A Cheat Meal IS a Cheat Meal

if you sometimes want more calories to eat, then offset those calories with extra exercise. if you still come in over your calorie goal some days, then offset it by coming in a little bit under on other days.

this isn't rocket surgery. some people make it much too hard by holding themselves to unrealistic expectations.

This is poor advice and dangerous territory as most people: 1. Overestimate the calories burned in exercise and 2. Don't compensate for the calories later.

So if the execution is often flawed, that means that the theory is somehow flawed?

[/quote]How does having a binge once a week teach self control.[/quote]

Binging once every ten - fourteen days works for me, but I found myself asking the same question lol.

I do it because I want to and I think it wakes up my metabolism. I don't do it because I have to.

Something that works for you may not work for me because of your own unique history with foods, emotions, and weight loss, and because of my own unique history with foods, emotions and weight loss. Or, to simplify - YMMV.

I don't use the cheat terminology for the reasons already stated - I'm not cheating. I'm not doing anything dishonest. I log what I eat, even if it makes me wince to see the total. I make deliberate choices and hold myself accountable for them. I recognize that if I choose to eat the pop-tarts in my desk, that I am choosing to have a lower deficit today or that I am choosing to work out tonight without knowing how I will feel later. Those are my three options - 1) don't eat what I want when I want it 2) Eat what I want and accept a smaller deficit or choose not to eat something else later in the day 3) Eat what I want and work out to compensate for the additional calories.

Oddly, seeing what kind of workout is needed to burn off the 400 calories of pop-tarts makes me want them much less. . .

Cheating or setting up free days/treats/whatever works really well for some people because they need set rewards, but can't handle the daily grind or would often feel unsatisfied with their caloric intake because they used calories on less nutritionally dense foods - in that case, the reward works well. Others cannot open the door to that kind of abstinence/reward scheme because they lack the ability to stop at satiety levels and would continue to eat poorly. Some people need to plan out everything so they aren't thrown off by surprises. Some people need the flexibility of a weekly goal and the option for a glass of whisky at the end of a hard day. YMMV.

Figure out your own best path. Walk it, run it, bike it, whatever.

As for maintenance - well, again, that goes back to the above. If you are the sort of person who needs to plan in advance, then you will be more successful with maintenance if you plan as much as possible in advance. If you are the sort of person who needs a day off from planning, then you need to do that. But ultimately it all comes back to the central point of a lifestyle change to shed excess weight and keep it off - you have to take responsibility for your actions. If a day off every couple of weeks does that for you - take a day off. If planning a cookie and a mocha into your Saturday morning makes you feel secure with the rest of your choices, plan away. Just continue to take responsibility for your choices and maintain a balance. The end.

Well, there is the saying "Everything in moderation. Including moderation."

Has won this thread.

Occasional, controlled and enjoyable over-eating, not one deliberately off-set by heavy exercise, IS part of a normal and healthy relationship with food.

Controllled overeating lol. I know what you mean but that just doesn't sound right lol.

Well, there is the saying "Everything in moderation. Including moderation."

Has won this thread.

Occasional, controlled and enjoyable over-eating, not one deliberately off-set by heavy exercise, IS part of a normal and healthy relationship with food.

One which has taken me years of swinging between extremes to achieve. :takesbow:

Controllled overeating lol. I know what you mean but that just doesn't sound right lol.

Why not?

No really... why not?

I've been maintaining my 66 pound weight loss for two years now.

I've never done cheat meals/cheat days or anything like that. While I was losing weight, I ate whatever I liked and just focused on portion size and total calories. I was careful about logging - all food was weighed and measured. Maintenance has been pretty much the same - eat what I like while focusing on moderation.

I'm sure different things work for different people - for me, labeling foods as good/bad or calling certain meals 'cheats' is not a healthy mindset.

^^^This^^^ :flowerforyou:

Well, there is the saying "Everything in moderation. Including moderation."

Has won this thread.

Occasional, controlled and enjoyable over-eating, not one deliberately off-set by heavy exercise, IS part of a normal and healthy relationship with food.

One which has taken me years of swinging between extremes to achieve. :takesbow:

Controllled overeating lol. I know what you mean but that just doesn't sound right lol.

Why not?

No really... why not?

Why doesn't it sound right? Because the definition of overeating is "eating too much", which would indicate someone has gone beyond the controls.

I get the concept, just sounds funny. Sounds contradictory. When I overeat, I forget control for that day and just eat whatever I want until I don't feel like it anymore.

Cheat meals don't destine you to fail.

Eating clean doesn't destine you to fail.

Cutting your whopper with cheese into 1/16th slices while weighing out fries and drinking a soda from a dixie cup doesn't destine you to fail.

And there is no reason that any of those methods can't be sustained, they all require a change in habits and the discipline to follow your plan.

The reason that people fail is because they don't know their own poor habits, weaknesses, and how to work around them. They fail because they try to follow what someone else is doing and it doesn't fit with their own temperament.