I am a genius

[vdizenzo]

So after my last meet I decided to take an entire week off from dieting and training. I felt awful, but it was fun. I hit a great self loathing stage which is a nice setup for getting back to work. In the week I put on 10-11 lbs. As excited as I was to get back to work, I had a bit of a fear as well "What if I can't do it?" So I decide that I would start my diet on a day when I get a cheat meal.

You see, I don't have a traditional cheat day. It throws me into a tailspin I sometimes can't get out of. So, I go with three cheat meals a week. They happen after three of my four weekly weight training sessions. Anyway, although I had some slight urges to binge the morning of my diet (candy everywhere after Halloween) I was able to hold it together knowing I could have a cheat after training.

I made it through the day, hit the weights, and then had a pleasurable meal. It was cool because I had no guilt whatsoever. I even ended up dropping 3 lbs.

Fortunatlely I did not let myself go too far. Do I suggest this for everyone--no. However, I find with dieting you have to be honest with yourself. When I was working hard to cut down there was a time where I'd go a few weeks without a cheat meal. I had too far to go. I did not deserve one. Now, I know my body pretty well and I know what it's going to take to get back to where I want. I have found a way to make it work for myself.

[Sean S]

Sounds like you've done a good job of figuring out what works for you psychologically. I've found the mental aspect is often the biggest hurdle in the process of sticking to a healthy eating pattern. I've come across some like you who get derailed if they have an entire cheat day. They could literally undo a whole week of good eating in one day and that one day would roll into another then another and so on. These people often struggled with "the holidays" because they would overeat for a solid 2 months, not just a few days. When I was in the military and doing alot of weight loss counseling I spent most of my time as an amateur psychologist trying to foster behavior change and not fine-tuning the nutritional details. For the vast majority of people the psychology of weight loss is way more important than the details of the actual diet plan.

[Y2A]

Knowing yourself is what it's all about man. I know that I am very weak willed with sweets, so I try not to buy any portions large enough that I cant comfortably eat in one sitting. If I do have to get something large, like a half gallon of ice cream, I literally have to eat what I want and throw the rest away because I know it won't make it long in my freezer. So when no kids came by this halloween for trick or treating and I had all that candy in my house... yeah, it was a nice cheat dinner eating chocolate until I felt sick.

[Mike S]

Your genious is showing!

Anyways... I basically have the same problem as you. Generally I can overcome the urge, but there's those times that I can't help but give in. I tend to do it a couple times a week. My girlfriend's family has spoiled me with their liking of fancy restaurants....so I find myself eating out seldomly. I do usually try to order the healthiest food available. I generally only allow myself to give in on days I know I can afford to the most; sually the days I do cardio in the gym and burn large amounts of calories running. But yeah... I know exactly where you're coming from.

[Codeguru]

Yeah, it makes things a lot less stressful to know the beaten path back to your goal. And that alone makes it a lot easier to control yourself...

Codeguru