thoughts on "cheat" meals?

I am an avid sweets eater as well. But I am trying really hard to not eat them, as their unhealthy and unwanted calories. I feel your pain completely. I would be at work, and fantasize about going home and eating some kind of cupcake, cookie, or even about getting myself a piece of cake at Raley's if I had had a particularly stressful day! But diabetes runs in my family..and at 23 when my doctor told me I am pre-diabetic, I knew I had to make changes. For the first week or two, I was cranky, I cried more easily, etc when not getting my sugar fix. It's like I was addicted. But then I got used to it, my body stopped craving it. You can still eat natural sugars, such as bananas, apples, etc..and it still takes off the edge. But I understand how hard it is, nothing tastes as good to me still as those sugared junk foods!!

Sorry, I feel silly what what are 'cheat meals' ?

My husband and I allow ourselves one cheat meal a week, but it has to be a portion size...we don't go all out and eat as much as we want. We still portion control the cheat meal so it is still not too bad, but something we have been craving. It works well for us.

My body stopped craving it, my mind still has not. I will still catch myself fantasizing. If I have a bad day, or just get really sad and angry I automatically want to jump into my little debbie cookie box. But I try really, really, hard not to. It is like a battle with yourself, and I sometimes win, I sometimes don't. I try my best every day, and that's the best we all can do. If I slip up, I'm not happy, but I tell myself tomorrow will be better. And for me, the only way I don't crave sweets and sugar is if I'm happy or distracted. So If I want to eat that kind of stuff, I really stop and think of if I'm sad, upset, bored or just hungry. If I'm hungry, I'll eat something healthy. If I'm feeling an emotion, I call a friend, write in a journal, ANYTHING to keep me distracted.

My two cents, for what it's worth.

So many times in my life, I've started an exercise program only to be thrown off by one or two cheat meals that get me back on the path of eating badly. It seems like if I can rationalize that one of something is ok, then it's a natural extension that one more of that thing is ok. So when I started this time, I knew I couldn't cheat at all. I went for two, possibly three months without ever cheating at all. Now, I'm confident that i can eat a bad meal, and then get right back on the horse the next day- so occasionally (probably once every two weeks, not once a week) - if I'm out with friends, special occasion, what have you, I'll eat more than I should, or things that are off limits.

So here is the moral of the story to me - food was an addiction. I had to stay in control of it for long enough that cheating would be the exception, not the norm. I don't know if you work the same way I do, everyone is different, but if you feel like you're going to get back on sugar if you eat a little bit of it, then dont!! Wait to have those cheat snacks until you're absolutely confident you can go right back to not eating sugar for the next few weeks. You've got to know yourself, and trust yourself, and know what works for you.

I recommend the book "The End of Overeating" by Dr. David Kessler to anyone who's interested in learning about why we crave sugar, fat, and salt the way that we do. A lot of comments there remind me of interviews he did with people in the book. Basically, he boils it down to us being so conditioned to crave hyper-palatable foods that we're often given to fantasies about them because it triggers a strong emotional response and/or reflex. My personal approach is to incorporate the higher calorie/sugar/fat/salt throughout the week in smaller doses. It's not always easy, but it works better for me than to have one big heavy meal like that where I feel sluggish and gross afterwards.

I have a "treat" day/meal every week. I think they are fantastic and beneficial. In your situation
with trying to cut out sugar you can still have a cheat night just make sure you dont eat foods that
could trigger your cravings. Treat yourself to a special savory dish or something.