Cheat Foods.. Do or Don't?

the thing is... i don't necessairly crave a certain food. At least, i don't crave any reasonable amount of it.

what i really crave is the pigging out behavior. the stuffing my face with wreckless abandon lol.

so eating a particluar food isn't going to kill that beast for me, its more like poking it with a stick.

but perhaps overtime, assuming i eat in moderation, it would teach me something.

I think labelling it as "cheat foods" immediately places a lot of negativity and guilt around enjoyment of food.

There is a wide range of foods available that are tasty - some very nutritious, some not so nutritious. For me a sustainable lifestyle change would involve placing the emphasis on healthy, nutritious foods, which are tasty and enjoyable, whist also allowing small amounts of tasty, enjoyable foods but not so nutritious foods just for fun.

I prefer to eat healthily most of the time and TREAT (not cheat) myself to things I like that are not so healthy once a week. So one day a week, usually Sundays, I don't log, I allow myself wine and cake/dessert on that day (my favourite things). This also gives me flexibility for when I am eating away from home, so I might have my "treat" day midweek instead of Sunday. Interestingly I don't binge on those things - I am usually satisfied with just a little and my eating for that day is still focussed on healthy food.

I have a 90/10 rule. 90% whole healthy foods and 10% indulgence. Works great for me!

what she said ^^^^^^

Personally I'm in the minority here and say avoid those foods if you can.

For the main reason, that so many people have "cheat meals" and have not trained themselves to stop. Then they're "cheat mealing" every chance they get, and not seeing any results.

Since you're fairly new to the whole weight loss thing, I'd recommend steering clear until you feel you have a better grasp on the process. Then slowly start re-introducing those foods into your diet again.

I don't think its considered a cheat meal if you work it into your calories.

For me cookies and sweets are the hardest and our roommate brought home boxes of girl scout cookies which to me are a complete temptation. Last spring I would have thought nothing of eating all of the tagalongs. I probably would have had ice cream and a diet pepsi with them in fact. But now I realize that yes, I can have a cookie. But to moderate myself I make myself drink two glasses of water/tea before I can have a cookie. It spaces out my cookies and if I really want to have it that badly then I need to drink to be able to do it. It's working for me so far so that might be something to try if you're bad about getting enough fluids like I am.

I've lost 70lbs by practicing moderation and portion control. Nothing is off limits...I just limit things that aren't as healthy. Most of what I eat is healthy and I've learned to adapt typically unhealthy dishes into healthy recipes without sacrificing taste or enjoyment. Since you're just starting out you may want to avoid foods that you know you lose control with, but just until you've learned to control what you eat, rather than have it control you. If I want ice cream, pasta, or pizza then I eat it. But, I just have one serving instead of 2 or 3 or 4. I make sure it fits into my day and on the days it doesn't, then I make sure I compensate the next day by practicing calorie cycling. As long as you stay within your weekly calorie goal you're good. You need to find out what works for you and stick with it. Don't think of this as a temporary change, but as a lifestyle change. So find what is sustainable for you.

I think it could also depend on how patient you are. Some people, myself included, get a little impatient and discouraged if we're not seeing the results we want.

However, if you're more patient, then suppose the following:

-A caloric deficit of 350 calories per day for 6 days in the week. This is not much for me, especially if when I hit the gym, but how that 350 calorie deficit "feels" will naturally vary from person to person.

-A caloric surplus of 250 calories 1 day in the week. Again, if I'm hitting the gym, this is a decent amount of food, which could allow for some relatively satisfying "cheating."

That leaves me with a yearly caloric deficit of 83200 calories. Divided by 3500 calories (the amount of calories in lb of fat), and you get around 23 pounds lost in a year. Not a ton of weight loss in the year, but the deficit isn't large either and may be more manageable.

That's kind of an over simplification as it doesn't take into account any sort of macro nutrient requirements or plateaus, but I still think it's an interesting notion.

When nothing is off limits, there is no such thing as cheating :drinker:

It sound to me that maybe you're having a battle of willpower with unsuccessful dieting thusfar. Perhaps starting off for maybe a month or so being very strict will give you the willpower to later say, "I really can go without that" or "I really only need just one." I had to totally change my lifestyle giving up sugars/sweeteners, starches, gluten, and I found that after the first couple of months I could add things back in and not go overboard because I didn't really like them as much as I used to, or didn't feel such a big urge to. I'm not suggesting you go super strict but if you can get your will in check first, then maybe add things back in, you may have better success.