I cheated... again

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2

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  • sharonKay65
    sharonKay65 Posts: 93 Member
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    Your post sounded a lot like me the other day, I temporarily lost my willpower or common sense. I was so disappointed in myself I didn't log it right away, I was too embarrassed and ashamed of myself, and then I felt so guilty for not logging it, I went back and made myself log it and "face the truth" I thought at first I would just fast for a day or drastically decrease my caloric intake but instead I put it behind me and started fresh the next day. I guess time will tell on Monday when I weigh in, :noway: and since that is quickly approaching, it has given me a little more motivation to try and stay within my goals. Don't be too hard on yourself though, many of us have done it before and I'm sure will do it again at some point in time. The comment that Marilu Henner made a couple of days ago on Dr. Oz really clicked with me and made perfect sense.
    "Progress not Perfection" And I will add my own opinion........Sometimes the most valuable lessons we learn in life, are from the mistakes that we have made :)
  • LokiOfAsgard
    LokiOfAsgard Posts: 378 Member
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    I cheated tonight. :cry:
    With three cupcakes. They were good though!

    I don't really sweat it much. I just stopped myself and tomorrow is a new day to start over :3 Which I plan to do /right/! :bigsmile:
  • tstancom
    tstancom Posts: 47 Member
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    :) I cheat a little bit every day so the cravings don't get so bad that I go way over my calories. It's a lot easier to resist a whole box of chocolates if I treat myself to one dark square a night (only 30 calories for the lindt kind!). Also, if I know I want to cheat on a day, I plan workouts that will make up the calories I take in. It's win-win! Don't beat yourself up. You're only human and everybody deserves nice things that make them feel treated once in a while, or in moderation!
  • tndejong
    tndejong Posts: 463
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    when mfp calculates your daily allowance, it already puts your calories at a deficit. then if you exercise that day, you are allowed even more calories. so technically your only cheating your progress. you can eat over your calories and still maintain. you cant beat yourself up when you do it. food is good! food is a part of life. you cant live everyday on a diet. i have had a bad week. i eat out. i eat junk food. if i totally eliminate it, i would never stick to this. and im not going to give up everything i love. its about learning habits were going to stick to the rest of our lives. its life style changes. food got us fat. and im sure you didnt get fat over night. so its going to take time to change that. a few months ago i would eat a sleeve of cookies. so if i can learn to eat one or two. that is a victory right there.
  • DaniH826
    DaniH826 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    Log it and move on. If you're way over goal, get your sneakers on and go for a longer walk that evening or the next day. Burn some extra calories and it'll be fine.

    I don't consider going over my calorie goal or eating something junky "cheating". I consider it "normal" and am learning to integrate it without becoming obsessive about it. I find that logging helps me cause numbers don't lie, and sometimes something that "feels" horrifically bad actually turns out to not be so bad at all.

    I refuse to set myself up for failure by creating unrealistic expectations and then "letting myself down." That's a crazy cycle that I refuse to be a part of anymore. Been there, done that, made the movie, nobody watched it, moving on, nothankyou.

    Get realistic about your goals and your expectations from yourself, learn to integrate less healthful choices into your overall plan, and the crazy cycle will go away, I promise.

    Unless you like playing headgames with yourself in which case ... carry on. :smile:
  • AislinnKitten
    AislinnKitten Posts: 18 Member
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    I personally feel awful whenever I try cheat days, or in general 'cheat' on my newly adopted healthy habits because I personally just don't think I need those 'cheat' kind of foods to live, they do nothing good for me. I rather just make something that yummy AND healthy. Whenever I have a 'cheat' day it's mainly through pressure of others, or stress, extreme stress, haha. But a lot of people have cheat days every week and they're quite fit and healthy so I really wouldn't beat myself up about it if I were you. Sometimes cheating works out great for certain peoples long term diets and sometimes not so much for others like myself, but when there are so many people that it does work for I wouldn't get upset when it happens cause hey if they're doing it and working hard like you, then why can't you? :smile:
  • FitBlackChick
    FitBlackChick Posts: 215 Member
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    I'm really grateful guys :) thanks so much!
  • jenniferlofgrenmitchell
    jenniferlofgrenmitchell Posts: 13 Member
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    I feel ya. I was over in total calories and fat. I'm so thankful to MFP for OPENING my eyes!!! I ate over 1,000 just in snacks through out the day!! (HELLO! No wonder I need to lose fricken 100+ pounds!) And the snacks were pretty much healthy, but after the whole day, I just ate TOOOO MUCH. I feel like I need to be down, depressed, beat myself up. . .Like I failed, and I should've done better. But this is a journey. So i'm talking to myself, too, when I say we need to take it as a growing experience and learn from it. By telling you to keep moving forward, I truly feel that I, too, will be able to keep putting one foot in front of the other. (and I need to do more of that, literally). I'm so 'all or nothing', and I'm learning that I need to adapt to moderation. So remember that we're all on the same journey, just different stages of it, and we've all be there and felt that. Friend me if you're looking for more friends. .. I need all the encouragement I can get :)
  • amosmoses88
    amosmoses88 Posts: 163 Member
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    I've done that, and then I stop eating/drinking whatever it is, and just get back on track. YOU CAN DO THIS. I know you can! You just have to have the will to get it done. Think of the body/feeling at the end of the tunnel. There's no light, just a stunning image of yourself how you want to be. Let that be your drive to get things done!
  • jjlibunao
    jjlibunao Posts: 78
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    Yup - I stepped on the scale and found out I lost another two pounds. And what did I do today? Cheat! But I'm getting better about what kinds of food I'm cheating with now. Especially since I'm not at goal weight yet and I track everything now. Before it was ice cream, candy, or chips, but now I'll go over my calories with dried fruit. For example, I ate 600 calories of dried pineapple rings today. Whereas before, I would have put away a pint of Ben and Jerry's, easily.
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
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    I don't "cheat" because this is neither a game nor an exam. It's life. I sometimes eat over my calories but no big deal. It's only one day. Log it. Don't let it affect the next day and DO NOT feel guilty. If you cheat in a test or a game you should feel guilty. If you eat more than you planned you might feel a little disappointed that the day didn't go as planned but it's just a very small delay on the road to where you are going.

    I hate the word "cheat" in this context. There's NO POSSIBLE way to cheat. Your body keeps an accurate record of what you fuel it with. Be kind to it and yourself.
  • danasings
    danasings Posts: 8,218 Member
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    I don't "cheat" because this is neither a game nor an exam. It's life. I sometimes eat over my calories but no big deal. It's only one day. Log it. Don't let it affect the next day and DO NOT feel guilty. If you cheat in a test or a game you should feel guilty. If you eat more than you planned you might feel a little disappointed that the day didn't go as planned but it's just a very small delay on the road to where you are going.

    I hate the word "cheat" in this context. There's NO POSSIBLE way to cheat. Your body keeps an accurate record of what you fuel it with. Be kind to it and yourself.

    EXCELLENT advice.

    I don't cheat...I binge. I am working on eliminating that behavior, but some days are pretty good and some days are total *kitten*. This is life, and we will make mistakes. Forgive yourself, move on, and start fresh tomorrow. Best of luck to you.
  • TheNewBlake
    TheNewBlake Posts: 25 Member
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    when i over indulge one day i make sure its under 2k for the day.
    and the next day I GO HARD!
    to make up for over indulging
  • amybabs92
    amybabs92 Posts: 7
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    I cheated yesterday and had my first packet of crisps in over two weeks! At first I felt bad but now that im back on track I feel as if it was a little treat for doing so well :smile: As long as you dont over do it when cheating you will feel alot better and be able to move on from it :happy:
  • timeformetofly
    timeformetofly Posts: 64 Member
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    I cheat every Sunday that is my free day. On Sunday I eat more of things I like and probably should not have. it has not hindered my weight loss what so ever. I just make sure I get right back on it on Monday. It gives me a day to look forward to having things I wanted throughout the week.
  • SalishSea
    SalishSea Posts: 373 Member
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    I love the phrase "eaters guilt". Well, I don't love it- but I can relate! There is guilt associated with not eating how we want to. Eating is such a strange existence. We don't want to over eat but we do. It feels bipolar.

    Log everything. I agree not logging your intake is cheating.

    Someone on here had their profile picture set as the palm of their hand with the word FOCUS written on it. Sounds strange but I did it and it worked for me. The reminder to focus was always there.

    Plan your meals. For me this is crucial. It takes about an hour the night before. And shopping for my specific foods takes longer. But it makes all the difference. That way I know I have goods foods waiting for me. If I am tempted I just say to myself, "Self, I am eating my lovely meal in two hours. There is no reason to eat that now". I can always wait until my next planned meal. I have avoided many a sabotage this way.

    Plan a food splurge. I know I will be going out with a friend so I don't need to eat that ice cream today because on Friday I can have a dessert. Slender people don't eat dessert everyday. I want to be slender and healthy.

    I often have to put a cover on food at work or at home. It helps tremendously. Out of sight out of mind and temptation. It is really true. Don't even look at food. Just cover it up.

    I also agree that cheat might not be the most suitable word to describe what we do. Binge is a more appropriate description of our behavior. Call it what it is.

    If you do binge make yourself feel in control by going for an extra hard power walk at the end of the day. Imagine how in control you will feel by working off that binge you had. Plus this gives more motivation to stay focused the next day. Plus you worked off that extra food.

    And this sounds weird (oh well) but when those cravings hit hard in the evening I will get on Facebook and look at my thin, slender friends photos. They all look so beautiful. This is motivation to stay out of the cupboard. I don't want to be the heavy girl. I want to look like my beautiful friends. That is motivation.
  • North44
    North44 Posts: 359 Member
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    I cheated (really cheated) last night, for the first time since starting MFP in mid-December. I blame it on my husband. lol. He bought a basket of fries- totally unnecessary! I wasn't going to eat any but then I tried one, just one. One led to another..... I logged it, all 520 calories I hadn't budgeted for. I felt sick about an hour afterwards- too much grease (I don't have a gallbladder) Lesson learned- again! I'm just resuming my normal eating/activities/diary to do. Nothing to do but just keep going forward.
  • Gregthree
    Gregthree Posts: 36 Member
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    If you leave room for the food that you really like, its not cheating. Call it a treat. Last night I had a large Pineapple Sundae from Dairy Queen. If you log it and keep it in your range its not cheating. The only thing you are cheating is your body of more food because the food you are "cheating with" is high in calories and not substance.
  • North44
    North44 Posts: 359 Member
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    If you leave room for the food that you really like, its not cheating. Call it a treat. Last night I had a large Pineapple Sundae from Dairy Queen. If you log it and keep it in your range its not cheating. The only thing you are cheating is your body of more food because the food you are "cheating with" is high in calories and not substance.

    Yes, exactly. I feel like I well and truly "cheated" because I ate something I didn't have the calories to afford. I eat yummy food that I love all the time- but I have the room for it!
  • missljohnson1
    missljohnson1 Posts: 1
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    I cheat every Friday night.... If you're honest and put it in the diary and try to off set it or the rest of the week! Or, just go run the hangover off- it hurts like hell but makes yesterdays 'red day' not so bad ;)

    Keep up the good work!

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