what do you consider cheating?
Replies
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I don't do cheating. I eat what I eat and compensate if I am too far past my daily/weekly goals.
This is me too... I found when I gave myself "cheat" days I went waaaay overboard simply because I had denied myself everything. Now IIFYM I'm happy. I don't eat fast food everyday because I would view that as just simply unhealthy, I'm all about moderation now, I no longer have a specific day where I'm allowed to have it, if I am hungry, and for whatever reason that is what I chose to eat the less than stellar food choice I simply make sure it fits my daily/weekly goals.0 -
No cheating for me. I either stay below my calorie count for the day or not. If not, I make sure I know why and try to do better the next day. I do not beat myself up.0
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I don't count anything as cheating.
I also don't count certain foods as "healthy" or "unhealthy", "good" or "bad".
If it fits into my cals and macros for the day, I eat it.
If I want to eat more on a certain day, I do. I'm not cheating anything, I'm living my life and enjoying it.
Ditto!!0 -
Having sex with anybody other than my husband. Anything else is just making poor food choices.
Too funny! :laugh:0 -
Do you only count cheating as going over your calorie goal?
Or do you count eating something that isn't healthy for you cheating?
Anything that keeps me from the very specific goal I'm chasing after, i.e. getting leaner. My calorie goals vary and change with weight and different dieting strategies. I'm not sure what you mean by "healthy eating". If you mean eating less processed food realize that all of your food, even the apples are processed. Granted some have less chemicals, genetic modification, preservatives, etc. than others and then there are specific food allergies that people have, even to "healthy food" so it's not clear cut.
In summary, I try not to be too dogmatic with the actual food itself but I'm very rigid about the specific structure, macro nutrient content and timing of the meals in my diet. That last part is relevant to enhancing workout performance and recovery. You'd be surprised at what you can eat once you're over the whole "clean, healthy food" fixation. I hear people are having their cake and eating it too these days.0 -
I suppose the term "Cheat Day" refers to a day when you "Cheat on Your Diet" -- well, there it is, not counting calories for that day would be a cheat day therefore, cheating would be not counting calories. I dont like cheat days! They lead to more food affairs. One cheat turns into another and before you know it your running around town with all types of burgers and shakes! Then justifying it calling it my "Cheat Day!" I suggest eat what you want when you want but count the calories so you don't get caught up!0
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Having sex with anybody other than my husband. Anything else is just making poor food choices.
:laugh:
This is totally true. You still gave me a laugh, however.0 -
I've been on several programs that encouraged a "cheat meal" or "cheat day", and I won't do it anymore. It made me feel like I was being punished while eating on-plan and then I'd go overboard for that one meal - like I'd never get to eat anything yummy again. I'm sure it works for some people, but for me (with my starvation/binge issues) it just didn't help. Once I got to my target weight it was like, "I'm FREE!!!" and ate like it was my birthday every day, gaining it all back fairly quickly.
I am finally breaking that cycle with a combination of recovery work and MFP. I do stay away from sugar, just because it makes me emotionally unstable. I eat all kinds of food as long as it fits in my daily plan. I did have one day where we were going out to a restaurant and I decided to get whatever I wanted since none of the options were very healthy except the salads. I thought, What kind of date is this if I have to eat a salad while my husband is having biscuits and ribs? Anyway, after looking over the whole menu I decided on a Grilled Chicken Salad - just because it looked really good to me! So my tastes are changing, which is good.0 -
I've been on several programs that encouraged a "cheat meal" or "cheat day", and I won't do it anymore. It made me feel like I was being punished while eating on-plan and then I'd go overboard for that one meal - like I'd never get to eat anything yummy again. I'm sure it works for some people, but for me (with my starvation/binge issues) it just didn't help. Once I got to my target weight it was like, "I'm FREE!!!" and ate like it was my birthday every day, gaining it all back fairly quickly.
I am finally breaking that cycle with a combination of recovery work and MFP. I do stay away from sugar, just because it makes me emotionally unstable. I eat all kinds of food as long as it fits in my daily plan. I did have one day where we were going out to a restaurant and I decided to get whatever I wanted since none of the options were very healthy except the salads. I thought, What kind of date is this if I have to eat a salad while my husband is having biscuits and ribs? Anyway, after looking over the whole menu I decided on a Grilled Chicken Salad - just because it looked really good to me! So my tastes are changing, which is good.
Thank you for your helpful response. I too find it difficult to recover from a "cheat day" and find myself binging for the next few days. I've started trying to eat mostly healthy but eating what I really want as long as I can fit it into my calories.0 -
I don't disagree, except maybe about no foods being deemed "unhealthy". There are definitely some unhealthy foods out there, doesn't mean I don't eat them occasionally.
I was just curious because everyone talks about having a "cheat day" or "cheat meal".
Can you give me some examples as to what unhealthy foods you're referring to and why they are unhealthy?
Unhealthy foods are anything that has little to no nutritional value. "empty calories"
Junk food - chips, French Fries, baked goods in general, ice cream, etc etc
These things are unhealthy because deep frying a potato pretty much negates any nutritional value it once had. The sugar content in ice cream negates any nutritional value it might have had.... etc etc.0 -
When I cheat, I plan it ahead of time so I can acquire all of the disgusting crap I want to stuff my face with. My cheat nights usually include 1.5-2 large dominoe's deep dish philly cheesesteak pizzas, half a bottle of scotch, some sort of pastry (my wife makes a killer cheese cake with scottish shortbread crust and blackberry sauce) and then I'll snack on candy and other junk for the rest of the night. Sometimes I'll just go to the chinese buffet by my house and go to town on my cheat night. I probably eat in excess of 5000 calories in a 2-3 hour period when I cheat.0
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I love going overboard.
I have no worries about going overboard, in fact it's my goal. This is why, I burn on average 3,500 calories a day with activities and BMR. I eat 2,000 calories for 6 days, giving me a total deficit of 9,000 calories. Now let's say I go way "overboard" one day and eat 5,000 calories. This would freak many people out but I know that I only had a 1,500 calorie surplus and since a pound of fat is equal to about 3,500 calories that one day would only be 0.4 pounds of fat. Even better when you look at my week I take 9,000-1,500 and I still had a 7,500 calorie deficit and I will lose just over 2 lbs for the week.
Trying to be perfect is the perfect way to fail. If you are not enjoying your diet or your workouts you won't last. The hardest part of weight loss is finding a plan that you can stick with. Losing weight is very easy but doing it long-term and then keeping it off is the challenge. There's no right way or best way to lose weight, there's just your way.0 -
Unhealthy foods are anything that has little to no nutritional value. "empty calories"
Junk food - chips, French Fries, baked goods in general, ice cream, etc etc
These things are unhealthy because deep frying a potato pretty much negates any nutritional value it once had. The sugar content in ice cream negates any nutritional value it might have had.... etc etc.
You are quite mad0 -
I don't count anything as cheating.
I also don't count certain foods as "healthy" or "unhealthy", "good" or "bad".
If it fits into my cals and macros for the day, I eat it.
If I want to eat more on a certain day, I do. I'm not cheating anything, I'm living my life and enjoying it.
This!0 -
I don't disagree, except maybe about no foods being deemed "unhealthy". There are definitely some unhealthy foods out there, doesn't mean I don't eat them occasionally.
I was just curious because everyone talks about having a "cheat day" or "cheat meal".
Can you give me some examples as to what unhealthy foods you're referring to and why they are unhealthy?
Unhealthy foods are anything that has little to no nutritional value. "empty calories"
Junk food - chips, French Fries, baked goods in general, ice cream, etc etc
These things are unhealthy because deep frying a potato pretty much negates any nutritional value it once had. The sugar content in ice cream negates any nutritional value it might have had.... etc etc.
Calories and fat have nutritional value.0 -
Happy endings are not cheating!0
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Neither. I don't consider anything cheating.
The changes I'm making I intend to keep for life. Is it realistic to not "cheat" the rest of my life? No.
I have to learn how to make smart choices, let myself have the foods I like, and learn how to make them fit in my day.0 -
Nothing.
If I had a mentality that some things were off limits and that eating them was "cheating" I would just be unhappy and undermine myself. No such thing as "cheating" in my world. :flowerforyou:0 -
I'm getting away from the mind-set of "cheating" as well as far as food choices go. It's going a long way in how I look at food and keeps me from feeling like I am dieting or restricting myself. I don't want to feel like I am on a "diet" because I made a full blown lifestyle change I want to stick to. So I eat what fits my macros for the day. If it doesn't fit, I either don't have it or find a way to work it in with extra exercise.
It took me a long time to wrap my head around it...but it finally stuck and is doing me a world of good thinking this way.0 -
The only thing I consider cheating is not logging properly. If I don't log something I eat or drink than I'm cheating myself. If I log extra exercise that I didn't do... or an intensity more than what I did than I'm cheating myself.0
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Eating stuff with trans fats, going overboard on sugar and starch. These things are not good for me personally and I do not lose weight at the rate I desire if I consume these things. Most people will eat these things and be fine, and I don't care.0
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Unhealthy foods are anything that has little to no nutritional value. "empty calories"
Junk food - chips, French Fries, baked goods in general, ice cream, etc etc
These things are unhealthy because deep frying a potato pretty much negates any nutritional value it once had. The sugar content in ice cream negates any nutritional value it might have had.... etc etc.
You are quite mad
Ahhh the line between civilised comments and insults is about to be crossed... take cover!0 -
Having sex with anybody other than my husband. Anything else is just making poor food choices.
So anything with another man other than sex isn't cheating, is that what you are saying?0 -
Nothing.
I log everything, so if it's a bad day, I see it and feel guilty and that's my reminder to work harder.0 -
I don't really consider anything "cheating", as that's just not a term I use when talking about diet. But I consider it failure if I go over my calories or eat unhealthy too often. Now and then is fine and seems normal to me. But when it becomes too frequent that is behavior I need to correct.0
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Having sex with anybody other than my husband. Anything else is just making poor food choices.
So anything with another man other than sex isn't cheating, is that what you are saying?
Correct. Making out with another dude is just another poor food choice.
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I don't count anything as cheating.
I also don't count certain foods as "healthy" or "unhealthy", "good" or "bad".
If it fits into my cals and macros for the day, I eat it.
If I want to eat more on a certain day, I do. I'm not cheating anything, I'm living my life and enjoying it.
^^This^^0 -
over the calorie goal. I'm not going to talk semantics.0
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over the calorie goal. I'm not going to talk semantics.
lol0 -
Umm....cheating is when you act as though the rules you have agreed to do not apply to you, and if caught, you lie about it. That's what I'd call cheating.0
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