Question for people on diets

[scared and alone]

When you have your cheat day, do you go all out? Like just eat anything and everything that you are craving?

[metrogirl]

No, I just indulge a little. I don't want to take on like 5000 calories because I know I am going to have to work that much harder to get rid of them.

[buddha55]

If i want pizza and ice cream, I have both.... I don't have 5 pieces of pizza and 5 scoops of ice cream. no binging!

[Beautiful Nightmare]

One cheat day can easily undo a week's worth of hard work. No way I'm setting myself up for failure like that! I don't deny myself things either, though. If there's something I really have a craving for, I simply work it into my daily food allotment and maybe up my exercise so my calorie in vs. calorie out stays the same.

[Minx2012]

As someone who works out 5 - 6 days a week, around 1 hour each time, I go pretty hard on my workouts with high intensity cross training. I KNOW that you have to run at a speed of 10.0 km / hr just to work off 1 cookie in a few minutes. So, everytime I want to SPLURGE on a " cheat day " ( let's say eat 3 - 6 cookies ), I stop myself by thinking, " Holy crap....I just ran 30 mins on the treadmill, almost dying, just to burn off such cookies ". That surely stops me from going crazy on cheat days.

 

On a cheat day, I would have 1 - 2 cookies and eat a lunch OR dinner ( not both ) that is a little less healthy than my regular meals. However, bc I am a health nut for many years now, my " less healthier " meals would be a bowl of pasta with fresh ingredients such as shellfish and lots of veggies. My daily healthy meals are nutritionist-healthy ( example : My carbs are consisted of mostly green, leafy or colorful vegetables, ancient grains like quinoa, lentils, spelt, amaranth or legumes and beans. I do NOT eat any red meat, pork or chicken. I only eat fish and tofu. My snacks are fruits. I don't even touch dairy and have relied on almond milk or soya milk ).

 

I haven't had pizza, burgers, bag of chips or anything " processed " ( i.e. cheese, pre-prepared boxed meals in freezers etc ) in over 5 years.

[Angler]

Being on a "diet" and feeling the need to cheat is a step towards failure.

 

Find a food/exercise balance that works for you and make it your lifestyle.

 

Needing to cheat means you're feeling deprived, and your eating habits won't last long term.

[Lambert]

I don't have all out cheat days. I have been working on improving my overall diet, so if I want a cookie I have one. I just try to incorporate that into my day and limit somewhere else. I think the less binging, the better. One cookie is not THAT bad as long as you don't use it as an excuse to just eat whatever all day long. And for me, that's where it's a lifestyle change-- nothing is really off limits but portion control is key.

[scared and alone]

Being on a "diet" and feeling the need to cheat is a step towards failure.

 

Find a food/exercise balance that works for you and make it your lifestyle.

 

Needing to cheat means you're feeling deprived, and your eating habits won't last long term.

 

This was just a curious question. Not about myself. I hear about cheat days on diets and i was just curious how far people took them.