cheat/not to cheat

tate355
tate355 Posts: 12
edited September 27 in Introduce Yourself
helllo Pals

i have been working out a little over a month and a half and have followed a strict diet on certain fruits veggies and grilled chicken and fish i did this consistent for a month.... well today i had a half of a philly cheesesteak and i've been beating myself up ever since Im very active working out M-T and sometime even on Friday, I'm just confused I know im suppose to enjoy things and live a little but I just wonder if u think I'm wrong or right for beating myself up even thinking about going to the gym tonight when normally Saturday and Sunday aremy gymfree days please help:cry:..... Im also new to fitness pal i'm currently living in Memphis Tn I'm 29 and struggling to mantain a healthy lifestyle

Replies

  • Charli666
    Charli666 Posts: 407
    its not a cheat! its not as healthy as your usual diet, but this isn't a 'be perfect site', its a healthy lifestyle site, and healthy lifestyles mean balanced diets.

    That means learning to balance the good and 'bad' foods, you only had half, thats portion controll, i say you should be seeing this as a victory!
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    That's fine! Don't beat yourself up but don't let it become a habit. A treat every now and then is good but don't let it become too much too often or you will have the same problem you did before you got here. Trust me. I was eating GREAT for 2 months, then one bad month and I'm only on day two of eating decently again and it's HARD to remake those habits.
  • makeachange22
    makeachange22 Posts: 151
    just let it be, go back to eating normal tomorrow OR if you can handle it , once a week if you lose a certain amount of weight on weigh in day for me it's 2lbs or more, i get to have something ive been craving ie; chips, or icecream, or a greasy burger and i never gain this weight back because its one all week and on tuesdays my weigh in day i go to the gym so its not even like its affecting me much , and i always lose weight still :) its a reward for your success
  • tate355
    tate355 Posts: 12
    thanks so much my coworkers were telling me the same thing and i really apperciate your comment thank you:wink:
  • orangebella
    orangebella Posts: 10
    Do not get into the mentality and abuse yourself for enjoying a bit of "bad" food. Eventually there will be situations where there will probably be food that isn't the healthiest for you but girl, common this is life! I applaud you for wanting to make a difference in your lifestyle & lose weight. And look you only had a HALF!!!! You need to give your body at least one day off during the week so that it can recover. My problem was always that if I had one "bad" thing during the day I would say screw it and just eat crappy the rest of the day & say that tomorrow will be different. So don't get into that habit either. Just keep a positive attitude and if you want to work out go for it! But don't get into the cycle of every single time you feel bad about indulging that you have to go work out. Keep up the good work girl!!!!
  • denitraross
    denitraross Posts: 325 Member
    do not sweat it - you need to be able to treat yourself every once in awhile (it actually helped my get through some plateaus giving myself a high calorie day)...if not - you are "dieting"...this is about lifestyle being healthy..which means you can have a treat every now and then...this ensures that you do not feel deprived, etc.....I usually have one "bad" meal a week whether it's pizza or a big breakfast...not an entire bad day, just one meal......and I just make sure I get a good workout in that day!
  • tate355
    tate355 Posts: 12
    Thank all of you I just really started doing this fitness pal thing and 2 know I'm able to talk to people just like me feeling like me is great:flowerforyou:
  • pauljsolie
    pauljsolie Posts: 1,024 Member
    Hi tate355, you might want to check out this article. I have followed this advice for some time now and I have had really good results. I "cheat" every 5 or 6 days. From what I understand when leptin levels fall, usually after about 5-7 days of calorie restriction, it causes your body to think it is starving and your metabolism slows. By cheating your leptin levels rise within 24 hours, tricking your body into believing everything is ok and your metabolism in turn rises. Kind of a simple description and there are studies that both agree and disagree with this theory. I'm not a doctor, I just like to cheat every once in awhile. I don't go crazy, just eat what I normally would not eat on my weight loss diet. My typical cheat food is a McDonalds cheeseburger and small fries. No soda or shakes though. Good luck!!

    http://www.idealshape.com/cheat-days-everybody-needs-to-cheat-a-little-to-prosper/
  • KaizokuNoMaiku
    KaizokuNoMaiku Posts: 164
    @ Pauljsolie, your body can only get energy from 3 places, your stomace, your fat reserves and your muscle's.
    If it cannot get enuff from your Stomace it will fill the ''gap'' with the fat reserves and if that doesnt work either will it also start on your muscle's. Your body will think its starving only if your body fat reaches dangerously low lvls ( 8-4% or lower depending on size/age etc ) or when you suddenly go and drop your daily Kcal with a drastic amount say going from 2500 a day to 1500 a day orso.It wont go into starvation mode that fast tbh.(Well those are the basics at least ^^).

    Dont get me wrong its okay to cheat sometimes but after a while those cheats start feeling horrible tbh and I only cheat when the family go's out to a resturant or smth else I feel way bttr with myself not cheating =)

    @ Tate355 Dont worry to much about its not like your entire diet is ruined now or smth just keep up the good work you cant change the past you can only control the rest of the day and tomorrow so make them count rather then looking back.
    Keep up the good work !

    Edit: Just do some cardio every day to stimulate your metabolism rather then eat unhealty to stimulate it :P
  • tate355
    tate355 Posts: 12
    thanks
  • tate355
    tate355 Posts: 12
    and like i said i normally eat great but today i decided i wanted that half of sandwich but i went back to my healthier food as i ate my snacks and dinner
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