Do any of you feel guilty on cheat days?

Since I'm changing my lifestyle and not dieting, there really is no such thing as a cheat day. I eat as healthy as possible and if I don't make good choices one day I don't feel guilty about it. I just try to do better. By striving to change my lifestyle I will already be accustomed to eating healthy so when I reach my goal there will be no going "off" the diet. I'll continue to eat the same as I always have. I don't know if I like the word "cheat". Indulgence may be a better term.

If you really can't get over the guilt, maybe try calling it something positive like a re-feed day.

You're in control of how you talk to yourself and your own feelings. You don't have to feel guilty about eating. That's counterproductive, in my opinion.

I do "non logging" days, not cheat days. when I feel that "twinge" of possible guilt, I stop and ask myself if I'm eating it because I actually WANT it... or if I'm just eating it because I don't have to log it later. if I want it, I eat it guilt-free. if it's just because I'm "feeling sneaky," I make myself stop.

^This!!! The key for me was recognizing the difference between actually wanting something and eating it just because I could. The other night I got halfway through a cupcake and was like, "why am I eating this? Because I have 600 cals left in my journal? I don't even like it that much!" Felt like a victory

No, I don't have cheat meals. I just eat well most of the time and don't allow food to become and emotional issue for me (part of my ED recovery).

I don't even really know what a cheat meal is. If I hit my macros, there's no such thing as a cheat meal to me. I don't eat a lot of flour, so I guess when I do, I would maybe consider that a choice out of the ordinary, not a cheat.

Instead of a 'cheat' day, I plan out how many calories I'm going to go over and put a reasonable limit to it. For example - if I was at my goal weight, I would need to be eating only about 1750 calories for maintenance (this is TDEE with it set to 'couch-potato' so obviously exercise is not accounted for). However, at the weight I am now, 1750 calories still puts me at losing weight and is still over the amount I usually eat (on a non-exercise day). So once a week, I allow myself the extra calories without feeling any guilt about it because though it's a larger number, it still puts me on the side of losing weight vs. gaining. Hope this made sense, but I find it's a great way for me to 'treat' myself once a week without having any bad feelings about it.

I don't do cheat days anymore. I found that if I keep my regular diet at 80/20 then I don't need a cheat day. On the rare occasion that I go out to eat at a restaurant, I simply log it and move on. Usually I'll not eat or only eat a light snack the rest of the day because I know I'll be eating a lot of calories at the restaurant.

Since I'm changing my lifestyle and not dieting, there really is no such thing as a cheat day. I eat as healthy as possible and if I don't make good choices one day I don't feel guilty about it. I just try to do better. By striving to change my lifestyle I will already be accustomed to eating healthy so when I reach my goal there will be no going "off" the diet. I'll continue to eat the same as I always have. I don't know if I like the word "cheat". Indulgence may be a better term.

^^this

Only if i got super over the top but my cheat days barely effect me most times. I figure as long as i didn't gain i'm good. Mind you i'm stuck holding steady at th emoment.

If you really can't get over the guilt, maybe try calling it something positive like a re-feed day.

You're in control of how you talk to yourself and your own feelings. You don't have to feel guilty about eating. That's counterproductive, in my opinion.

This.

YES! This. I basically eat what I want when I want in moderation; 80/20 like you say. This is what I do and I like not having to assign it all to one meal/one day out of the week, I think this makes the most sense.

I don't do cheat days anymore. I found that if I keep my regular diet at 80/20 then I don't need a cheat day. On the rare occasion that I go out to eat at a restaurant, I simply log it and move on. Usually I'll not eat or only eat a light snack the rest of the day because I know I'll be eating a lot of calories at the restaurant.

I have cheat days, ive had 7 in a row! BAD

If it's planned, it's not really a "cheat day" is it?. Not a fan of the words, for all the reasons mentioned.

I just log everything I eat and ten evaluate where I stand as far as my calories are concerned. I average my calories out over a few days or a week, and any "setback" is really minimized, or eliminated.

And really, on those occasions that I just blow through my calories for the day, I almost always end up eating right around my maintenance calories. So really it's not a cheat day, it's a "pause" day. Nothing lost, nothing gained.

But I'm not a fan the every Friday is a cheat day, or whatever. I like to stay flexible.

But feeling guilty? For enjoying a good meal and a couple drinks? Nope never.

Dear OP - I think we'd need to know a little more about your background in terms of your relationship to food in order to best answer this question... For example, do you generally feel guilty about eating? Do you obsess over particular foods or food behaviors? Do you restrict and binge and feel shame over that?

When people have an unhealthy relationship to food in the first place, the concept of "cheating" or "over-indulging" can really take them over the edge. If you already felt bad about eating as is was, or if you binged a lot and felt shame from that, then "purposeful overeating" can be counterproductive.

When I lost my weight, I never did cheat days because I'd already had a severe problem with overeating most of my life. I was working very hard to learn the lesson of eating in moderation, and the thought of overeating even one day a week kind of "triggered" me back into wanting to overindulge, if that makes sense. The act of overeating, period, was such a familiar feeling to me (and not in a good way), that even doing one day "every now and again" produced a strong desire to return to my old ways of being out of control. So I decided it was not for me.

I worked very hard to untangle my eating dysfunctions and I'm happy to report that now, on maintenance, I do let myself have a "moderate" cheat day, lol. (Sounds boring, I know). I might eat 400-600 calories over, but I at least keep the tally in the back of my mind so that I don't go absolutely bonkers. But again...I'm guarding against the *feeling* of being out of control and counting the calories just helps me keep that feeling in check.

My guess is that if you are feeling guilty about a cheat day, then there is probably something going on underneath that points to some deeper issues you have with shame and eating dysfunction. If I were you, I'd look into that, either through talk therapy, books, or a 12-step group of some sort. Hope that helps.

Nope, no guilt for me. I try to make sure every day is a delicious food day. Pastries, pie, ice cream, pizza, hot wings, etc. I can make ALL of it work if I really want to. I remember turning down a dounut at work one day and my friend was like "good for you! You can't eat that. Way to stick to your diet!" Ummm no. Right now just isn't the time for a donut. Doesnt mean I'm living off of lettuce and flogging myself if I even glance at butter for the rest of my life.
I had pizza yesterday, and will have pizza again today. There may be the random days where I eat over my calorie goal but I probably just land at maintenance if anything. Which for me is 1,900. It's my birthday tomorrow and between food and booze I'll probably be around 3,000 cals on Sat and 2,000-3,000 cals on Sunday. It's my birthday weekend so I refuse to even blink an eye at those numbers. I will just have to dance my butt off for 4 hours