The question for the challenge today was to cheat or not to cheat. I listened to a podcast from Shaun Stevenson of The Model Health Show and he made a great point about cheating. He said cheating has a very negative/bad connotation. If, say, you cheat on your spouse, VERY negative connotation. If you cheat on a test, also bad. He said just by the nature of the word if you “cheat” on a diet, it is just saying you did something really bad. He said call it a treat because in your mind you won’t punish yourself for doing something bad. It doesn’t give you the awful guilt that calling it a cheat would. I love that so I say NO to cheat, but yes to treat.
I have also heard and read that people who do not feed a craving or do not treat themselves, will end up bingeing much worse than if they just had the treat if the first place. I’m not saying have treat after treat after treat, but if you feel the need to have a treat each day or every other day or once a week, you can do it. If you do a If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) eating plan, you can fit those treats in everyday. If you eat a treat that has a lot of grams from a specific macro group, you can balance out the other macros with the other foods that you eat during the day. By no means am I a super expert in all this, but they are all things I have learned in my nutrition journey. Remember stressed backwards is desserts so don’t you want to be the opposite of stressed??? LOL
Cheats and Treats, genius! I’m totally borrowing this and making a pin of it! Great post, I know I definitely identify with it.
Thank you so much:)
I love that mentality and it makes perfect sense. I agree it is all in how you view things and calling it a treat is exactly what it is.
Being positive makes life a lot easier:)
Haha, I saw a lot of posts about what someone would need to do to burn off the calories from a snack size piece of candy.
I’ve seen those too…scary huh??!!
I do like the idea of a “treat” instead of a “cheat”, however it really does depend on your personality and to know whether or not you can treat or not. I am an all or nothing person. “Treating myself” is something I have a hard time doing in moderation since I am all or nothing. For me, when I know something is off limits, it is and it doesn’t bother me.
Your treat doesn’t have to be food…it can be something non-food related.
This is a great post! It’s all about the mindset. When I’m on my healthy eating, my go to treat is usually a frozen Greek yogurt bar because even though it tastes like a treat, it’s still high in protein.
LiveLifeWell,
Allison
Definitely a mindset shift:)
Thanks for letting me know that it is okay to “treat” sometimes.. You’re are absolutely right… Its better to treat then to not and them over binge…
You’re welcome Nakeya
Awesome. I feel the same way. It’s not bad to treat yourself. I’m on a 24 Day Challenge of only eating REAL unprocessed foods.
http://fittyfattys.com/24-days-without-processed-foods-are-you-up-for-the-challenge/
It’s been easy for me not to cheat because I make healthy treats! 🙂
Wow…that’s quite an accomplishment
I’m a big believer in this. I never deprive myself but moderation is key.
I agree Krystal
This was a whole different way of thinking about cheating! I participated in a 30 day healthy eating challenge with weekly cheats 1 meal! I looked forward to that day like it was my birthday. I waited all week just to have cake, lol!
It is funny though how cheat in diet is acceptable. How convenient!
I could NEVER give up cake
This totally makes sense… I know a couple of people on diets right now and in each of their programs they’re allowed a “cheat” day, but they still feel guilty about it. Maybe calling the “cheat” day a “treat” day would take away some of that guilt.
Diets can make you grumpy anyway so why feel guilt on top of it??