I've never got this far with my dieting before, so I've never faced the problems that are posed by long term denying yourself the lifestyle you love. I've found that the last few days I can't stop bingeing.

I feel awful about it, and that makes it worse. How do you manage these cycles?

I found the best way to control it was to have a cheat day! If you're constantly denying yourself, then it becomes all consuming, but by having a planned cheat day, you can say to yourself "it's ok, I can have it later in the week" and it seems to work because you know it's not totally banned. And usually you don't want it by the time cheat day comes anyway

Honestly, we don't ban anything. We still have cheat days-most commonly about once every two weeks. Our favorite cheat is KFC.

I've got it under control I think. Yesterday was a good day. I've gained 3lbs in all, so not too shameful. I hope that it will let me face the next leg of my loss.

I think sometimes you do need to let go a little to get back on track! I've done it so many times, in fact I've done it over the last couple of weeks! Just remember it's a marathon and not a sprint xx

I was going to say by you acknowledging it is a good start. If you just kept doing it and did not feel guilty that would be a problem. I'm glad that you only gained three pounds. I say it is okay to eat everything but you have to do it in moderation.

I'm guessing that much of what I gained was water weight, because two good days in and I'm back down to just 1lb up. Very happy to be eating healthier again, because I feel healthier when I do!

Yay that's fab well done! I'm waiting on my OH getting back from the shops, I've sent him with a massive list of salady things, I'm properly craving health food!

I don't have a cheat day, but I do allow myself to stray and make sure that I reward myself when I do good. I think that's okay and I'm doing pretty well considering!

Like pp said think we've all done it and for me recently and like you realised how much better I feel when I'm eating better. Good on you for reconising it, once we wouldn't have thought twice

I used to have problems with this and was so all-or-nothing in my approach. I've found that factoring in a treat every day can give you something to look forward to and keep you motivated