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Cheat day

Larissima said:
I abhor the concept of a "cheat" day. Who would I be cheating, except myself?
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As said each to their own, I come from a weightlifting background which has always used the concept of cheat days, and when I was looking into Ketogenic diets the best one for me to keep muscle mass whilst losing weight seemed to be the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet which involves carbing up each week......... so basically I merged a cheat day with the carbing up in the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet , but I have a few extra carbs every sat , but only " cheat" once a month....

Another concept I take from my lifting is, "whatever works for you", as we are all different............

But its worth googling "cheat days" , as they are supposed to be beneficial long term...........
 
Maybe we should call it a 'stop analysing everything I eat' day and it would be more acceptable to some? Worst part of diabetes for me is constantly thinking about what I eat ....

I have a huge desire for a Byron cheese hamburger and sweet potato fries right now, and I think I'm about to go for it Similar to @mfactor I'm good all the time so actually looking on it as a test - can I have very occasional relaxed eating days?
 
mfactor said:
As said each to their own, I come from a weightlifting background which has always used the concept of cheat days, and when I was looking into Ketogenic diets the best one for me to keep muscle mass whilst losing weight seemed to be the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet which involves carbing up each week......... so basically I merged a cheat day with the carbing up in the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet , but I have a few extra carbs every sat , but only " cheat" once a month....

Another concept I take from my lifting is, "whatever works for you", as we are all different............

But its worth googling "cheat days" , as they are supposed to be beneficial long term...........
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It might be semantics, but if it fits in with your goals and doesn't damage your blood glucose (and weight control, if applicable), it is not cheating, it is part of the plan. I find that the concept of cheating brings with it all the negative connotations of "naughty but nice", "go on, just once", which I personally do not find helpful as I have had serious problems with addictive overeating in the past.

I agree with "whatever works for you", and by all means, adapt your plan so that it works for you. I've done it for me, and no cheat day works for me! :)
 
PenfoldAPD said:
Worst part of diabetes for me is constantly thinking about what I eat ....
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Thats just it with me, looking back over the last 2 days, I did not eat that badly , just normally , a few chips, wine and a bit of cake.......

But being able to chillax and not worry about cals or carbs was wonderful ...:)
 
There is a new anecdotal theory suggesting that after prolonged periods of Low Carb ketogenic diet (beyond the normal 8 weeks recommended duration) then the bgl starts to rise again even if low carb is continued. It is said (sic) that a quick splurge of carbs will reset the system allowing a return to ketogenic mode and low bgls again. I am not sure if this is being properly studied, or if it is a flight of fantasy (get thee behind me, satan); I think LCHF may escape this limitation since we can play the HF section off against protein intake to compensate.
 
Yes. I have days when I eat things that I wouldn't normally-I've just had a holiday away where I indulged, and, trust me, it was an indulgence, in the hotel buffet breakfast every day (bread and Nutella, how I love thee, let me count the ways). That said, it was a real pleasure to return to my frugal way of regular eating and, after ten days of not testing, I was pleased to have a FBG that was still in the fours.
I really can speak only for myself but I loved my eating holiday and seem to have emerged unscathed.
I don't want to trivialise what we go through, or lessen the daily struggle but, the chance to actually eat something, sometimes, that I love, makes it work for me.
Still didn't have chips, cake, biscuits, pop or two sugars in my tea, though!
 
we are off to a 2 week river cruise all inclusive even alcohol, as a diabetic I definitely do not get my money,s worth .
but with lots of discipline I will manage
 
Did you have the bun? Or just the fries?
I love a burger rare with mushrooms and onions crumbled on a large piece of romaine with mushrooms and onions and a mayo mustard sauce. Don't miss the bun at all. However the sweet potato fries are another story. However they are often coated with flour and I am gluten free so I don't chance it. Even just a small amount of roasted sweet potato sends me.

Sorry for your loss... Haha but seriously it is sad. Guess you will be running around the block a few times.
 
The bun I think it was the sweet potato fries that did it @Kristin251 burger is at good quality place - will try again in a few months and skip the fries.

Off to the pool soon to swim it off - after loosing 8 kgs in 3 mths I don't want it going back on, otherwise my new speedos won't fit LOL
 
What other people call indulgence, I call everyday life. E.g. Every day I have at least 2 portions of food containing 2 of any of these things: chocolate, raw sugar, pastry, sugary fizzy drink (red bull, relentless, KA, cream soda).

But if by indulging you mean not bolusing for it, probably rarely at about once a fortnight. But I do still have the problem of overindulging after eating something I injected for, but eating something after that I didn't cover. So theres not knowing how hungry you'll be after certain times. If you're like me you can't resist snacking after tea or lunch.
 
Great job on the weight loss!

If it's that good you might sans the bun and eat 1/2 the fries. Unless you're an all or nothing person. I love a burger without the bun but it has to be a good burger and rare to medium. Not frozen patty thing.
 
Since Sunday morning I have hardly been able to eat or drink anything due to a nasty ear infection making it excruciatingly painful to swallow but still had FBS of 5.6 this morning so thought as pain had eased this afternoon I would indulge my self with a whole can of Heinz Chicken Noodle soup result a blood sugar reading of 8.7 two hours later wish I could have managed a burger now.
 
I don't call it cheating, and I don't count low to no-carb alcohol from to time to time, or my favourite brand of stevia sweetened dark chocolate. I certainly don't count coffee! But yes, I swipe a few fries off loved ones' plates sometimes, eat bun-less burgers, no condiments when out. I eat the odd small bunch of organic locally grown grapes (I have decided that they are so divine I will never buy imported out of season again - if I am going to compromise my BG regulation it's going to be delish!) (it's just been in season). I eat a half a kiwi fruit, or half a feijoa, (so high in carbs I can't bear to think about it) a slither of frozen pineapple in the warm season instead of my old beloved pineapple ice blocks (and I hate to think how much sugar was in those!). Because to me, really, life completely without tropical fruit is not a life worth living. (Don't let my family hear me say that!) (Actually they do hear me say that - shucks!)

Those are my small indulgences - and boy do I enjoy them! And as many LCHFers have found - smother the eating of a very small portion of tropical fruit in full fat yoghurt, or double cream - and the effect on one's BG is teeny tiny too. I do the same thing with larger portions of blueberries. (Say 12 as opposed to 6!)

Once a year I go have a McDonalds breakfast, the works, my nemesis, and a big post T2D treat. My family come with me, and it's a kind of 'where am I now?' with my life and T2D. Is it enjoyable? Oh yes.

And I have a slither of real pav at Xmas, and a few lowest-carb-I-can-find mince pies. Again - smothered in lots of double cream whipped. (One day I will make my own low carb mince pies. I tried making a paleo pav a couple of Xmases ago and the less said about that the better!)

But saying that, the twice a year thing - that is my relationship with high carb (and high trans fat and additives) and fast food, but I do not get some of the big reversals/normal non-diabetic range BGs that others who are more hardline with carby food than me. (And I have tried!) I eat a LCHF/paleo diet basically all the time. But I haven't removed tropical fruit entirely from my diet as you see, nor occasional starchy veges. (And maybe that is called for.)
 
annalaix said:
Does anyone ever have a day of pure indulgence of anything they want? I haven't yet since my diagnosis. I want to hear your thoughts and experiences and your BG afterwards!
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Considering I no longer crave for a Big Mac large meal deal replacing the Coke with a milk shake or the fish & chips, lasagne, rice dishes, jacket potatoes, pork pies, sausage rolls, processed meats, orange juice, ordinary Coke, cream doughnuts, crisps and beers I can honestly say I do have a treat my favourite sweet cheese cake lemon zest. I can eat most of my favourite foods especially salads. I do believe I have reversed my diabetes with my low carb food intake. Now on two Metformin each day from 5 per day hopefully if my blood test is again 45 then will be on zero medication.
 
My wife and I are both low-carbing, she's not diabetic, just wants to get back to her svelte, pre-childbearing weight and fit in size 12 again. We don't miss most things, really, but went a bit mad over easter, because we had about 3 family parties. Typically everyone brings some hugely unhealthy dish except us, and everyone brings a pudding. We put a kilo each back on over the holidays, it's like our bodies were just waiting for the first chance to get hold of carbs and store them as fat.

However, at risk of repeating myself, because I've (semi-gloatingly) mentioned this in 2 other threads, we did go a bit mad yesterday as we were doing a big cycle ride (30 miles), so had toast and jam (albeit very worthy rye and oat bread) for brekkie, a pint on the way, and ice-cream with our lunch, and my BG didn't get above 7. Our biking app estimated I burned 1200 calories, so I'm guessing that's where those carbs went, and we're a few 100g lighter.

I'm not saying this will work for you, but if you test, you could try it - you can have a treat, but you have to earn it.
 
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