1 cheat day turns into 3 days!!

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 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.

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!

@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 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.

I buy my 'treats' in single portion packages. It helps me to only have one portion.

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.

I tend to eat a square or two a day as well. It can be a little rocky at first, but once you know you can have it and it's allowed, I don't want more than a square or two. I eat it somewhat slowly, with a drink, and it's a nice, satisfying treat. I've lost 4 pounds since the start of the year and I regularly eat chocolate, frozen yogurt, peanut butter, cake, brownies, whatever. I'm just careful and try to limit it to one "treat" a day (like if I have a muffin at a coffee shop in the afternoon, I might avoid the chocolate later in the day unless I really fancy it), stick to my overall calorie goals, and exercise a few times a week.

Cutting out anything and going too stringent with your diet can often result in binges or giving up. You're changing your lifestyle and so long term, it's always good to try and figure out how to work in treats so you are happy yet reaching your goals.

kshama2001 wrote: »

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.

I believe this is great advice, as moderating something you love will have you enjoy it more than you would expect.

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.

THIS! ^ It's better to indulge yourself a little bit on occasion so that you don't feel so deprived that you go WAY overboard... This has always been my downfall...

Really good advice here already. I'd just add the cocoa powder (the baking kind) can be very useful to add into things, and it has tons of good polyphenols in it.

I have a tablespoon in my coffee daily, and also mix it with peanut butter and chocolate protein powder.

Don't think of chocolate as just candy bars. It doesn't have to include sugar. It's nutritionally useful and tastes good; just be creative with it.