recognize the fact that it's not an everyday or every week type of food.
  • pa_jorg
    pa_jorg Posts: 4,404 Member
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    This is a lifestyle change for me, so I allow myself treats. I don't like to use the word cheat. It implies you are doing something wrong.
  • VeganGal84
    VeganGal84 Posts: 938 Member
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    CHEAT!!!!!!!!

    Only don't call it that. :wink:

    I incorporate treats into my daily menus, including everything from chips to pizza to oreos, etc. Just everything in moderation!
  • nsimportant
    nsimportant Posts: 170 Member
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    Hmm that reminds me of 5 mc donald cheeseburgers,2 apple pies, mcsundae and half a bottle of vodka.
    Ill do that again but on my legs day :).
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
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    Pizza is kind of my downfall. Thick, deep-dish, horribly greasy, will kill you one day, pizza. I don't eat it anymore. Instead I'll order thin crust with a relatively lean meat and veggies. So I treat myself to that every now and then, but I don't really call it cheating.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    I don't have "cheat" days because this is a lifestyle for me. My lifestyle includes dinner out on Friday nights with my family and a couple of beers afterward while hanging out at the casino or whatever. I have the built into my overall plan. If I don't lose weight as fast as some others, it doesn't really matter to me. I'm doing this for the long haul, to be smaller, fitter and healthier for the rest of my life and not for some arbitrary number on the scale. Which isn't to say that I won't celebrate when I hit that number goal, but it won't be the end of my new lifestyle, either. Just the beginning of a different phase of it.
  • calana
    calana Posts: 88 Member
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    Like others have said, I allow myself anything I want in moderation. Life is too short to deny yourself of things and view things as off limits.

    For example, this morning I busted my *kitten* at the gym and knowing I had quite a few extra exercise calories I'd have to end up eating, I treated myself to panda express for lunch. I've still got 900 calories left for snacks and dinner tonight too!

    Whenever I view something as "off limits" is when I end up failing at losing.
  • surfinbernard
    surfinbernard Posts: 53
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    But there is a middle ground between 'cheating' and making some foods evil and off limits, judging by these posts anyone would think it's one or the other. Why not budget for the calories to have something you fancy like pizza, and have less of it and/or a less lardy version? I just feel that by continuing to see food as the be-all-and-end-all the cycle that lead to gaining weight will continue. There is more to life than eating and at the moment I am working hard to get my kicks from other things, not food.

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