1 cheat day turns into 3 days!!

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shannonhughes70
shannonhughes70 Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My problem is that I can do great and stay on track all week but when it comes to cheat day I can't just stop at one treat it turns into loads! Anyone got tips? Should I have a cheat? Or just stay on track all time if I have this problem? Help!!
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Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Work the treats into your calorie goals as you can, that way you won't feel the need to "cheat".
  • suziecue20
    suziecue20 Posts: 567 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    Work the treats into your calorie goals as you can, that way you won't feel the need to "cheat".

    ^^ This is good advice in my book.

    Throughout Last week I had popcorn, chocolate, wine and desserts logged within my calorie goal and I'm 1lb down at my weigh-in today.

  • shannonhughes70
    shannonhughes70 Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks for the advice ladies! I think I should just stay away from the treats! I look at chocolate and it goes to my *kitten*!!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    They are not saying don't eat chocolate

    They are saying just view it as something to log within your calorie goals

    Or eliminate if you must - seems a little sad not to learn how to eat food you love within reason though
  • dutchandkiwi
    dutchandkiwi Posts: 1,389 Member
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    How long have you been logging your food? If it has not been that long it may well be that the habit of staying on track is not quite a habit yet.
    And also what do you view as a cheat day? No logging and eating everything you want?
    Or is a cheat day, as it is for me, a day that scheduled to go over calories goal?
    And how often is the cheat day?

    In order to answer your question it is essential information
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    shannonhughes70 wrote: »
    Thanks for the advice ladies! I think I should just stay away from the treats! I look at chocolate and it goes to my *kitten*!!

    That usually works great until you are so deprived that you end up binging and/or giving up.

    But it's up to you I guess... do you plan never to have chocolate again? If not, I suggest that you try to learn moderation. Tell yourself that one square or two of chocolate is better than none (assuming you really love chocolate), and that it's pretty much your two options at this point.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    shannonhughes70 wrote: »
    Thanks for the advice ladies! I think I should just stay away from the treats! I look at chocolate and it goes to my *kitten*!!

    That usually works great until you are so deprived that you end up binging and/or giving up.

    But it's up to you I guess... do you plan never to have chocolate again? If not, I suggest that you try to learn moderation. Tell yourself that one square or two of chocolate is better than none (assuming you really love chocolate), and that it's pretty much your two options at this point.

    agreed
  • GreenPharmD
    GreenPharmD Posts: 30 Member
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    I have a difficult time getting back into logging once I have a cheat day as well, and I've been logging for well over 4 years here. I find that if I try to log everything even on my "cheat" day - that it keeps me logging the next day and the next. I like to have a good picture of what my week over all looked like, and just saying screw it, and not logging anything one day, makes it difficult to get back on track the next day. I log things pretty generally on my cheat days but I get a good picture still of what I ate and how much it adds up to - motivation to kick back into gear the next day! Generally I find if I keep up with it the calories for the week nearly balance to my goal. I'm all in favor of cheat days, I don't say cut them out, we all need to let go here and there!
  • angelamichelle_xo
    angelamichelle_xo Posts: 646 Member
    edited January 2016
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    EVERY MEAL IS A NEW BEGINNING.
    dont wait for tomorrow to start fresh. do it now.
  • shannonhughes70
    shannonhughes70 Posts: 7 Member
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    Today is my first day on here and logging so I'm really new to all this, I lost 3st pretty good and quickly last year but I've still 2 to go and thought I better start logging etc. I love chocolate and thought if i don't have it I won't go off track. Maybe it's just that I don't have will power anymore I'm not sure but any advice is welcome! Cheat day for me isn't eating everything and anything but having a bar of chocolate turns into 3 which isn't good obviously!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    shannonhughes70 wrote: »
    Today is my first day on here and logging so I'm really new to all this, I lost 3st pretty good and quickly last year but I've still 2 to go and thought I better start logging etc. I love chocolate and thought if i don't have it I won't go off track. Maybe it's just that I don't have will power anymore I'm not sure but any advice is welcome! Cheat day for me isn't eating everything and anything but having a bar of chocolate turns into 3 which isn't good obviously!

    I just don't see how 'a chocolate bar' is a cheat day?

    A chocolate bar, 250 cals, can fairly easily be fit into a reasonable calorie goal for a day, especially if you have exercised that day.

  • Meganthedogmom
    Meganthedogmom Posts: 1,639 Member
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    @shannonhughs I used to think I had to eliminate those things from my diet, but I'm learning that I can have them in moderation each day if I want to!
    I've had some amount of chocolate almost every day last week, and I lost 2.4 pounds.
  • shannonhughes70
    shannonhughes70 Posts: 7 Member
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    Oh really maybe I just don't know how to space it out evenly so I think I can only have it once a week!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    shannonhughes70 wrote: »
    Today is my first day on here and logging so I'm really new to all this, I lost 3st pretty good and quickly last year but I've still 2 to go and thought I better start logging etc. I love chocolate and thought if i don't have it I won't go off track. Maybe it's just that I don't have will power anymore I'm not sure but any advice is welcome! Cheat day for me isn't eating everything and anything but having a bar of chocolate turns into 3 which isn't good obviously!

    But why do you eat 3 bars? That's what you have to ask yourself. If you stop and savor every bite, you'll notice that it stops tasting as good at some point...

    When I stopped eating the chocolate I love because I would binge on it, and my sister brought me a whole box of it... I ate the whole thing in two days. So I bought some chocolate (like, a LOT of chocolate), and started having just one square with my coffee. If I know that I have a lot at home available whenever I want (or can just go buy more at the store when I run out, really), and I don't wait until I'm completely deprived to have it... it's much easier to stick to one square. The key though is to be 100% sure that I'm 'in control' before eating it. I'll log it, tell myself 'just one square for the taste before my coffee', and savor every bite knowing it's all I'm getting. If I know I really crave it and my hormones are going nuts, I won't even touch the stuff though.

    Bottom line - I love chocolate with my coffee (it's a French thing I guess). I don't want to have to deprive myself, so I made the choice to have one square with my coffee. As I said before... there are three options 1) be fat and binge on chocolate, 2) not have any, 3) have a little. 1 is not an option, 2 would make me sad, so I choose 3.

    In the end, it's your choice.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I get the Ghiradelli squares and have one or two 50-70 calorie squares per day.

    I have a hard time moderating entire bars of chocolate but am ok with squares, as mentally they feel like a complete unit.

    I am also ok with chocolate chips - I weigh out 15 grams and eat them slowly, letting them dissolve in my mouth one by one.
  • shannonhughes70
    shannonhughes70 Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks so much for your tips!
  • toe1226
    toe1226 Posts: 249 Member
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    If you want to ever at chocolate again in your life, then you should eat chocolate while you're losing- its best to build a plan that you can do forever, otherwise its rollin like a yoyo for life. Get the prepackaged mini's or after mint chocolates and build in 100 cals for chocolate every day! or every other!
  • totaldetermination
    totaldetermination Posts: 1,184 Member
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    I buy my 'treats' in single portion packages. It helps me to only have one portion.
  • dutchandkiwi
    dutchandkiwi Posts: 1,389 Member
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    I would also suggest to see learn what your cheats are doing to your calorie intake.
    I have found (and many others too) is that logging changed the way I looked at food and my dietary intake as a whole. No longer is the focus on one or two foods. I have learned to better balance my calorie intake and incorporate what I love in this way.
    It means that I do not deprive myself of anything, but learned how to get the balance back.

    Comapre it to having a bankaccount. It is OK to splurge on that "must have" but you have to either save up for it, or ensure the account gets back into normal figures. It is not that different.
  • xveer22
    xveer22 Posts: 93 Member
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    If you really can't go without you might plan your 'cheat' snacks already the day beforehand. That way they are not cheating and if you stay with your planned portion size you can absolutely enjoy it without feeling guilty.
    That is what I do. Everyday I plan to eat one piece of chocolate, one cup of hot chocolate or a cappucino. I can chose between those three and they are really my enjoying moment of the day.

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