Feelings after a cheat day?

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  • jessicapk
    jessicapk Posts: 574 Member
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    that's why you should allow pizza in your regular diet. some people can handle cheat days and it helps keep them on track. others can't, and when there is a cheat day it can turn into a large binge with feelings of guilt and remorse after. but you shouldn't feel guilty for eating something you love. maybe once a week allow yourself pizza, even if you make yourself with a cauliflower crust (have to eat it with a fork but seriously it tastes like straight up pizza anyway), or like a lean cuisine pizza or a regular slice. that way it doesn't come to the point where you are deprived of something you love, you overeat on it then feel horrible about it. i eat healthy, but i have pizza now and then. it's just bread, tomato sauce cheese and veggies, all which are not bad for you if you only have a slice or two. good luck!

    Totally agreed! Incorporate things you love into your daily diet while keeping check on your nutrients and you won't feel the need to binge so badly. I hate deprivation. It turns into a major binge that makes me feel TERRIBLE. I eat pizza on a regular basis and just make sure it fits and I'm getting everything else I need. You can do it!
  • adelestarkhdp
    adelestarkhdp Posts: 4
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    I hate cheat days. Because they just makes me feel horrible. Every time that I had a cheat day I swear that I my last one.
    But I found out a way to enjoy a whole large pizza, I take it yes. But I eat it with other people that I love, who I like to stay with. Because if you eat it alone, you only thought is not how much is good, but is how much calories I'm eating. Try to have your cheat meals with friends or parents the next time, and I can tell you that you'll feel great! The next day you'll be happy about what you ate, but at the same time you'll eat your light salad to be happier :)
  • mikej1978
    mikej1978 Posts: 362 Member
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    Forgive me for sounding harsh but a whole large pizza? Isnt that a little much even on a cheat day? I had a "cheat day" the other day and felt guilty about eating a whole personal pan pizza. I don't know maybe its just me but I think even on cheat days I would hate to throw out a good two-three days of workouts for a whole pizza.
    On the other hand feeling quilty is probably good because this isnt your normal habits.
  • ItsAnIllusion
    ItsAnIllusion Posts: 63 Member
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    What jumps out at me from what you said is that you were craving pizza for a long time, and presumably didn't satisfy that craving until you broke down and ate a whole pizza. I find I just satisfy cravings as I have them and then I'm much less likely to binge. If I crave a cheeseburger, I'll exercise a little extra and maybe go a little over on calories one day, and I don't think that's a big deal.

    Denying yourself foods that you love, instead of figuring out how to fit them in, is not sustainable in the long run.
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
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    What jumps out at me from what you said is that you were craving pizza for a long time, and presumably didn't satisfy that craving until you broke down and ate a whole pizza. I find I just satisfy cravings as I have them and then I'm much less likely to binge. If I crave a cheeseburger, I'll exercise a little extra and maybe go a little over on calories one day, and I don't think that's a big deal.

    Denying yourself foods that you love, instead of figuring out how to fit them in, is not sustainable in the long run.

    ^^This

    I eat everything, I want as long as it fits into my cal budget. This makes my portions of pizza and hamburgers smaller, but I can still have them and cake and ice cream and chocolate.

    Plan ahead, allow yourself 'treats' regularly. And an occasional cheat day is OK too. Even plan them! Then enjoy them and don't have a bad conscience. That is bad for your body and soul!
  • sinistras
    sinistras Posts: 244 Member
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    Don't believe in cheat days, cheat meal or cheat snack, but never a whole day.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    Nope, I just move on. It is just food and I choose not to let it control my emotions.
  • ChrisS30V
    ChrisS30V Posts: 157 Member
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    I don't have a full-fledged cheat day, but I definitely treat myself to homemade ice cream, cake, etc. every week or two. Nothing is a cheat per say, just a less nutritious way to get calories.
  • justin37013
    justin37013 Posts: 6 Member
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    Don't sweat a cheat meal... track your calories and either make up for it with a little extra deficit or just move forward. You can't kill days and days of solid progress with one meal.
  • Rainbowwow
    Rainbowwow Posts: 12 Member
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    Honestly I have had those days at least once a week specially because I'm in beginning stages of my weight loss journey. I do feel bad all night, and wished I hadn't. BUT I have learned to not fall off the wagon just because of one bad meal.
    Also, I don't want to encourage but on the positive way it has helped me to stay on my diet and not get sick of the many servings of vegetables. And by confusing my body and not staying with same routine, I have avoided plateau so far.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
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    I don't consider any foods in groups of good or bad... I eat whatever it is that I want and fit it into my day. If I know I am going out for Pizza and Beer (which we are heading to the bar at 3 for the OSU game) then I will have a light breakfast and a small snack for lunch, got a good workout in this morning and save my calories for this afternoon so I can enjoy so Pizza and Beer and maybe a few wings.... Nothing worse than demonizing food, I eat alot of Lean meats, veggies, and grains but I also enjoy my ice cream, Pizza, and whatnot....... . Best of Luck...
    This 100%. I have whatever I want pizza/ice cream/fast food, I just plan for it, fit it in and I never need to feel deprived or guilty. :drinker:
  • ebr250
    ebr250 Posts: 199 Member
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    For some reason i was craving pizza after a very long time so i gave in and i ate the whole large three cheese pizza all by myself.
    Now i feel guilty and angry at myself for wasting all my calories on pizza!
    Pizza was what made me fat in the first place, i loved it but after eating it today i didn't enjoy it as much as i thought i would...
    I guess having cheat days and eating junk doesn't make me feel good anymore, i would have enjoyed a salad or a nice healthy vegetarian stir fry...

    Does anyone else feel bad after eating unhealthy and what do you do to make you feel better?

    I think what a lot of people in this thread are overlooking is that you identified the food wasn't as enjoyable as you remembered and it made you feel bad. There is so much harping on this site about continuing to eat all foods and not "being deprived," but why eat food that you don't like?? If you don't find a food that enjoyable or don't like the way it makes you feel (whether that is a physical or emotional feeling) don't eat it.

    OP, I'm in the same camp you are. Sometimes I eat something unhealthy thinking I really, really wanted it and end up not enjoying it very much. To feel better I chew peppermint gum, take a walk or do a workout DVD and eat extra veggies the next day. I also try to catalog the feeling of "ugh, why did I do that?? what a waste!!" so I can bring it up next time I feel tempted. Don't listen to all the hype of "everything in moderation!!" Eating foods that make you feel bad is so not worth it!
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
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    Does anyone else feel bad after eating unhealthy and what do you do to make you feel better?

    problem is, I feel bad, but not enough to not do it again. tastes too good, lol

    solution: eat what you like, not everyday, but allow it, control it, count the calories and continue with better choices
  • alyhuggan
    alyhuggan Posts: 717 Member
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    I had two poptart today...and yesterday and the day before that too! Yum! Whoever invented flexible dieting is my hero!
  • change_21
    change_21 Posts: 23 Member
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    I eat what I want to eat in moderation and that's what works for me. If I had a cheat day usually it would turn into a few bad days and then I'd lose a lot of progress.

    I agree that bumping up your calories one day a week is a good way to kick start your metabolism and help prevent plateaus, but only if that works for you.

    The guilt is the worst though.

    One thing I'm trying to do is not impulse eat - instead if I want something, I will walk away and think about it. Ask myself 3 times how bad I want it before indulging.

    It sounds like your taste for food is changing - your body was in conflict with your mind. Your body says that it didn't really want the pizza but your head said you do.

    You have to try to follow your body and not your head.
  • floop1207
    floop1207 Posts: 194 Member
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    i eat pizza almost every week. if i didn't, i would feel miserable and probably end up eating what i'd planned instead PLUS pizza. my weight loss is slow but its coming along. in the beginning i was impatient and wanted to lose weight quickly like i'd see so many people do but now i'm just concentrating on making the bigger me into a smaller me over time. i realised that if i denied myself the foods i really like, i wouldn't stick to it for long and i want this to be my new way of eating and being accountable for what i eat rather than a 'diet'.

    don't feel bad about eating your pizza.
  • Mongognom
    Mongognom Posts: 123
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    I had one of those days last week. I went out with a friend and had a cheese and steak sandwich, I ordered without the fries, but it came with it and I ate the entire thing. Even though I had decided to skip the fries and skip half the bread I found myself eating the rest of the bread even though I wasn't hungry and feeling so guilty for it. And then I had desert.

    For me, when I have bad days I try to accept that it happened, identify my triggers and try again tomorrow. Personally cheese is one of the things I don't buy anymore, because I simply can't eat it in moderation.

    Was it the pizza itself? Or the topping? Can you make a healthier version that you can eat without feeling so guilty or order smaller?
  • HexyleneGlycol
    HexyleneGlycol Posts: 56
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    Dont let that get you down. Just work out for an extra 10 or 15 mins or more the next day, you will feel better. You wont ruin your whole program just by cheating once. I think one cheat day a month is okay. Just dont continue to do it everyday. If you get yourself back on track the next day you will feel better and work even harder. I ate a whole container of whipped cream all by myself and some pumpkin pie around thanksgiving, I dont let it get e down I just work out harder the next day.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    I used the language of "falling off" and "cheat days" for nearly 2 decades, ever since I was a kid, including all the shame, guilt, and anger that came along with it.

    No more. I've come too far, gotten too damn strong after years of trial and error, to keep looking at food that way. Yes I eat in a healthy way, that feels great, the majority of the time. But if I have days here and there that I want to truly go overboard, I do, and I do so without guilt or remorse.
  • thursdayswoman
    thursdayswoman Posts: 60 Member
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    It depends. If I decide deliberately to eat something, and accept that it's going to put me over my calories, then I feel okay. But most often I don't, and then I feel stupid while I'm eating, and even worse afterwards. Both mentally and physically sick.

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