I am a dieter who kicks *** Monday through Friday and when it comes to the weekend I cant stop cheating! At first I kind of allowed it and just ate less but it is really starting to get to me. I will tell myself I am not going to eat something and then I eat it...URGHHH. It just feels like crap to not be able to practice control. I feel the control is imperative to my success and I have a huge fear of sliding down that slippery slope.

I also get annoyed about all the hard work I put in through the week and how I could be losing more if I wasnt cheating on my weekends so much. I am mostly cheating when I eat socially or go out and eat.

Any tips or advise?

That IS frustrating! What is your schedule like on the weekend? Are you still working out on the weekends? Are you bored? If it's just from eating out, then there are ways to eat out in moderation. What if you allowed yourself one treat item per weekend, instead of a bunch of them? Maybe you need a schedule, like you probably have during the week? Ultimately, you need to commit yourself to your goal and if it means avoiding certain situations, then maybe that's what has to happen. Right now, when people want to go out with me to eat, I suggest coffee/tea instead of maybe a walk. If I do eat out, it's rare and I choose the place or I don't go. I know that's harsh but my friends and family understand.

Honestly I find it is best to have a 'cheat day'. Originally my step mother put this idea in my head (and as she is a very fit woman after having three children I take her advice quite often), where you have one day that you eat food that is on your nixed list. What we did is created a list of delicious 'cheat' foods that were also healthy to curb the cravings.

Then on your one deemed day, eat a couple unhealthy things... go to the movies and have a candy bar, or an ice cream... but portion it out so that you're not over indulging. When you go out and eat socially make sure to see what sounds yummy, but also sounds/is healthy.

Depending on how you have your daily foods mapped out you should probably adjust them. Your body benefits from different calorie intakes each day, though I wouldn't vary too much.

My schedule varies over the weekend. I am still working out and I am not bored at all. I am just more social which usually leads to eating...which leads to overeating. I like the idea of one planned cheat per week. I am debating over a cheat day or a cheat meal....

Here's a radical idea, "allow" yourself to eat whatever you want all weekend long. I bet you'll eat better than when you're stressing about denying yourself things. You're still seeing net losses right?

I agree with not worrying too much about the weekends so long as you're still losing.

It's good for you psychologically and physiologically. It's also more sustainable.

Think of yourself being super strict on weekdays so you can be less strict on weekends.

i'll agree with the two posts above mine

I don't really have any advice for you, I'm *kind of* the same way. I track my calories and stay super strict all week long but I tend to loosen up on the weekends. I to blame it on being more social and busier in gerenal, also do a lot of traveling on the weekends and therefore eat out more. I still try to make healthy choices and portions but I got tired of trying to find the exact foods I was eating hence why I stopped trying to track on the weekends.
I just try to keep in mind that if I eat *insert bad food* Then I'm going to have to work extra hard the next week to get rid of it and the scale will always reflect if I did badly over the weekend.

Thanks for the advice! I will try to change my thinking... though I almost think it is harder to change the way I think than it is to change the way I eat at this point. Bottom line is I am bringing some positive awareness to the issue so I am sure I should have some positive results. We'll see how this weekend goes and I will report back. Thanks again for the advice and support!

I Can totally understand NOT wanting to over do it on weekends, especially during the losing stage of your healthy lifestyle. It already takes such a long time to lose weight, and throwing in all the extra calories on the weekend really does prolong the goal...not to mention making it more expensive in the clothes buying department. The longer *I* would stay at one (bigger) size, the more clothes I would need to buy in that (bigger) size for work, church and special events. I absolutely hated buying clothes I knew I planned on shrinking out of! AND there was NO WAY I wanted to buy 2 seasons of the same size fat clothes. I think right there was the biggest motivating factor to NOT cheat. I wanted to reach my ultimate goal, and buy all kinds of skinny clothes that I would love and that would fit for the long haul.

Now I'm working on year 2 of slipping on the same cute clothes I wore last summer and it feels GREAT! AND I can splurge some on weekends and get right back on the wagon during the week and stay the same size.

If you really want to stop the weekend cheating, you just have to force yourself to say NO. Keep reminding yourself that you can play around with extra food once you reached goal. It really is a learning process, but it can be done. As much as some people will want you to beleive, denying yourself now will NOT make you gain weight back, losing it more quickly will NOT make you gain weight back. Giving up will make you gain your weight back.

I'd suggest tracking your calorie deficit. It only took me a few times of seeing an entire week's deficit wiped out in one day of bad choices to curb this behaviour.

Maybe you could redefine "cheat". How are you eating now?

When I "cheat", it means am eating something that was not fastidiously researched for nutritional value! Like if I am at a fair for the weekend and really want to try something new from a pastry vendor. I still try to estimate the calories and not break my usual daily allowance.

Maybe breaking it into cheat meals would make it easier to reign it in, and you would be able to do it more often since the "damage" you could do is limited to one sitting. Usually my cheat meals occur starting Friday night and end Sunday night

I'm doing Weight Watchers, which is a point system. You can eat anything you want - you just track your points.

During the week, I am on plan 100%, meaning I make the best choices Monday through Friday. Healthy breakfast prepared at home. Pack my lunch and snacks to bring to work. Plan out my dinners. Get all my good health guidelines in.

On weekends, I still stay within my points but I am more flexible in my food choices. On Mother's Day, for example, I made a healthy breakfast at home and planned for a healthy dinner at home. That way, I could enjoy the pizza and antipasto at my aunt's house and still stay within my points.

This works well for me, because my husband is doing Body For Life. He eats and exercises on a very strict regimen six days a week, and Sunday is his "free" day. I manage my points so that I can enjoy my meals with him, whatever they are. It also makes it easier for me to make those better choices during the week - not EASY, but EASIER. I still think, "Well, I can have ONE donut with my coffee, right?!" Sure, I could, but I'd rather save my points and enjoy dinner out with my husband. :-)

All that being said, I'm seeing a loss of 1 to 2 pounds each week so far. I'm happy with that pace. And knowing that I can still live my life and not feel deprived or like I'm "dieting" increases MY odds for success. Every person is different and each person needs to assess for themselves what their limitations are, what their expectations are, and what their food triggers are.

I am struggling to understand what you mean by this. If the foods are on your "nixed list", I doubt that they are very healthy. Can you give us some examples for clarification?

Otherwise, I agree with Lori Bell. Wiped out caloric deficit aside; in general, I find it harder to return to healthy eating if I cheat. Consistency is what works best for me. I am not saying one cannot allow oneself any treats (lately, my weekend treat has become a rhubarb tart from a local coffee shop - i know it contains butter and sugar but it can't be too bad because it contains quite a few chunks of rhubarb in a little pastry shell and it tastes pretty tart [which I love]) - but that's it. Only one rhubarb tart per weekend and it makes me quite happy.

Well, generally if I used to crave something I would simply eat it. Now I have healthier alternatives to turn to most days... A granola bar with chocolate chips instead of a chocolate chip cookie... Mango salsa (err, a healthy home made thing) is delicious by itself and gives me the crunch and spicy bite that salsa and crisps would, without the crisps.

Things on the nixed list? Rootbeer! I can only find it every so often at the shoppe as it's not a big thing here in New Zealand... but when I do find it I save it for my cheat day. Telling yourself that you can't eat something ever really just makes you want it more and makes it harder, for me at least, to not break my new choice in dietary lifestyle.