My first proper cheat day, help.

Sid1988
Sid1988 Posts: 170 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi

So here's a bit of background history; bulimic for the past 10 years, the last two years have been me at my worst, for example spend £20 on crap food a day (ice cream, pizza, chocolate, sweets you name it) and then throw it all back up again. The longest I had ever gone without binging was 2 days until now...

I have gone 13 days without binging and purging, I am so happy with myself, I've been working out and I'm eating clean on a calorie deficit and I feel so much better. I've lost 7lbs and the only way from here is up.

BUT I feel a binge coming on but rather than do my usual, I want to actually plan this day and not bing and have a cheat day as such (which will be tomorrow as I'm too impatient).

So I just wanted to know, when you have your cheat days, how many calories do you eat in that day? I want to just enjoy the food and not feel guilty and feel like it's going to un-do all my hard work which could potentially lead to purging which is the last thing I want.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to have a bowl of porridge and honey and then carry on with the 30 day shred (I am on level 2) and spend half an hour on my treadmill jogging then after that, my cheating for the day will start.

Any advice/guidelines?

Thanks :)

Replies

  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    I usually try to keep it to about my maintenance calories (also known as TDEE) or just add 500 calories to my current intake.
  • Sid1988
    Sid1988 Posts: 170 Member
    Oh and I have been eating 1200-1400 calories per day so far
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    What is provoking you to want to binge? Is there something going on in your life that's making you feel a bit out of control?

    I had EDs years ago, so I know exactly how you feel. I've been recovered for almost 10 years, but I still have moments when I start to obsess. EDs are control disorders, so these moments almost always occur when things are happening in my life that I don't like and that I can't control.

    It's very difficult to recover alone. My first recommendation is that you find a professional to help you on your journey. My second recommendation is that you try an identify the route cause of your wanting to binge and address that issue head on, instead of hurting yourself.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    Why don't you include these foods in moderation in your normal calorie allowance? By having a cheat day you are almost labeling some foods as different. Given your eating History in my opinion a cheat days will end up being a recipe for disaster and returning to previous habits. Set a reasonable calorie in which you can include the occasional treat food, You should be trying to give yourself habits for healthy eating for the rest of your life and so called cheat days in reality is not a good way of doing this. Good luck
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Oh and I have been eating 1200-1400 calories per day so far

    Why not just increase you cals (unless you are very small 1200 cals is an unnecessary amount) and have small treats every day... That's what people with normal eating habits do.
  • lisawinning4losing
    lisawinning4losing Posts: 726 Member
    Today is my first official cheat day, though I've been cheating all along. Lol. But it's my "reward" day. I've been mostly staying within my calorie goal and doing a lot better, and the scale says I've lost weight, so, I guess I've earned it. But, because it's still only like a half-reward I'm still going to try to stay within my calorie goal. (1,330 net.) I'm going to go out for pizza but I'm going to get thin crust, or if I want a thicker crust maybe just one big slice with a salad. I also have a problem with binging, but not purging. But I don't want to undo all the good I've done so far, so I don't think I'll be binging tonight! I'll just eat my pizza slowly and enjoy every bite. ;)

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