That is excellent advice! Day 1 starts now!

Thanks, I need to read this sometimes. Sometimes my mind says,"oh its ok to cheat.You still won't be eating as much as you use to and you'll probably still lose weight.
I have to ignore this. This new way of eating is for life. The foods I would choose to cheat with have no place in a healthy diet EVER!! They don't do me a bit of good. It is not a cheat it is a punishment to my body!

When I read "lessons learned" that involve cheating, I wonder if it was really a lesson learned. I hope so. For me, a lesson learned is how to persevere WITHOUT cheating! THAT is the hard part!

I wouldn't worry too much about this statistic ("He said 70% of dieters maintain after two years, and every one in the 30% that didn't cheated during phase 1.") It seems to me like a scare tactic. If that coach really wanted to inform, he would have also provided the percentage of dieters who maintain after two years who DID cheat during phase 1. The two stats side by side would be a much more compelling data point. He probably didn't because, realistically, at least some of those individuals cheated during phase 1!

Forget these stats! Focus on YOU!

Like!

I cheated tonight, a planned cheat. What that means, really, is absolutely nothing- I plain cheated! Ok, I'm not going to best myself up, just pick myself up and move on!

We will find hundreds of excuses to cheat (planned or not). We show our strength,resilience, determination, and commitment when we stay on plan. Maintenance wont be any easier. Read the stats. It is harder to maintain than to lose it in the first place. Lets make NEW statistics!

I have been on IP for 2 1/2 months and have not cheated - ever! I am so proud of my weight loss to date but am concerned about the holidays coming up. I am planning to cheat at a few events over the holidays but am concerned what that will really mean.

You're the only one that can decide what it means to you. If you're "planning", you can just as easily plan NOT to cheat as the opposite. I had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and went to my 20th high school reunion and stayed completely on plan - it was a conscious choice on my part. And it's one I have NO regrets about, because I didn't lose any ground in my weight loss in the process. You have to decide whether it REALLY is worth it.

Day 28 and I haven't cheated once. I don't ever plan to until my Phase 4 "cheat" day. I take it one day at a time.

I admire all IP peeps who are 100%. However, I must applaud those who do cheat, plan or not, and start again, and brave enough to ask for support. This group is for support, we can't all be the same. Hence, the "support group".

As for me, I have cheated in two different weeks since I started in August 2012. It cost me +.04 the first time and then 1.8 lbs the second time (not surprise, since I ate stuff I would not normally eat even off the IP diet.)

I fully understand and accept the consequences, not that it is an excuse. But it was my choice. I am going 100% until December 23, then off for 2 weeks. Once again, my choice. Going off may not be for everyone, but just remember, if one do decide to go off or "cheat", there are consequences/costs. Ask yourself, are you prepared for whatever the outcome. I am not condoning anyone who cheat, or promoting that you do. I am simply adding that we all make choices, good or bad, and we have to deal with our own consequence. It's how we deal with or learn from our consequences it is the difference.

I want to thank all of you who continually support everyone, 100% IP peeps or not.

I don't get on as often as I would like, but I do appreciate the positive support many of you provide for others on a daily basis. People need to feel safe and secure to in a community, and this is a wonderful one! Keep up the great work.

Wishing you all a very happy holidays.

starapple - I think you make some really wonderful valid points. Yes, in a perfect world we all would be 100% all the time. If fact in a perfect world, we wouldn't even have a weight problem because we'd never mess up. Well, we do mess up, on IP and in life. What we need to learn is how to pick our selves up, dust ourselves off and keep moving forward. Everyone is different; some people can "cheat" and not having any problem getting right back to IP protocol. Others, like myself realize that "cheating" creates a slippery slope that it's just better to not go down.

Beyond not "cheating" for the smart reasons that have been shared in this thread, I mostly don't "cheat" because it would be too challenging for me. I have what I call an "all or none" personality/attitude in life. It's not something I chose, it just seems to be the way my brain functions and how I respond in situations. I don't know if anyone knows what I mean by this (it's my own made up description), but I'm either totally for something or on the other end of the spectrum. As I've gotten older, I've tried to live more in the grey areas, but it's a challenge for me.

So, what this means for me personally is that it's "easier" for me to be 100% OP than to not be. If I was to "cheat", it would be a struggle for me to stop after the one slip-up. I function best with the momentum of full steam ahead. I know myself well enough that if I allow myself a "cheat" in this situation, there won't be anything I can tell myself to not do it in another. I'm definately one of those in the past who if they messed up and cheated on a diet at 10am, then the whole day was shot and I'd just continue to cheat with plans to start fresh again tomorrow. I realize this is a HUGE part of my life that I need to alter/change in maintenance or I'm going to have a long tough road ahead. The point I want to make is that I'm not a 100% OP because I'm a perfect person or because I want to view myself as more superior than those who have "cheated". I do it because it's what works best for ME!

I believe there can sometimes be complex reasons for why we do or do not "cheat" and it's not as simple as saying you're good if you don't and your bad if you do. Learning why we do or don't do something is what will ultimately help us to be successful on this journey. I think we can all learn from one another: those who have and haven't "cheated". And what makes us this way!

Yes, let's be supportive of EVERYONE. We are all trying to succeed and we all have our own path to walk to get there. We need all the friends we can get along the way. I love the saying that Oprah used often "we do better when we know better". Thanks for listening. Best of Luck to all! Jen

:claps: well said! You have a way with words, ma'am.

This thread belongs in page 1 as a sticky.

thank you SOOOO much for posting this!!!! I cheated for the first time last night I had 2 glasses of wine (I am a light weight) and ate some sushi Today however I woke up SO disappointed in myself I am even MORE determined to not cheat at all!! Then reading this just helps me reaffirm what I already know.. 1) I dont need to drink on this diet bc it makes me hungover, adds, un-needed carbs, and makes me make bad decisions and 2) that cheating is WAY more detrimental than I think it is at the time.. and whenever I feel tempted im just going to re-read this thread Keep up the GOOD work everyone!! and turn that cheat into motivation to NOT do it again!! Eye on the prize ladies and gents