How often do you have cheat days.....once aweek, month or months? and what does this exactly mean.I get desperate because i have a very hard time controling myself from eating chocolates and sweets. after eating these things i feel very sad and the vicious cycle of fruatration and overeating begins.
recently, i have been trying my best to cut down my sweets and i feel like have become sucessful to some extent. however once every 4-5 days i have a strong urge to eat chocolates.............do any of you have similar problems? how have you sucessfuly dealt with this situation?

Once a week in indulge a little. Chocolate is my weakness so this is what i've done.

Stop buying it altogether and dont bring it into the house where it will be a temptation.
Once a week eat some cookies or have a chocolate shake or a piece of cake. Savor it.

I nibble on a few sweet things a day. if it's a workout day I take advantage of of it and throw something sweet into my post-workout shake to replenish some carbs and get the taste.

On other days I just nibble on a cookie or a little halloween chocolate bar or something, Nab a few chips out of a bag then stop.

If I owned the house, the crap wouldn't even be in here to tempt me though

First off, if you eat them within your calorie limit then no biggie. No you shouldn’t fit a whole chocolate bar into your day, everyday. But why not buy one (a small normal size one) and have some of it 2-4 times that week. If you cravings are really that strong, find a way to have it, limit it, and not go over your calorie limit. Better then a binge.

I have been stretching a chocolate bar out over 2 weeks lately (mmm wonka bar). And I try to have one night out to a restaurant once a week. And I still try to not really go way over my limit. Don’t have to eat everything on your plate. Take it home or throw it out.

Keeping it out of your house is a must!

I don't believe in "cheat" days. I HATE the concept that dieters come up with that it's ok to "cheat" - because what are you cheating on? Yourself?

Life is full of times, places, situations where you aren't going to eat 100% healthy. Having some chocolate now and then, indulging in a piece of cheese cake, going out for burgers shouldn't be a CHEAT. You're not cheating on your life if you enjoy some not-so-healthy food now and then.

This is the all-or-nothing, food-is-evil mindset that kills people who are dieting.

Do you want chocolate? Do you have the calories available? Are you limiting it to about once a week? Go for it.

Do you crave french fries? Can you fit them into your calorie plan? Do you limit it to once a week or less? Eat the damn fries.

It's not CHEATING to allow yourself to have a treat now and then. That the type of thinking that leads to food disorders.

Food is not a cheat. It can, however, be a treat. Plan accordingly and eat healthily 90% of the time and allow yourself a treat of a favorite food the other 10%.

Gotta agree with Kara. A half of a hershey's bar is only 100 calories. If I have the calories left for my day, I eat it.

I'm no expert, but I used to have the all or nothing mentality to dieting and would watch my dad have a cheat day and eat WAY too much junk on that one day because he was depriving himself. I was like that for a long time too. And of course, I could never maintain my weight loss. I've finally gotten out of that cheat day mentality and into healthy living and I'm finally losing weight easily.

Actually I guess I do sort of have a cheat day. I know that about once a week I'll go out with friends or family. So if I'm shooting for 1700 calories/day (about 12,000 a week). My week usually breaks down like this. 3 days at 1500, 3 days at 1700. And then I'll have one day where I can go over each week and eat 2300 and still be hit my weekly goal.

Then I use those 600 for cake at a birthday party, drinks with my friends. A greasy burger during the game instead of chicken and rice. Or whatever.

Oh I allow myself a "free day" once a week ... I posted about it here:

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/nutri...free-days.html

But to me that's not a "cheat". It's just a day where I relax my calorie standards and don't worry if I go over a bit or if I eat packaged food or chips. It's absolutely not a binge or go-crazy day.

For example, tomorrow is my free day (usually it's Sunday) and I am already planning to have lunch with a friend at Cheesecake Factory. I'll probably have pasta and split a piece of cheesecake with her. Then I'll go home and have dinner as usual.

To me that's a part of normal, healthy living - you make good choices 90% of the time and that way the other 10% aren't such a big deal.

ive cut chocolate out altogether as i cannot trust myself!! my sweet fix is reduced suger jam working well so far !

i feel less guilty after hearing your thoughts..............i think the most important thing in the weight loss journey is to maintain positive attitude and have faith in ourselves.the feeling of guilt after eating a chocolates wil make you guilty if you think that these things are absolutely prohibited.
i agree that once in a while for e.g a week its ok to induldge in the food you like a lot. however, it is important to watch the portion and make sure that you don't do it in a regular basis.i have also realized that the craving gets better once you start eating healthy............
thanks guys for the answers........... i will not feel guilty....no bad and sad days in my life any more............will try to maintain positive attitude and continue with my good work!

I feel that I will only succeed at losing AND MAINTAINING my weight loss if I change my perspective on food... and come to the realisation that I am not on a diet... I have changed my eating patterns from unhealthy 'anything goes' to a good healthy alternative. This is how I am going to have to eat for the rest of my life...

So... if there is a dinner out at a restaurant... I go... I join in... I have a glass or two of wine... because If I start cutting all the 'nice goodies' out of my life... I will never ever manage to maintain my new eating plan...

So... I must endorse what Kara says... be careful... but don't stop living... if you do that... you will not succeed!

Doing it once every 2 weeks is my first recommendation on my web page relating my experience. And it worked perfectly for me for a long time, no guilt.

Check HERE

For me, the concept of a cheat day is somewhat skewed. As a college student who goes out to eat with his friends often, it'll suffice to say that my healthy options are rather limited. However, I usually stick very close to what my caloric intake should be, and because I work out, I'm never worried about it.

I have maybe 4-5 cheat days a month, just spread out. Also, maybe once a month, I do a crazy, crazy binge, but usually not on food. I rarely go out, so last weekend I had more alcohol than was probably necessary, but I'm good for another month or two of losing weight without it.

Theres nothin wrong with having a "treat" everyonce in awhile..just don't go over board and eat a whole bag of reese's cups or anything lol (my weakness). Thats why people binge eat and go crazy because they deprive themselves of there favorite foods. Im not saying eat whatever you want when you want, just saying reward yourself now and then. If you do eat more then you should, don't give up and say screw this im done. Just start again tomorrow and try harder next time to make sure it won't happen again (although it most likey a few more times).

Once a week, I go to a sushi buffet for lunch with co-workers and put down about 1500-2000 calories in one sitting (I count my pieces). I just snack on celery and carrots later in the evening instead of eating a full meal.

All the other days, I eat around 300 calories of healthy low-fat food every three hours and drink copious amounts of water, which is around 1200-1500 cal spread over the whole day.

My caloric intake even on my "binge" day really isn't that extreme since I'm still running a caloric deficit. My base metabolism is around 1800 for my weight, but I run 5-6 miles a day, making my total caloric needs closer to 2500. So I'm still running a deficit, just not as large as I do on my other days. The biggest damage I'm doing is probably to my metabolism since I am stuffing myself all at once instead of spreading it out over the course of the day. But hey, you gotta treat yourself once in a while, right?