Cheat days

[jgatienza]

Does anyone have cheat days? Or a cheat meal?

Thanks,

jgatienza

[WendyB · Accepted solution]

What is Cheat?

Some days I will have something I dont normally have.  But I never consider it cheating.

I make sure I eat healthly the rest of the day and week Life happens

[smhermione]

It's all about moderation.  If you try to cut out those higher calorie foods you love forever it will probably end in failure.  I try to limit the amount of those foods I have and I definitely log them and I try to budget for them in my calories for the day.  There are somedays that I just can't get in the exercise due to different obligations, but I try to look at my week as a whole and make sure I'm moving towards my goals.  One thing I specifically don't do is plan a free day when I can eat whatever I want... If I did that I'd be cheating all of the time!

[LCHFmom]

In my book, a "cheat" refers to a deviation from a strict "diet" .   I would ask yourself if you are on a diet, or making changes for part of a lifestyle change. 

Presuming you are talking about a diet, I woulds say the occasional deviation may be alright, depending on what your diet plan is.   Its really more about what you choose to intake, and how your body will process it. Will your body forgive you and allow it?  or will you pay for it for the next week? 

Good Luck!

[ericakelly]

I am right there with Wendy.

The fitness culture has this knack of using the term "cheat meal" when I don't consider it cheating at all! 

It's called living life!

The key is having moderation. Yes, 1-2 days out of the week I maybe don't eat as "clean", but that is just me having fun at dinner with friends or indulging on my favorite dessert! 

Give yourself some slack and turn fitness into a lifestyle, not a test! 😉

[Del678]

I have 1 'cheat' a week. I don't follow a specific diet that I'm "cheating on", but the 'living life in moderation' philosophy doesn't work for me. I end up justifiying way to much. I need rules or I don't get enough protein, vitamins, eat too much fat etc 🙂

Usually, I find that the cheat isn't as good as I've built up in my head so actually a cheat helps me not want it again. For example, all this week I was craving a particular type of chocolate. On cheat day, it didn't taste as good as I thought it would, and the sugar made me feel a bit ill. I doubt I'll crave it again. And knowing that makes me feel good.

I have enough other things in my life to love and enjoy in excess, that don't make me unhealthy.