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You should NOT gain any weight because of a cheat meal.
If you don't gain weight on a cheat meal / day, then you didn't cheat.
Your weight the next day is inconsequential and irrelevant. The key is to lose the weight you gained and then some by the next weigh in.
That's a successful cheat. Every one I've taken since August has been a success.
I hit my goal in 2017 and have sustained said goal. Hasn't changed the cheat day habit.
Like I said, i think long term and I know my tendencies. I work with the cards that I've been dealt and if one day allows me to stay on track for the long term, yes sir, i'll take the "hit" of a day.
I really like the term "free" as well - thank you for that suggestion!
I had quite a few bad days lately. The dreary weather, all the home chaos, and not being busy at work has all been getting to me. Some of those could be called 'free' days, but a few of them were really 'cheat' days. I was definitely not eating mindfully and making a pig of myself. I've been shopping a bit too much lately as well....
Working on getting myself on the right track! Hoping to have 'free' weekends for Easter and Mother's Day!
I am not trying to lose weight, am maintaining same range for five years, but when I was losing weight intentionally (from normal to very underweight), there was NO room for cheat days. Even one cheat day would cause a set back of several lbs unless I upped the exercise considerably that day and the next and ate way less the next day to "make up for it".
Nowadays, I tend to eat very healthy whole foods style, but once in a while I eat outside my comfort zone or way more than I usually do and it doesn't affect me much if at all. My metabolism is likely better now that I am not restricting intake so hard so my body bounces back easier instead of holding on to every extra ounce of food energy.
If you don't gain weight on a cheat meal / day, then you didn't cheat.
.
What the hell kind of cheat meals are you having where ONE meal makes you gain weight?
Some cheat meal examples:
2 slices of pizza
In-N-Out Double-Double burger
Bowl of spagetti
Burrito bowl from Chipotle with guac
You shouldnt go all buck wild on a cheat meal. And ESPECIALLY cheat meals should not include things like ice cream, cake, doughnuts, soda, etc. You never want to "reward" yourself with the poor behavior and food choices that led to being overweight/obese. This is just sabotage to a person's health/weight goals and not at all developing better habits that will last a lifetime.
The term "cheat" has stuck with me for whatever reason so that's what I use, lol.
There's no "right" way. The right way is whatever way it takes for you to reach your goal. If people choose to "reward" themselves with a blowout day, then who are we to deny them? Dieting 101 is that it's what you do OVER THE COURSE OF TIME that makes the biggest difference, not the two pounds of water and waste that you gain when you have a day when you don't practice restraint. Truth is, one has to be VERY restrained for cheat days to be effective. I lost 70 lbs while enjoying a cheat day (not a meal...started off as a meal, then decided to make it a day). In fact, I was running two cheat days until I got much thinner and then I had to pare it down to one. It's calories in, calories out. I eat fairly low calorie most days of the week (and I'm fine with that), but there's one day that I go totally off the rails and if that keeps me sane and no longer fat, then that's what I'll do.
And during cheat day, I eat whatever. as in whatever. i want. the next day I go right back to my normal eating patterns. rinse and repeat.
The term "cheat" has stuck with me for whatever reason so that's what I use, lol.
There's no "right" way. The right way is whatever way it takes for you to reach your goal. If people choose to "reward" themselves with a blowout day, then who are we to deny them? Dieting 101 is that it's what you do OVER THE COURSE OF TIME that makes the biggest difference, not the two pounds of water and waste that you gain when you have a day when you don't practice restraint. Truth is, one has to be VERY restrained for cheat days to be effective. I lost 70 lbs while enjoying a cheat day (not a meal...started off as a meal, then decided to make it a day). In fact, I was running two cheat days until I got much thinner and then I had to pare it down to one. It's calories in, calories out. I eat fairly low calorie most days of the week (and I'm fine with that), but there's one day that I go totally off the rails and if that keeps me sane and no longer fat, then that's what I'll do.
And during cheat day, I eat whatever. as in whatever. i want. the next day I go right back to my normal eating patterns. rinse and repeat.
Yeah no way that pattern would ruin overall/long term goals/losses.
One must have discipline though, as I bolded yours above, to not extend the "cheat" beyond the meal/day. You have discipline as proven by your results (so cool, your photos are amazing) and I could prob do that too as I'm not really "into" food nor eat emotionally (though I prefer severe structure so never "cheat"; has more to do with my black/white nature than fear of eating too much) but I warrant cheats be they days or meals may cause problems for the folks who emotionally eat, or who have poor self discipline or a food addiction issue.
I think if one can do cheats and not OVERdo them it can be a great way to keep one on track without feeling deprived. I never saw food as a treat or a reward so for me this wouldn't be a thing but for many it surely is.
The problem with that is that when you're a diabetic, there is no such thing as a responsible amount of those things or anything that's high carb, like pasta or Mexican.
So there are two things you can do.
1. Never, ever eat it. Forget about things like Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner too... that ain't happening!
2. Get it all out of the way in one go.
I do number 2.
It's pretty easy to stay ahead of the high blood sugars, too. I take a huge shot right before.
I've actually had low blood sugars while eating Italian. Needless to say, they went back up.
There have been a couple of times that I nailed it so spot on that I had normal sugars throughout an entire cheat.
There are three ways. The third is to find a substitute ice cream that doesn't raise your blood sugar, and eat that instead of ice cream that does raise your blood sugar. And, no, it doesn't have to be the best ice cream ever, the perfect tasting ice cream. It just has to be okay enough to get your ice cream fix out of the way without damaging your body.
In the summertime when it's hot, or when my husband is having his Ben & Jerry's ice cream, I sometimes want a treat too, so I eat one of my "okay" ice creams, and that does the trick for me. No cheating, no damage.
If you look, you can find a non-cheat substitute for pretty much every food you crave.
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