Is OK to cheat on your diet when your in an celebratory setting with family and friends?

Of Course, I am the only one in my family that is taking weight loss serious. My Brother's birthday dinner was tonight and there was lots of delicious food.

Calamari, Spaghetti, Fettuccine Alfredo, Garlic Toast, Cake, etc... I had 2 spoons of the Fettuccine Alfredo and a few pieces of calamari. I did exercise some self-control by passing up the toast and cake. But I feel so horrible about what I did eat.  

By the time we got home it was too late to hit the gym. ;-(

Now, I'm trying to convince myself that I should get up an hour early to work-out before work.

I feel really bad :-(  I know I have it in me to lose the weight but how can I be stronger against overwhelming temptation ???

It's not 'cheating'... it's a 'celebration'.   So there's no need for guilt.  You enjoyed the meal, you made sensible choices and you were there to be sociable with your family and enjoy the atmosphere of a birthday.  What is there to feel guilty about?

It is not necessary to work out for hours by way of punishment.  In fact, that desire to compensate can be a worrying trait.  You should not be feeling bad.  Just pick up as normal with your usual food choices and usual exercise regime.   One meal where you eat just slightly more than normal makes no-one fat.

Weight-control is something that we have to manage as part of our lives.  Food should be a pleasure, should be sociable.... not treated like something evil to be avoided or kept at arms length.   Life will always include the occasional birthday supper or a Christmas lunch etc.   If you spend all of those events wracked with guilt and 'feeling horrible' because you ate a few pieces of something delicious your life will be miserable from start to finish.   So stop that.... keep a sense of perspective.  See special occasions for what they are.... mild indulgences.  Carry on as normal.

I think almost all of us people who lost weight or who are losing weight need to just plain have a day every so often where we have some fun and eat a bit of the so-called "non-healthy" food.  The key thing is to not let that trigger us into doing it several days in a row.  I feel you did exactly the right thing in having fun at the celebration.  Heck, since it takes 3500 extra calories to make that extra pound, so few times do any of us in one day actually eat that 3500 calories.  Sure we might gain weight from bulk or "water," but in truth we did ourselves no harm in our goal of losing weight.  So you don't need to worry at all about having a day of fun.  Just get back on your normal routine and things will go well for you.  Good luck with all your goals.

Just like i always say about birthdays.

You dont get fat by eating cake once a year.

Thats not what made you overweight.

It's good to take a day off and reward yourself sometimes. Plus, everyone says a high-cal day every now and then may kick start your metabolism. Don't beat yourself up, enjoy the flavor!

I agree with everything said above my other replies. we must not look at one day of celebration or our Free day once  a week as a slip up or a cheat or a fall off our diet situation.  If we are good most days then we "ARE STICKING TO THE PLAN" and we need those celebration days and free days to remind us we are here to enjoy life and it is not about deprivation.  we just have to know that we need to stick to our plan, whatever our plan is consistently to have good results.. things we enjoy have to be included and some indulgent times also.we can not stick to a diet where we do not have things we enjoy. eventually we will fall off and feel despondent and deprived and binge on whatever we have forbid ourselves to have.  I had to learn this lesson.  Moderation and healthy eating most days, and when I do indulge to enjoy it and not beat myself up.

You really need to learn to eat without guilt - eating with a guilty conscience is just as unhealthy as overeating.

Next time, just enjoy the celebrations. You only live once.

I celebrated Korean chusuk yesterday (harvest moon day/thanksgiving day in korean)... i ate. Not ALOT, but alot more than I usually eat. And I even ate chips a hoy! (Cookies are like my enemies I can't put them down!) And I ate several more cookies.

No difference today, meh.

When you eat, eat. Don't OVEReat, that goes into binging with is a nasty problem of its own (I had problems with that as well awhile back but not so much anymore). But eat enough.