do you log your cheat days/meals?

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  • 2fit4fat
    2fit4fat Posts: 559 Member
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    I don't log on weekends and haven't for almost a year. Or holidays, or vacation. And sometimes I take a week or month off logging altogether.

    The point of a 'cheat' day for me isn't so much indulging in food, it's giving myself a mental break from fussing over calories, macros, etc. I probably don't even eat all that much more than I do on a day I do log. Sometimes probably less. But it's a way to ease myself back into eating "normally," because normal for me isn't - for instance - counting out an exact number of pretzels or potato chips if I want a snack at a party. I don't want to spend the rest of my life asking, "Was that two chocolate chip cookies, or three. Ask yourself... do you feel lucky, punk?"

    this! my weightloss is slower but its a maintainable lifestyle for me. and while i do know a cadbury mini egg is 15.83 cals (16) that is the only thing. i dont figure out every little piece either and i am loving living my life while losing and getting more active. i have days i dont log, i dont consider them cheat days, just days that i can go to the park with a picnic or out with my family without my phone out so i can log every little thing that enters my mouth. im getting better at not eating as crappy, some days i suck but hey! it pushes me to be more active or eat even better the next day or week. I am learning to eat in a way that I can keep up for the rest of my life :-)
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
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    I log everything, including "cheats" and through enough of these threads, I've been able to nail down three reasons why:

    1. For me, the point of logging is to keep an eye on how what I'm eating is affecting me; if I lose 5 pounds, I want to know why. If I lose no weight, I want to know why. If I'm not keeping a realistic record of what I'm doing, it will be impossible to tell.

    2. I don't cheat. I just eat; some decisions take me closer to my goal and others take me the other direction. I'm not under any obligation to avoid certain foods. I just consider what I want before I eat. Most of the time, thinking of my goals trumps any desire for a particular food. The few times that I really would rather have something, then I enjoy it and don't feel bad about it. It's so infrequent since I'm being honest with myself that it's not negative like calling it "cheating" would be.

    3. When I'm not accurate with those "bad" foods, I tend to grossly overestimate their negative impact. For example, a few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I went out to watch his voice teacher's band at this little venue in NYC. We never get to go out, so I decided to just have a great time and screw the consequences. Split three pitchers between us and finished off with a shot of Jack Daniels. When I went to log the next morning, I almost just hit "Quick Add" and put in 2500 calories, but decided to put in the total amount of the correct brand of beer I drank. And I was completely shocked to find that not ONLY hadn't I had nearly 2500 calories, I hadn't even gone over my calorie limit for the day! This has happened a few times since; even when I tell myself that I don't care how badly I blow it, I don't do it. If I wasn't being accurate with the logging, I'd be upset about those instances, but because I'm honest and accurate with it, I don't feel bad or guilty in any way.
  • fdlafon
    fdlafon Posts: 259 Member
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    I do my best to log everything i eat. It helps me keep track of things. If I am not seeing the changes I think I should be seeing, I'll go and check my food diary.
  • jrreed1
    jrreed1 Posts: 57 Member
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    From a purely numbers point of view, log it. If you bite it, you write it. This way, you have a pretty good idea of how many calories you are averaging over a week, etc. If you ever get stuck, you have a good log to review to see what changes could be made.
  • mccarol1956
    mccarol1956 Posts: 422 Member
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    I don't "cheat" - I just live my life.

    And I log it.

    Agreed.

    me too. The only thing that is cheating is not fessing up to what I have eaten. My life includes eating over my goals at times, no big deal!
  • leaso75581
    leaso75581 Posts: 103
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    I don't. I usually eat so much crap, I don't bother to track. I know I screwed up, the day is shot. I will start over again tomorrow.
  • sizzle92
    sizzle92 Posts: 1,015 Member
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    Nope. I just choose not to. I log some on the weekends but I don't obsess over it. I'm not on an overly huge mission though.
  • leaso75581
    leaso75581 Posts: 103
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    I don't log on weekends and haven't for almost a year. Or holidays, or vacation. And sometimes I take a week or month off logging altogether.

    The point of a 'cheat' day for me isn't so much indulging in food, it's giving myself a mental break from fussing over calories, macros, etc. I probably don't even eat all that much more than I do on a day I do log. Sometimes probably less. But it's a way to ease myself back into eating "normally," because normal for me isn't - for instance - counting out an exact number of pretzels or potato chips if I want a snack at a party. I don't want to spend the rest of my life asking, "Was that two chocolate chip cookies, or three. Ask yourself... do you feel lucky, punk?"

    this! my weightloss is slower but its a maintainable lifestyle for me. and while i do know a cadbury mini egg is 15.83 cals (16) that is the only thing. i dont figure out every little piece either and i am loving living my life while losing and getting more active. i have days i dont log, i dont consider them cheat days, just days that i can go to the park with a picnic or out with my family without my phone out so i can log every little thing that enters my mouth. im getting better at not eating as crappy, some days i suck but hey! it pushes me to be more active or eat even better the next day or week. I am learning to eat in a way that I can keep up for the rest of my life :-)

    you guys nailed it. The "cheat days" for me is like a "restart" day. I have issues with routine, so in order to not completely fall off the wagon, I take the weekends off.
  • RipperSB
    RipperSB Posts: 315 Member
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    Not logging seems to defeat the purpose of the food diary, doesn't it? I try to accurately log everything, incl weekends, holiday feasts, etc. If you are going to do it, do it right!
  • Becoming_A_Butterfly
    Becoming_A_Butterfly Posts: 2,534 Member
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    No, I don't log on my cheat days. However, I only take a cheat day if I work out that day. And I have found that the longer I am in this journey, the less my body will tolerate much overeating or junk food anyway! I can't eat as much as I used to, and I can't get a good workout if I am loaded down with heavy food, so even without logging, the workout reins in my eating for the day.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    I most certainly do. Sometimes the shock factor alone will help me to not over indulge as much the next time.
  • born2bfat
    born2bfat Posts: 6
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    waaahhh what exactly is considered cheating? doe sit mean eating more than 1200 (the calories I'm allowed to eat in a day)? or like eating like unhealthy food even though I stay w/n 1200? or is it like eating more than 1200 but I have leftover calories I cna take due to exercise? I'm just confused since I'm a newbie. I don't really know things about losing weight such as what can I eat? How much should I eat (allowed to eat)?
  • ais048
    ais048 Posts: 19 Member
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    So do you guys log every beer/wine you have at weekends??
  • samida
    samida Posts: 9 Member
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    My issue is I wouldn't begin to even KNOW how to log a bad day. If I actually took the time to weigh and measure and think about what I'm eating then I probably wouldn't be doing it. A planned "cheat" is something different I suppose. I'm just talking about a day that turned out to be an emotional-eating day where anything and everything is like it's going by on a conveyor belt and you grab without thinking.
  • jojule
    jojule Posts: 10
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    Yes I log everything I eat. There is no "cheating" it is what we put in our mouths that made us the way we are so if we dont log it we are only cheating ourselves.:glasses:
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    If it was an unplanned overindulgence, yes. If it was a planned free day or free meal, then no. Seeing my planned cheats in black and white do nothing but provide guilt for me. I have been able to continue losing weight for an entire year by taking cheat days. So, feeling guilty about them is just silly!
  • leslisa
    leslisa Posts: 1,350 Member
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    Yes, because on one cheat day a week (Sat or Sun depending on what I'm doing, where I'm at, etc.) I allow myself to eat up to 600 more calories than non-cheat day and still loose 1 pound a week. It's built into my equation already.
  • jojule
    jojule Posts: 10
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    and I have had those emotional eating days too but I still log them and then try to adjust somewhere else...or I just dont get on the scale for a day or so...but I still log them
  • RipperSB
    RipperSB Posts: 315 Member
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    So do you guys log every beer/wine you have at weekends??

    I would, if I drank beer/wine... but I do log every Strongbow when I have it with dinner! It's only cheating if you DON'T log it.
  • JoolieW68
    JoolieW68 Posts: 1,879 Member
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    So do you guys log every beer/wine you have at weekends??

    Yes. Why wouldn't I? Just because I don't log it doesn't mean it didn't happen. :wink:

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