Cheat day...now what?

Leauxra · April 2016

It was the last day of my first year of grad school and there was a big party with cake and pizza and donuts and candy and everything.

I was good. I brought a salad and half of a turkey sandwich, but eventually I was just too tempted. I didn't binge eat, but I ate the crappy food until I was full. Cue the guilt and feeling like I wasted a whole week.

How do you come back from a cheat day? Do you fast the next day? Do you work out the day of even though you may feel super gross? How do I stop feeling guilty?

This has always been an issue for me. I can't help but sulk in the regrets. What do you do that helps?

cityruss · April 2016

The world still turns.

Carry on as normal.

Unknown · April 2016

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endlessfall16 · April 2016

Just eat lighter the next couple meals. Enjoy the added energy. Maybe put in some extra exercise. Feel happy instead of guilt. Do something different this time that it won't be just another "cheat day", a continuation of an issue. Nothing changed, nothing learned.

kimny72 · April 2016

Life happens. If you let one bad day knock you off course, you are always going to struggle. What you do one day doesn't determine your success, it's what you do every day. So get back on plan tomorrow, and try to get a little extra exercise the rest of the week to offset the possible damage. Fasting, over-exercising, or wallowing in guilt will just perpetuate the cycle. No reason to feel guilty about food, unless you stole it

MommyL2015 · April 2016

Hey, congrats on making it through your first year!

Life is worth it sometimes!

MsBuzzkillington · April 2016

You learn to stop feeling guilty for indulging once in awhile. Just carry on as normal tomorrow. It's no big deal. You didn't waste anything, you didn't ruin anything, you haven't failed.

diannethegeek · April 2016

How do I stop feeling guilty?

I like interrupt the negative thoughts and concentrate on the good things. For one, you now have conclusive proof that you're human and not a robot!

Seriously, though. None of us are perfect. We all slip up from time to time. You didn't binge, and that's a plus. You've already taken the first steps towards getting back on the horse, and that's good too. You're learning from this. And you got through your first year of grad school. Congratulations on all of that!

I don't know how much guilt you're feeling right now, but in the long run it's probably more than a few donuts and some snacks are worth. We're all a work in progress. Some days will be worse than others. Dust yourself off and keep going :flowerforyou:

kgirlhart · April 2016

It was a special occasion. You don't do that everyday. I just log it when that happens. Tomorrow is a fresh new day.

LPflaum · April 2016

I eat like a tiny bodybuilder 6 days a week and allow one or two cheat meals on the weekends. it helps keep my sanity. don't beat yourself up over it, just resolve to do a little better tomorrow than you did today. Hell, maybe you'll have a ton of carby energy tomorrow and you can go for a run or do a little interval training.

chelseafxx · April 2016

Just move on.

Francl27 · April 2016

You log it and go back to your normal deficit the next day. As long as you're eating at a deficit - you'll make up for it in a couple days. Not a big deal at all.

rankinsect · April 2016

I wouldn't feel at all guilty about doing something like that. On special occasions, I definitely indulge. (I also work what you call "crappy" food into my normal diet a lot, just in moderate portions). As long as you don't celebrate special occasions like "the longest consecutive number of days I've been alive" you'll be fine. Say you overeat twenty days per year. What is really more important is how you eat on the other 345.