Anyone else have trouble 'cheating'?

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Replies

  • Nina2503
    Nina2503 Posts: 172 Member
    Not me; I have no problem knocking back a few beers to celebrate my extra calories.

    Me too! I am not a massive exercise fan but do find it motivating to earn a few of them to have the 'so called' treats
  • SomeoneSomeplace
    SomeoneSomeplace Posts: 1,094 Member
    I think you need to be really careful about that kind of attitude.

    I've struggled with and eating disorder for about 10 years. I've been in and out of treatment and in and out of relapses.

    But that kind of low-calories, weight obsessed life style is NOT a happy and sustainable existence. The post that was quoted hit the nail on the head.

    If your TDEE what that high you should be eating a lot more then 1200. In fact eating 1200 will be counter productive because it ruins your metabolism.

    You can't get wrapped up in obsessing too much over calories. The people I now who've had the most success eating about 1700-2000 calories a day and just work out more often, food is fuel after all.

    I know how it feels to be guilty I get it ALL the time. But I honestly tell myself every day that food doesn't rule my life and the scale does not define me.

    It's great to be health conscious and to lost weight but you just can't let it overtake your life or afford to be too rigid with yourself/
  • CasablancasTX
    CasablancasTX Posts: 108
    Thank you for all the insight and advice. I admit that I have been eating about 1200-1400 calories or less lately, which is too low since my TDEE is 3200. I just don't want to force myself to eat if I'm not hungry, but I'm also not really losing much either. Like Jester said, I think I've gotten used to eating too little and now I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to force myself to eat, but I clearly am not doing this the right way.

    I caught myself out doing the same thing just a couple of weeks ago, and when you're not remotely hungry it's hard to force yourself to eat - the best way to do it is to not increase portion size too much, but throw away *anything* with the word diet on it (except soft drink - empty calories). You want the full fat version of everything; milk, cheese, oils, yoghurts. No diet food. Add nuts (seriously calorie dense) instead of rice crackers and choose more calorie dense proteins (red meat instead of fish or chicken). Do that for a couple of weeks until you can slowly increase your portion size until you're getting enough calories... Don't FEAR the calories, they're FUELING your weight loss!!

    Wonderful advice!!!
  • HealthFreak1967
    HealthFreak1967 Posts: 116 Member
    i have trouble in the sense that any foods i eat that I don't deem to be heathy always leads to a binge because i feel like i've ruined my 'perfect' diet and my meal wasn't 'pure.' so i go all or nothing, and if i eat one 'bad' thing, i have to eat EVERY 'bad' thing in sight.
  • NeonGreenMachine83
    NeonGreenMachine83 Posts: 7
    Nope, I have no trouble eating candy and salty food like cheese! I do feel very guilty afterwards! Its so hard to "be good" and want to have a little junk every now and then. I agree with @HealthFreak19-if I eat one bad thing i eat every bad thing! For sure!
  • Natadance11
    Natadance11 Posts: 35
    No, unfortunatley I am opposite at times. If I have the chance to eat things I normally don't, I enjoy every bite I take.

    But after that, i undertand that I need to get back on track and not let myself go. Self control is key :)
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    I find it hard to eat back my exercise calories (i dont exercise a lot tho lol) and I never go over.

    I can eat things like pizza etc, but it has to be within my daily cals.

    if you are constantly under EAT MORE!
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    Nope, no probs, having scheduled free meals and diet breaks helps the fat loss cycle in the long run (as well as hormones, etc)
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    Nope.
    I can honestly say that I don't have trouble coz if I want to eat something 'bad' I just don't eat loads of it.
  • Kaydana123
    Kaydana123 Posts: 71 Member
    I think part of the problem is the word "cheating". It is invariably a negative word and using negative words to describe the things we enjoy is bound to induce some level of guilt, to the point that you find yourself unable to enjoy that thing any more.

    Stop calling it cheating and start considering it to be a treat. If you feel like you need to earn your treat, cut down on your calorie intake on the other days of the week to allow yourself slightly more for your treat, or do an extra 10 minutes of exercise each day. The occasional calorie spike is not going to do any harm at all.
  • Mamoonie
    Mamoonie Posts: 328
    I rather have the opposite problem: I eat whatever I like, whenever I like, as much as I like... Most days I am over on my calories, I have reset from 1 lb weight loss to 0.5 lb weight loss, and still am over, and I just don't feel guilty about it.
    I do work out a lot though, guided by a wonderful personal trainer. My body's changing even if my scale is stuck.
    I guess my method works fine for me. I have no pressure and no guilt, can have whatever, whenever, and that's "my" way to succeed. I don't "cheat" and I don't "treat", I just eat. There's no good or bad food, it's simply food. So with "eating food", there's no need to feel guilty unlike "cheating with bad food".
    I think a lot of problems are created in your head, not your stomach. Relax your thoughts about food and start living life! What's the point of living, if you can't have parties ( too many alcoholic calorie-loaded drinks), can't have holidays (turkey for thanksgiving has too many calories), can't enjoy your vacations (there's no gym at the hotel), can't meet up with your friend tonight (no calories left for today).....
    I too have been obese, am still overweight, am not losing weight as fast as I could or would like to, but I LIVE and LOVE to live!
  • DexterDarko
    DexterDarko Posts: 235
    I can't cheat, plain and simple. Every time I try I wind up going completely overboard. My biggest challenge is pizza.

    Maybe in time i'll gain more self control.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    It isn't cheating, you are not breaking a law. Consider if letting go every once in a while serves the big picture - family friends life. Use it as a tool to refocus. I let go last week, so I will now do what I need to do for the next two weeks. If you don't need it, don't worry about it.

    If you are under eating beyond a reasonable level you will damage your body just as much, if not more than overeating.

    And if volumeis an issue, eat high calorie food like cashews!
  • angiechimpanzee
    angiechimpanzee Posts: 536 Member
    I'm the same way. I find that to really up my calories on cheat days, I have to eat quite a bit of unhealthy food that I'm not used to anymore, and it honestly just feels unappealing to me. Its not that I feel "guilty", its just that I don't want it.

    Thats why, I've stopped planning cheat days. If theres any day where I particularly want something "bad", and I've been doing really well thus far, and I can squeeze it into my otherwise mega healthy day, then I can have it. Usually that "bad" thing causes a dent of like 200 calories max in my day. and then I don't crave it again for several days, if at all after that.

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