Last night, I had a lot of laughs, and a lot of beers. After drinking I ate a klondike bar, some pistatcios, and some shots of jack daniels to top it off. erggg.....

My question is that cheating like that, is it okay? I woke up this morning to see I had gained 0.8 pounds. Jimminy! But maybe cheat days are okay, right? As long as they aren't every single day and just once a week, right?

After my cheat day, getting right on the scale I think brought my back to my goals, which was good, but now I am sad that I weigh 175 now and hope I haven't derailed my efforts to get to 173 this week.

I mean do you all beat yourselfs over the head when you have a night like this. Do I just pick up the pieces and try again to eat healthy and do what I am supposed to do? It's crazy, I just feel so freakin' guilty.

I mean, how can I get to my weight goal now this week?

Last night, I had a lot of laughs, and a lot of beers. After drinking I ate a klondike bar, some pistatcios, and some shots of jack daniels to top it off. erggg.....

Sounds like you had a fun night

My question is that cheating like that, is it okay? I woke up this morning to see I had gained 0.8 pounds. Jimminy! But maybe cheat days are okay, right? As long as they aren't every single day and just once a week, right?

I think any form of "cheating" in moderation is okay if it's done occasionally. Once a week for me is too much. Cheat DAYS are never okay in my book, but that's just me. Cheat meals? Once in a blue moon. Cheat desserts/snacks? Occasionally.

After my cheat day, getting right on the scale I think brought my back to my goals, which was good, but now I am sad that I weigh 175 now and hope I haven't derailed my efforts to get to 173 this week.

I hate that feeling of stepping on the scale after a bad day and realizing I ate away at my hard work. It isn't really motivational for me... just depressing.

I mean do you all beat yourselfs over the head when you have a night like this. Do I just pick up the pieces and try again to eat healthy and do what I am supposed to do? It's crazy, I just feel so freakin' guilty.

Absolutely just move on! Nothing you can do about it now, right? Just keep going!

I mean, how can I get to my weight goal now this week?

Sometimes you have to modify your goals if you realize something isn't working. I typically don't modify mine even when I realize that I won't reach it, but that's because I'm okay with not reaching my goals every week. If you aren't like that, create a new goal that maybe isn't focused on weight. ie - no alcohol for two weeks, no cheat days for 14 days, etc.


Good luck!

Cheat days will make it take longer for you to get to your goal, in most cases. You can have them as long as you realise that it will slow your weight loss down.

I had one yesterday because I was feeling down but today is a whole new day and I'm back on plan. I doubt I will have another one for quite awhile.

For myself whether a "cheat" (I prefer the term off-plan eating) is planned or accidental, I find it best to "move on" with as little fuss as possible - no self-recriminations or guilt, just an acknowledgement that I may not have made the best choice, but it was the choice I made and no matter how "bad" the choice was, there's nothing I can do about it after the fact, so "moving on" is the best option.

If it was a planned indulgence, I don't think twice about it. If it was an unplanned "mistake" I ask myself what I could have done to avoid the mistake in the future. I don't feel bad or guilty, I just plan for "next time" the situation arises. Most of my worst "cheats" have been a result of poor planning on my part, so calmly assessing the situation works better for me than feeling bad about it.

The thing to remember is that with weight loss, it's "all" ok, in the sense that no one can make the rules for you. Even the dumbest, most self-destructive habits aren't tragedies.

The response is usually the same no matter how big or small the "slip." Move on, by getting back to your normal food plan (and doing it without guilt makes it easier to get back to business sooner - at least in my experience).

Whether you've eaten an unplanned brownie or 10 lbs of pulled pork, washed down with a 2 liter of full-sugar cola with an entire cheesecake for dessert. Doesn't matter, just get back on plan and keep going.

You may or may not be able to get away with one cheat meal/day per week.


Personally, I have to be very careful with off-plan days. I don't generally plan for off-plan days anymore because when I did, it didn't prevent or reduce the number of unplanned off-days, and it was hard enough keeping my weight on track with the unplanned indugences.

The exception to that rule is special events and holidays. I still plan, I'm just a little more lenient with myself (for example when my daily calorie limit was 1500 to 1800 calories, I'd give myself a few extra calories for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter - big food holidays in my family).

If I stick to my plan, I celebrate (pat myself on the back and tell myself how awesome I am) and if I eat off-plan, I get right back on plan ASAP.

Taking mistakes and intentional off-plan in stride works better than using it as an excuse to feel terrible. One of the reasons I had such a terrible time dieting for weight loss over the years, was the constant guilt, fear, panic and self-loathing that came from seeing mistakes as tragedies.

When it comes to weight loss there is no mistake so big that the correct response ISN'T "Get back on plan and keep going as you would if you hadn't made the mistake in the first place."

Trying to "compensate" by dropping calories drastically usually backfires (I'd get so hungry it made it harder to stay on plan, and any mistake made me feel worse which made me want to drop calories even further).

A cheat day used to mean end of diet, I've blown it, stuff my face. This time though I have a different attitude. I allow myself to plan times when I don't follow my diet, for example a party or special event but make sure I have planned the few days following the cheat so I can get back on plan easily. Although I weigh every day I try not to get stressed out by the numbers too much and only record my weight once a week. I had a takeaway burger and chips on Sunday, weighed 4lbs more on Monday (water weight cause of the salt maybe?) but am back to 'normal' today. Again previously a 4lbs gain would have resulted in end of diet but this time I remind myself that I have not undone all the progress I have made - 3500 calories to put on a lb (and my burger wasn't that big!) and I can be more logical about it all.

What is your plan? Why is this such a big deal to you? You'll be back to normal in one or two days if you resume normal on-plan eating. Don't feel guilty for enjoying yourself. It sucks being up on the scale but you have control. You do!

Thank you so much all for responding!!! It was a fun night, and so good to get to know some new people. I don't do that enough. Thank you krampus, just get back to what I am doing.

I am proud that I got on the scale this morning, just to see what I weighed. I think that it was good because it made me think, "Okay, you messed up big time yesterday, but today is a new day, and it's time to move that number in a different direction."

It will happen. I know it, I feel it. I just have to keep going in that direction.

Today is a new day. Take advantage and get back on plan! Good Luck!

Definitely start the new day as a fresh start and move on. It sounds like you had a great night! I don't plan cheat days or meals because weight loss for me is already at a snail's pace, but I have occasional days where I get totally off track and I just have to pick myself up and move on. I'll lower my calories a bit in the following day or two and work out an extra few minutes to lessen the damage.