"Cheat Days"

I totally cheated tonight for dinner. I was running out the door for baseball practice and everyone else had dinner while I ran around. You know , typical mom...I had 9 chocolate chip cookies...fresh from the oven. Talk about cheating!! I guess tomorrow is a new day!

I don't purposely have cheat days...however i have had my days where i ate some things that i probably shouldn't have..i dont beat myself up about it, it's just an old habit trying to creep back in..i pick up the next day and i never look back, changing your lifestyle is a big event...some people use it as an excuse and fall back into old habits...others use it as an eye opener and keep pushing...


good luck

I think a small cheat is okay here and there but I try to make them still fit into my calories with a little extra exercise. A whole cheat day would totally throw me off track. I hate the cravings so its worth it to keep myself away from processed crap and refined sugar as much as possible.

I have heard it helps to stay on target and avoid binge eating if you give yourself one day to eat whatever you want. My experience is it is better to begin after you are having some success and momentum. It is interesting how over time you don't either crave the "bad" foods or eat much less of them.

Every single time I have a cheat day, I get thrown off. I swear, I have been in the 180's for far to long. I was 208 when I first started. My boyfriend was around 240. We started the same day. He never really cheated, and now he is 194. Me, on the other hand cheated like no other! I am at 184. I don't want my boyfriend to weigh less then me! Ugh. But today I cheated... On a boat load of stuff. Waaaah. But I will not let it get to me! I would feel like a failure if my boyfriend weighed less then me... I really honestly would. So, NO MORE CHEAT DAYS! Bad idea... Ha :b

I have a "cheat meal" every week. It keeps binges at bay. Even after my cheat meals, I make sure I'm still under/at my calorie goal. If I'm not, I'll workout to burn some off.

I do cheat days, "liberally." But when I cheat it is usually a small thing here/there. I have NEVER believed in a super strict diet, I feel too restricted. Also, when I do cheat, I know I am going to work my butt off to make up for it, and I kind of think that helps motivate me sometimes to really go hard. Basically I don't mind cheats, I actually like them to throw curve balls at my body, I'd encourage them, but you have to have discipline and be willing to kick your own butt. Its like working, if you want something you work or get a 2nd job for extra money to get it. Same thing. I only take REALLY big cheat days when I have worked hard. Tonight I went way over on fat, not happy at all about it. But I have REALLY worked hard this week and felt it was time to treat. I did manage to stay under my calorie count as well. I also am 90% likely to run tomorrow, which was a planned rest day, because I want to work off the damage I did. I likely will not use this cheat meal again because I didn't know it was THIS off balance with fat, but what is done is done and I still would take this meal in a much smaller portion.

For me cheats require very strong mental discipline and a hardcore work ethic to balance it out. Interval training for your metabolism(and I don't care if that isn't even remotely accurate way to put it!) So far doing this I have lost 17 lbs and counting, pounds are coming off 4-8 lbs a week right now, I'm happy and I feel better each day.

I forgot to mention, cheat restrictions need to be tighter/more reasonable as you get closer to the "maintain" level for yourself. When you're heavier like I am, I can cheat more because it is easier to "undo" the damage in a sense. As I get closer I will have less cheating. This just falls under my evolution of my life changes anyway, most of my cheat items will be gone by then.

I think that would be today. My lunch was about 100 Calories more than my daily target, plus the 430 from breakfast and the 790 from dinner. (450 of which were Fazoli's breadsticks.)

Every Thursday, I take my 3 year old to Pizza Hut for the buffet. I actually just use one of the more calorie heavy pizzas (pepperoni pan) and count that x the number of slices. I know a fair number were thin crust, etc, so I may not have really been over by as much if at all, and I did nuke a bit over 800 in exercise today. (I didn't ride as much as I could have, I wanted to try to get a new top speed, which I did going down a steep hill that is also a state route. I crossed 32 MPH on my bike for only the second time, and was 3/10s of a MPH faster than my previous best.

Then again, I did create a spreadsheet on my tablet that tells me how many of various items I can have for dinner. We have a place here that my fav item is nearly 800 Calories, and my second fav is over 350... I tell it how many remain, and it tells me what I can order.

I have a "cheat meal" every week. It keeps binges at bay. Even after my cheat meals, I make sure I'm still under/at my calorie goal. If I'm not, I'll workout to burn some off.

Right on, that's my mentality too.

I do have cheat days...so far working just fine for me.I feel cheat days keep me from feeling deprived. I don't cheat all day on those days (Friday & Saturday) I stay pretty active on these days. I don't recommned cheat days because they dont work for eveyone, but I do believe you have to allow yourself a little indulging :}