I feel so guilty...is it really ok to cheat?

Question

stuck to my plan for 5 weeks perfectly, cheated for 5 days because of a wedding...back on track for a week and have ruined it this evening. i decided to have a cheat meal/evening every 1 or 2 weeks. but now iv done it i feel truly awful. like i just keep failing and il never make my weight goal. please someone offer some advice/opinion on this. please...the honest brutal truth. i just need a plan...cheat evening or no cheat evening. what shall i do. how much have i screwed it up again?! =[[[

Answer 1

forgive yourself. Allow yourself to indulge twice a month without guilt. I still have five pounds to go before hubby can bounce quarter on my rump. Forgive and start over. No guilt trips.

Answer 2

I think that a "cheat night" is a really bad idea. From personal experience, it is impractical, and tends to result in weight gain, or ruined weight loss!!

When you schedule a "cheat day" you tend to eat way too many bad things because, hey, it's the one meal you can...but this causes weight gain. You can't eat a cheeseburger and fries and a coke on your cheat day. You might as well erase all your hard work...

Then you had your cheat day, but suddenly someone's birthday dinner comes up...and you have to cheat again...and you feel bad....etc etc etc

I don't need to cheat, because I allow myself to have "bad" foods in moderation at times. There are some things I won't have, like a Big Mac, but I will have a couple of french fries, and I don't feel bad. I can have a cookie or a small slice of pie at a big party. If everyone goes out to dinner I try to choose something "healthy" on the menu, but if I want a glass of wine or even a beer I'm not going to kill myself over it. You see, I never "cheat" because I don't need to. If my kids are eating mac n cheese (which I love) then I have a bite or two. That is all. Then I eat my healthy meal. A couple days later we go to a BBQ...well, I'll have a hamburger, but I'll avoid the other bad foods there...and you see, I haven't blown my hard work at all!! So, I don't have a bite or two of naughty things every day, but when the situation calls for it and I really want it I do and I don't regret it. More and more I find myself not interested. I think about how that ice cream sundae equals about 4 hours on the treadmill and that stops that craving. LOL

Food brings us a tremendous amount of pleasure!! Don't feel guilty because you enjoyed one of life's enjoyments! You are exercising and eating healthy most of the time! You are doing great, and you'll lose the weight over time!

Stop beating yourself up! You didn't blow it-you're on the right track. This is a process, not an exam. You're doing great!

Answer 3

Saturday night is my cheat night. it wont hurt to do it occasionally but don't let that cause you to give up. keep yourself on track and have something you want once in awhile. that will help you stay on track better. it would be hard knowing you could never eat something again so don't come down too hard on yourself.

Answer 4

ok. sounds like you need a plan. make yourself a chart of what time to eat, and how many calories to eat. its important to cheat once a week. so pick a day. lets say friday. on friday you can have your favorite food. such as ice cream or spaghetti but in moderation. too much will ruin your diet plan. also exercises more. because if you excercise for about 20 more minutes you can eat that chocolate without feeling guilty. hope i helped = ]

Answer 5

LOL,I thought u're talking about something else LOL

u have to be strong and don't get close to food that u know u cant resist

Answer 6

I feel like I'm in the same boat, sort of. I have been doing Isagenix cleanse for about a month now, lost 31 pounds and even though that's GREAT success I still feel guilty on some days when I eat a little more than I should have.

But then I tell myself of how much I've accomplished and as long as I don't continue to cheat every day and go back to my old habits, I'm fine. It's okay to cheat and I think it's probably necessary to treat yourself to something good every so often  because if you don't you might just breakdown and eat everything in the house. So I think it's better to treat yourself every so often instead of depriving yourself until you crack.

I cheated this weekend, but not really that bad I still ate healthy foods but I probably ate more than I should have. I enjoyed myself and my weight has not changed. I've been exercising at least 30 minutes per day at the gym on the eliptical or on my bike.

Answer 7

lol... when I first read the headline question I thought it ought to be in the Marriage section... lol.

The calories form that one meal might have been over 1000 calories higher than your planned meal. You can offset that by spending 45 minutes in a cycle class at a gym. Don't freak out ~ Workout.

Answer 8

The honest brutal truth:  Yes, it's ok to cheat.  Don't overdo it too much, but you need to indulge once in a while.  I'm losing 1.5 to 2 lbs a week and that's with a planned once a week dinner out with no restrictions. ( I even had a cheeseburger, curly fries, and fried mushrooms once and still lost 2 lbs that week.) You have to indulge otherwise it becomes forbidden in your mind and you'll want to do it more because it's wrong, then you'll feel completely guilty.  

The way this works is that you are good the rest of the week.  Eating healthy, exercising, etc. You indulge yourself one day a week and as long as you stick to the healthy habits that you know, such as portion control and stopping when you're not hungry anymore, you won't completely blow your weight loss.

And btw, yes you blew it for 5 days and tonight, but don't feel bad! Get back on track and concentrate on dieting again.  Don't throw yourself into a guilt trap, you need to be like "yeah, ok, I blew it, but that was then and now I need to worry about getting back on track today."

Good luck!