What do u consider CHEATING.

I only consider myself as cheating if i go over my kcal, as long as you stay under your calories you are not cheating, as that is why i am calorie counting, you can eat what you want just in moderation.

The whole idea is that if you eat properly most of the time and exercise and stay within your calories, it isn't cheating. This is a lifestyle change not a temporary diet. You will eat things that aren't the healthiest throughout your life

I agree with everyone else. There is no such thing as cheating as long as you are below your calorie goal. Getting into the mind set that there are off limit foods will only sabatoge your goals.

if you can eat something and still stay within your calorie range then I don't see this as "cheating" to me cheating is overeating!!! Of course I think I do better eating better foods but I just need sugar at times and if I don't work it into my allowance then I will never make it in this so call life style change... ya know?

Being unfaithful to your spouse.

I actually do my best not to even think in terms of "cheating" or "not cheating", "perfect" or "not perfect", "good me" or "bad me" anymore.

It seemed like when I consistently thought in those ways, I'd end up self-sabotaging because I'd feel guilty over being bad or not perfect or cheating, so I'd end up "cheating" even more! Now I do my best to take this a meal at a time, and if a meal ends up being over the typical number of calories I'd eat in a meal, I either try to compensate with some exercise or just let it be. For instance, this weekend I had a nice lunch out with my husband on Friday and a barbecue with family on Saturday. I had only wild estimates of the calories of each of these meals, but I made fairly healthy choices and made sure I didn't overeat, and called it even.

There doesn't need to be any feelings of "cheating" or the guilt that comes with it. Feeling guilty about food may in fact lead to weight loss, but it also leads to a whacked out relationship with food. We've all heard of or been women who lost a bunch of weight only to continue feeling sad and empty. I think doing any self-flagellating over food is ultimately going to guide a person down that path.

I pretty much agree with what everyone else has replied. You gotta live life, we are not machines.
I've gotta get my cheat foods in occasionally to stay motivated. Sometimes it inspires me to exercise more intently. This past Saturday I ate 2 pecan sweet rolls my wife made. I only planned to eat one but they were so awesome. I felt so guilty, I went outside and ran a mile. In the end, I felt better about having that extra one...in a weird way it caused me to get more exercise, lol. I'm not gonna do it everyday though. I hope!

Technically a "cheat food" is gonna be a non-healthy, non-nutritional food choice, that is not necessarily good for you. We could eat twinkies every meal and stay under, but our health would eventually suffer.

i never feel like im cheating or guilty about any food. honestly many of us used to eat terribly on a daily basis!!!!! now i eat sooooo clean, lean, fresh, wholesome, low fat, low cal on a daily basis. so that chocolate or whatever it is that ill have that isnt so "clean" is something i earned and can have without my body even holding on to any of it or storing it.

problem is tho, a couple of months ago that "cheat" kinda lead to a weekend of rewards which then ruined my whole week and in return made me gain some weight.

so i leaner that the key is... have what u want but then STOP! and let it go.... and continue on ur journey. lol i kinda got carried away lol. have ur zinger but thats it!!!!!!!!!!! clean eating alllll day! not another bad bite!

disclaimer - I didn't read everyone's responses, so sorry if I'm repeating anything...

I don't believe in cheating - this is a lifestyle change and some days I'm going to give in and have a treat.

That said, I'm trying to treat my body better, which for me means that I'm trying to significantly reduce the preservatives and artificial crap I'm putting into my body. I don't *want* to put those type of food in my body anymore, so I don't buy them. The longer I go without them, the less I crave them. I keep healthier alternatives that still let me feel like I'm having a treat (frozen yogurt, frozen bananas, black bean brownies, Lara Bars, etc.). The one real sugary treat I keep is dark chocolate - I allow myself 1/4 of the bar at a time, once or twice a week.

I'd recommend you buy treats that you can work into your plan ahead of time - this will increase the chances of eating treats that are at least somewhat good for you and decrease the chance of overdoing it. (Which it sounds like you're already okay on not overdoing it.)

Being unfaithful to your spouse.

Lol great response! :laugh:

I always ask myself who I am cheating if I eat that bowl of icecream or slice of pizza (both of which I have included in a daily plan to stay under my caloric intake)

If I have been excellent, losing weight steadily from diet and exercise, I am only hurting myself by eating a ding dong......after awhile it just was not worth it to me.

Strawberries, peaches, bananas...........all sweet and yummy AND good for you!!

Today for snack I brought a Zinger by Hostess... Now I don't consider that cheating more rationalizing.. I'm not eating the box of Zingers ... Which I probably can. I'm more eating something I enjoy without going overboard.

No judging what do u consider cheating??

I don't beleive in cheat foods, cheat days whatever. I think you eat what you want, but you need to know that there are repercussions, such as delayed weight loss, having the need to excerssice more, guilt..as long as you're ok with that, then definitely enjoy your treat. The only thing that stuck out in your post was that you felt you need to rationalize the decision...is that because you thought you shouldn't eat it? or because you were afraid that you couldn't stop at one? I'm really curious, not at all trying to insult, I just like to try to see where people are coming from. And then the fact that you wouls eat the whole box but actually only ate one is huge, that's a big milestone, you've learned discipline and restraint, I think that's a bigger thing then eating the zinger. :flowerforyou: :drinker:

To me cheating would be eating something and NOT putting it in your food log. As long as you log it, whether you are within your calorie range or not, it's not cheating because at least you were honest with yourself about it.

To me, cheating is also "knowingly or purposely" overestimating excercise calories or underestimating food calories to stay within your daily goals, but we are only cheating ourselves and it will be our loss, or more than likely our gain, if we can't be honest with ourselves.

I forgot about Zingers!! lol And I agree...cheating would be hiding what you ate, or denying you ate it. I don't like the word cheating, but in a sense it is, 'cause you're being dishonest. If say I plan a meal and it's great, then we decide to eat something else and I go over, I won't log it...then I feel guilty and put it in. Like today. I ate 7 crazy bread sticks on Saturday and just left my original planned dinner. I caved and put it in today and now I feel better because I finally came clean.

Also... I don't like the concept of "cheating" because I'm doing this solely for me. It's not a diet for me, it's a lifestyle and I will always have emotions and little things like time constraint and convenience will play a factor in what I eat over the weekend... this time it was the fact that bf wanted to eat NOW and not in an hour like I planned and it had to be the cheapest thing: free pizza from his uncle.