So what you are saying carol, is you don't just eat 2 bites...you eat the whole thing... right?

"Cheating"...
oh, it's bad. Cheating on a test, cheating on your spouse, cheating on your taxes, "a cheat meal"... yeah, all bad.

Having said THAT, I don't believe in "cheat meals". I believe in finding a diet that allows you to have the foods you love, and enough food to satiate you without breaking your caloric limit. That means "a different diet for a different person."

Personally, I count calories. It allows me the joy of a fudge bar! It allows me the delight of a cheeseburger! It allows me a handful of chips, a slice of birthday cake, a glass of wine... all keeping within my personal caloric limit, and most importantly -ALL WITHOUT FEELING GUILTY. Because there's enough negative b.s. stuff in my life without having to feel bad about something that tastes SOOOOO good.

Regarding bites: The smart thing to do would be to have your two bites and throw the rest away, and I mean, down the disposal with plenty of water. If you can't bear to do that, then don't even start! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

As for "cheat meals," that's also known as "going off your diet." Why do that? If your program is so inflexible that you feel like you "have" to go off it, then it might not be a good program for you. OTOH, if you are addicted to carby foods, then the longer you stay away from them, the better.

Jay

nice to hear ppls viewpoints,i dffinately would not say my eating is inflexible, quite the contrary i eat atleast 2 slices of wholemeal bread a day, i eat brown rice, wholemael pasta, potatoe i have no restrictions so long as ii make sure carbs are complex and whole grain. i also dont count calories, i guess am just gud as portion control. Personally i dont beileve in putting what in want in your body and stayring witin calories, coz i would not have seen the consistency in my weighloss as i have, in 13 weeks i have lost 38lbs. and am now averaging out 2lbs a week, also instead of having ' cheat meal' as title I should have put it as' eating foods that are off plan to get weightloss moving' i have atually dropped 1 1/2 lbs by eating a meal off plan,

I'm with you! I got a Godiva chocolate bar the other day and told myself I was just going to have half and save the other half for the next day. The other half was gone 7 minutes after I ate the first half.

I usually am only confronted with cake and sweets at parties. I take a tiny piece, eat a few bites and put it where ever the dirty dishes are going. Today we went to a store that carries peanut and treenut free chocolates, which is a rare treat for my kids. I ate 2 bites of a sunbutter chocolate cup (similar to a receese cup) and gave the rest to my son, who was wanting more. We also bought a big bag of skippers (similar to m&ms but peanut and treenut free) which I ate 5 of, then read the label 200 cals for 11 pieces!!! YIKES, so not worth it for me.

I do not typically have cake or brownies here at home. It would be more difficult, although I have avoided them before...usually if it is something that will be here in the house I psych myself out talking about how it will not even be worth the cals so no since even trying it. I do have a few boxes of the delicious dark chocolate granolla thins put up (not peanut and tree nut free so I do not want them where most of our food is). There were times in the past where I would eat multiples of them, now I concentrate on enjoying each bite...maybe 5 or 6 in each...and I am not interested in more, since the last few bites are not as good as the first few.

Well, yes, I do eat the whole thing, but not in the same day. Whatever it is, candy bar or sweet roll, it lasts a few days. Then I'm done for a couple months when I might get the yen to do it again. I also count those few bite each day in my total calorie count.

Carol