‘Cheat meals’ and ‘diets’

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13Mart10
13Mart10 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just wanted to start a thread for people who are suffering from the mental aspects of ‘cheating’ or restricting foods as I see a lot of people asking about things like ‘cheats meals/days’ etc etc

In my opinion, we all should try and learn to remove the terms ‘diet’ and ‘cheating’ from our vocabulary, ‘diet’ is based off deprivation and a temporary status, you shouldn’t deprive yourself of anything you enjoy in life, instead focus more on shifting your mindset and lifestyle to eating good nutritious whole foods and keeping up regular exercise, whatever that may be for you wether it’s a heavy weight session or just simply going for a long walk. And at the end of the day it’s completely unrealistic to think to yourself your going to go the rest of your life without indulging in a ‘cheat meal’, the phrase itself is ridiculous cause what are you actually cheating on?

For the average person who’s just looking to improve their general fitness and well being I think we can sometimes get too caught up in the process and I just feel these are two important factors on the mental side of things we need to keep check of.

In short, for the most part as long as your eating nutrient dense, wholefoods and keeping your body active and moving you’ll be fine.

Replies

  • patprince8
    patprince8 Posts: 16 Member
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    I agree with all of you because it's practical to think about wanting to get fit as a natural part of one's life; however, when one is getting fit, one also thinks about the times they venture away from their new life habits as cheating, so the term "cheat meals" and "cheat days" also are very useful for describing those natural bumps in the road to new life habits.
    In any case, yesterday I had cheated on my diet slightly by waking up at midnight and having a salmon sandwich with a cup of hot chocolate which put me about 800 calories over what I had intended to eat for the day. But that's okay. It was just a deliciously energizing bump on the road to lifestyle of healthy habits.
  • patprince8
    patprince8 Posts: 16 Member
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    (WARNING: POSSIBLE TMI) I must say that immediately after I had my midnight meal, liquid gushed through me and I had my period. So hormones can naturally nudge us to indulge more in extra food every now and then (-:
  • age_is_just_a_number
    age_is_just_a_number Posts: 630 Member
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    I agree. Often in my replies to questions I remind people about the following themes:
    - you’ve made a choice to become a healthier you
    - This choice is respecting yourself
    - This is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet.
    - The choices you make need to be sustainable.
    - It is not about depriving yourself, but treating yourself well.
    - There should not be guilt about what you’ve eaten.
    - Food nourishes our body
    - There are no good and bad foods, just food.
    - Eat it, enjoy it, log it and move on
    - Everyday is a new day and we get a fresh start everyday.

    Thank you.
  • Jacq_qui
    Jacq_qui Posts: 429 Member
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    Agree. I'm not "on a diet", I'm eating at a deficit.

    I haven't just had a cheat dessert, I've had birthday cake, because it's been my birthday.

    I'm allowed chocolate any day I like, but I need to eat within my calorie budget if I want to lose weight, and if I eat too much chocolate I will have less calories for other foods which are more filling and nutritious. For me, this mindset makes weight loss more sustainable.

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