One cheat meal is not going to hurt you

I don't cheat...I EAT. I do not understand this cheat thing. What exactly is one cheating on... Do people plan on going the rest of their lives without eating out or eating cake or whatever else. That is why diets fail. You need to work these things into your lifestyle. All things in moderation. It works.

The thing about planning cheat meals is that it can definitely get out of hand for some people, regardless of how well you "planned it". The problem with most "cheat" foods is that they are very unhealthy, full of processed, highly concentrated fats and sugars and things that should just not go into your body period. Those things are quite literally addictive for some people, especially those struggling with their weight (how do you think they became overweight in the first place? it definitely wasn't by having "one treat a week") With some people, certain foods lead to a strong, almost insatiable desire for MORE MORE MORE. And if it was that easy for them to just stop at one bite or one meal, they probably wouldn't be overweight now.

the only unhealthy food is one eaten in excess.

but my point is, what is keeping someone who TRULY has a problem with junk food from eating it in excess? absolutely nothing. simple self control isn't even enough to keep a binge eater from grabbing another cookie, or another twelve cookies. Or having four more slices of pizza after their first.

well, no. that's exactly the thing keeping them from eating more. no one is forcing them to eat X amount of anything. you make a decision. do I eat that or do I not eat that. not eating something you might like to have/have more of? that's pretty much the definition of self control.

but that's basically the essence of weight loss in general - making the right decisions of what to eat, or to eat certain amounts of certain foods. the fact of the matter is, overweight people become so by NOT making the correct decisions, and eating too much of certain things (usually high fat, high sugar, etc). Once a person decides to lose weight, the self control doesn't pop up out of nowhere - it still is a battle every day to choose the right foods. But even MORE difficult (for many people, clearly not you though) is choosing a wrong food which one used to eat in abundance before they decided to change their lifestyles & lose weight, and then attempting to stop at just a little. It's much easier for them to avoid the food altogether because once they get that taste, there's the powerful urge for more that would NEVER have been there (or at least not to that extreme) if they had just not touched it in the first place. For people who struggle with this type of behavior, it is much easier to just not eat it than to eat it and try not to have more. The temporary pleasure of letting themselves have that "cheat food" isn't worth the massive amounts of willpower it would take for them to not eat more of that food. Again, this is people who struggle with trigger foods and binge eating and such. Not for your average Joe who can eat one cookie and not want another.

From what I've seen and also been through...deprivation causes MUCH more damage in the long run than a simple "cheat" meal.

Moderation is much safer than deprivation when it comes to those that struggle with their weight.

It's only "deprivation" if you have the mental mindset that you need certain junk foods to be happy... there are many people who have completely changed their lifestyles from processed crap to whole foods and they would never go back even if you put a huge bag of mcdonalds right in front of them. Something can only be deprivation if the desire is there. If you lose the desire to eat things that are bad (even in 'moderation') then the absence of it is simply the absence of it - not deprivation.

I agree wholeheartedly with the trigger foods. I am one of those people, 100% and every day is a struggle. If I restrict myself completely from any type of dessert for a while, I'm absolutely fine. But once I let myself have one, I go into a tailspin all over again and lose control. It's like a drug. You get off it, and get over withdrawal (from drugs or alcohol I mean) and eventually you don't want it as much. But just one taste, just one puff of the cigarette, and you're hooked all over again. Trying to eat healthy and manage my eating can be so stressful that the emotional eating kicks in and I want the food even more. I need a cheat day or else I won't eat healthy at all. If you don't understand it, if you haven't ever experienced it, don't argue about it. How can one be "deprived" of bad for you food?! You don't need it at all, your taste buds and emotions just think you do. I know I don't "need" that food. Does it make me happy in the moments I'm eating it? Yes. Do I feel guilty afterwards? Sometimes, depends on my mood. Sometimes I think "to hell with all of it" and don't feel guilty. Sometimes I feel so guilty, but it still doesn't stop me from continuing the behavior for another week or so. I wasn't raised to be mindful of my eating. I was encouraged by my father to eat whatever I wanted, however much I wanted, because life is too short to not eat the foods you want. So self control doesn't come naturally to people like me. I wasn't raised on veggies or fruit. I was raised on sugary cereal, stromboli, grilled cheese, and fried chicken. I know that I can have all of these things in moderation, but if one piece makes me happy, 5 will make me REALLY happy (at least for the moment). But other things make me happy too. And I need to learn to focus more on them and depend less on food. Training myself to eat veggies (I struggle with them more than fruit, I think because fruit is naturally sweet and I love sweets) as an adult freaking sucks. I am trying to change myself for the better now, before I have kids, so I don't repeat the behavior and then my kids have to turn around and go through what I'm going through. Or if they don't try to get healthy, I'll have to sit there and watch them destroy their lives with food until it kills them. I don't want my kids to go through what I've gone through in my life. So like I said, if you don't understand, and haven't experienced binge eating like I've described, don't argue about it.

I do understand , I have experienced it and I will give my opinion on it...that's not an argument. Just because my solution is different than yours doesn't make it wrong. I was raised to comfort myself with food and not the healthy kind. I can only give my experience and my solution which has helped me. I no longer have an unhealthy relationship with food and haven't binged. I'd call that a success. Will it work for everyone? NO but it was my suggestion. So sorry you consider that an argument.

Please don't make judgments on what you think I've been through or haven't been through.