[Vagrant]

Just a quick question. Started up with my dieting, so far so good. Was talking to a friend the other night who has been training consistently for a while now, and he said that it's a good thing to occasionally allow yourself to cheat with your diet and treat yourself, even if it's just once a week. I also remember a post on here about Berardi's 7 habits, plus an additional three, with one being to cheat 10% of the time. That number sounds a bit high, but hey, who am I to question.

So anyway, just wondering, is cheating sporadically actually beneficial/advisable? If I don't want to cheat or don't feel the urge to, are there still reasons why I should? Are there downsides to -not- sometimes treating yourself?

And are there foods that, even when you -are- cheating, you still wouldn't go near (e.g. things loaded with high fructose corn syrup or trans fat)

[El Cangri]

I haven't gotten the want to cheat since I started dieting about 2 months ago and started seeing results with my training, but its bennificial to cheat every now and then so that you won't want to cheat all the time. I think.

[FCWriter]

I used to reward myself with a medium rare peppersteak everytime I lose 5lbs. Now that I'm maintaining weight, I do it around once every two weeks.

[Rich2006]

I do it one night a week. If I have had a craving or cravings for junk food allweek and I am still craving it on cheat night I'll have it. In my opinion as a recovering junk food addict it is the only way to stay on the diet. As eventually the cravings will catch up to you if you keep supressing them. Trust me on this one, last winter when I stuck to my diet religously for about 4 months I was down to 205 7%bf then around the holidays my junk food cravings were out of control and I eventually went back up to 230. I have been following this one since the end of Feb and I am back to 209.

[GoRiders]

I think one needs a mental break from any regime. Eating should be fun! Bring on the hot wings and beer!

It's funny that when you settle into a positive diet that you enjoy, some of the cheat foods you used to crave gross you out. That's my experience.

[xinster]

I think anything less than 1 cheat a week is less than optimal when cutting. Its not that im a pussy and cant handle my urges. I eat tuna out of the can, same with cottage cheese. Cheating is good for your leptin levels!

[Crimsonsabbath]

For me it's just a mental boost to guiltlessly eat something nasty good one meal a week knowing that when I step on the scale in 48 hours I'm going to have lost even more weight. Gives me that extra boost to keep up or even improve my eating habits.

[infamy]

once every 2 weeks is a good time... but after u see results you really dont want to cheat.

[Elite Zak]

Originally Posted by infamy

once every 2 weeks is a good time... but after u see results you really dont want to cheat.

I follow the same way. You boost your ****bolism by eating more, which in turn helps you burn more calories.

[tical13]

For me.. It doesnt help... It fucks up my cutting groove and I pay for it for the next 1-3 days... If anything I will eat a portion of a "bad" food.. Maybe I would eat a dozen chips or something (dont know the last time I had chips) or maybe a few slices of pizza.... But going all out like pizza, chicken wings, coke, slice of cake, doritoes, beers, that ends up fucking me up for a few days and Ive gotten to the point where its just not worth it anymore...