Cheating, how do you atone?

I just spent the weekend cheating on my diet, it was AWESOME! But of course now I feel guilty. So my question is do you "forgive and forget" pretend it never happened and move on? Or "Atone" eat less/exercise more for a day or two after?
I'm torn. I kinda want to atone and exercise til I fall over, but truthfully that may not make any difference other than to lessen my guilt. So, I'm curious now how everyone else deals with cheating, and if it even matters to your weight loss goals.

I try to exercise a little harder for a day or 2 but not kill myself exercise. I have in the past just stopped entering for the day, but I am trying to not do that. I have to own my indulgences as well as own my successes so I can truly track how I am doing. It is mostly a psychological battle that I am fighting then anything. I have to make myself become better.

teresa

Haha... funny. I just "fell off the wagon" this weekend at the movies too!

I just get back to the grind... maybe 10 or 20 minutes more light exercise over the next couple of days but not too much.
Cutting too many calories might switch metabolism to "storage" (starvation) mode and over-exercise would just be unpleasant, demoralizing and might throw me off the program completely.

Cut yourself some slack... maybe one high calorie day a week. Then cut it to one day a month. Soon you'll be on one MEAL a month, just to cut loose and relax.

Hang in there... YOU CAN DO IT!!

@bradthemedic- No, I don't really think I ate that much... Can you imagine if the 9 pounds was real?!? Holy Cow!

BTW- Eating correctly, extra few minutes at the gym and I'm down 3 pounds in 24 hours, proof that the weight wasn't real.

I just log anyways but start over the next day. Tomorrow always brings a new beginning!

Just did the same thing, went to New York for the weekend and indulged in complete hedonism. I gained back all 7 lbs that I had lost. Well, the good news was that I just got back on track (and even goofed up a little on the weekend) and still lost 5 lbs this week. I think a lot was water weight. But I think overcompensating just makes it worse, you get back on the binge and guilt cycle. Better just to do the best you can and keep trying to make good decisions every day.

i think cheating is like this. all those calories lefted over from the week were saved to indulge during the weekend(moderately). personally i say oh well but deep down i do like a 30min workout next day n feel better.

Just remember how you feel for doing it....is it worth it? I usually don't cheat because I don't want to let myself down now....but it's taken awhile for me to get to this point!

I tell other people to forgive themselves and pick back up tomorrow for a fresh start! Although I don't always follow that advice myself. I worked out for 2 hours and burned over 1200 calories yesterday to bring my weekly net back down to where it needed to be after two not so great days before that.

In the end, I don't think it matters so much which route you take as long as you don't quit on yourself permanently!

I vote for forgive and forget. Lose the guilt--make a lifestyle change, forget "diets", and if you make bad choices here and there...? No biggie, we all do in EVERY aspect of life! Make good choices most of the time, remain human, make the best of your life...

If I over eat or eat more sugary/salty foods than normal I make sure I drink extra water and just start back with my regular exercise and eating at the next meal/day. This is a lifestyle and there will be meals/days were you are going to be consuming extra calories or things you normally wouldnt consume. You could up your exercise a little bit but you don't want to over exercise. The best thing is just to continue on and not beat yourself up!