‎"I decided that I was not going to have any treats at all….EVER! My rationale is simple. The reason I don’t eat them in the first place is because they are toxic for my body. My logic to reward healthy eating by eating crappy food would be equivalent to a person decides to reward himself with a cigarette to celebrate being a non-smoker. My rationale is equally flawed in this area and has to change."

I dealt with this a bit in the beginning. I think most people do. Honestly I think those cheats are often psychological- you realize something is 'banned' and start to panic about the deprivation. It might be subconscious. For me the thing that keeps me from ever being tempted to stray is to not make it a 'diet,' but a lifestyle- meaning allowing myself to enjoy every meal. I really think about what sounds good, because really there about a million Paleo options. I pick the thing that sounds best and try to keep it fun. After a year, non-Paleo foods never cross my mind. I actually forget they exist. So I think the key for me is eating the Most delicious foods I can (think juicy steaks, greens sautéed with butter and mushrooms, or whatever healthy foods satisfy you mentally and physically- not Paleofied baked goods. Those things will likely just lead to more cheating.) Don't let yourself fall into the old grilled chicken and broccoli routine. The more you feel deprived, the more likely you will be to cave into eating crap.

Same idea with exercise, the best way to keep active long-term working out is just to find what you enjoy, then you begin to see it as fun instead of a chore and you will stick with it.

Hope it helps and good luck :)

Full disclosure:

I was at the supermarket two days ago and went about my usual business of buying beef, chicken, and lots of veggies. And I was in the mood to have a serious "cheat." I didn't know what I wanted, exactly, but I knew I wanted something. Something horrible. Something I would not normally go near. And you know what?

I went up the cookie/cracker aisle. I picked up many, many packages, read the ingredients, and put them all back in disgust and near-horror. I went up the "snack food" aisle (chips, pretzels, things with "chEEz" in them), and did the same thing.

My mistake was in looking at the actual ingredients. Had I blindly followed my cravings or my urge to fill an emotional void with junk food without any regard for what was actually in the food, I would have tossed something into my cart, taken it home, shoveled it in my mouth, and been happy as a clam. (Albeit possibly a clam with a big stomachache and lots of guilt and shame afterward.)

But you know what happened when I looked at those damn labels? At the endless litany of unpronounceable and potentially not even technically edible ingredients that could only have come from a factory or chem lab?

*I said, F%$# YOU, FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY!!!

I'm not that effing ignorant anymore, and YOU CAN'T HAVE ME!!

Go poison someone ELSE with your partially hydrogenated soybean oil, your corn syrup solids, your FD&C yellow and blue, your disodium EDTA, your hydrolyzed soy protein, your cottonseed oil, and your BHT ("to preserve freshness")!!

Motivation not to cheat? Sticking it to the man.

(Note: sadly, this doesn't always work, but it did that day.)

The trick might be to simply schedule those cheats. Give yourself a weekend, two weekends a month - whatever - to go nuts. Should make things a good deal easier.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12582226

After my recent stray, I'm finding new motivation in striving for ketosis. I know that one little slip-up could throw me off and upset the process.

I also just like the numbers & tracking everything I eat, so having a set goal number of less than 50g of carbs works well for me. The place where I tend to take a nosedive is sugar, sugar, & sugar, so this is working well to keep me on track and it's giving me a good goal to work towards, meal-by-meal.

If you're not into working for ketosis (and if you're at all interested in tracking your food), setting a goal ratio of your macros, or a max carb intake, or minimum protein or fat intake could help keep you on track, as it makes you be more conscious of everything you take in.

On the other hand....for some I suppose it could get too overwhelming & obsessive! Works for me though :)

Bulletproof coffee. And another day to feel the best i've felt ever. I love the "why reward good food with bad food" mentality but now and then a fine pale ale crosses my path and tastes great. The day after not so, but soon paleo stride picks me right back up. I think it's important, for me anyway, to do this once in a while...the old 80/20 seems to be good enough. This new lifestyle enables a daily feel good mechanism...and instead of low level dread and anxiety (on SAD) i wonder now: how much better does this get...it's amazing as is!

Positive reinforcement: feeling awesome when I stick with the program. Fitting into clothes I thought I never could wear again.

Negative reinforcement: the hunger, energy crash and cravings if I eat grains.

Motivation? Anger. Hatred towards mainstream society. If I cheat, then "they" win.

I have a strong desire to always improve myself. Cheating is going to make me feel good for a very short time, as compared to how I would feel when I reach my goals. I've been practicing this kind of self-discipline for around two years now, so it's gotten pretty easy. I've also had a history of binging on certain foods, and I to fight desires I call up the feelings of sickness that I felt after a binge.

If you need some help, as funny as this may sound, I like Courage Wolf.

Since I've started paleo 4 weeks ago - I don't even really crave or have the desire to 'cheat'. I think calling it cheating is somehow implying that you are doing this as a diet, not a life style. I am enjoying paleo, not wishing I was back eating SAD. Have you thought about re-thinking your motivation for eating paleo? Is it just a weight loss scheme or an actual life style change?

my goals are very shallow, I want to look good....and young. I want to die as late as possible and be as young as I can at the time. No nursing rooms, no walkers, no oxygen tanks.

"Ah, but I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now"

Here is an article that might be helpful to you.

http://paleononpaleo.com/paleo-fail-4-mistakes/

I just don't usually feel like cheating. When I do, I try to have something not horrible, like berries with whipped cream. But I also have decided that birthdays, or other special occasions, I'm just going to let myself enjoy it. One day, one meal, they aren't going to ruin everything.

When I do cheat, I try to make it a conscious decision, because good or bad, thinking you're out of control doesn't help. So when you do cheat, own it fully, so that you realise it's in your ability to make the choices. And after, just think, "Okay, back at it," and don't dwell on it.

A few weeks ago, I had the strongest and most peculiar craving for a cheeseburger and fries. I had some, expecting to feel ill after, but I didn't. I just didn't feel fed. I came home and I made real food, and I felt better. I think it might have always felt like that, like it wasn't actually food.

First of all, what do you mean you CHEAT?

Do you go off the rails from insane cravings and pig out on crappy processed carbs and fats or what?

If so, you are carb-depleted and need to bump it up until the cravings go away (just don't eat carbs and fats together in the same meal).

Not seeing a major difference? Three months and 10 pounds means you lost an average of .83 of a pound every week (and that was WITH cheating). That's a GREAT result that IS making a major difference whether you see it or not yet. You keep losing at that rate and you will see results very soon.

Cravings and regular cheating can be a sign of malnurishment. My cravings rapidly dimished after ensuring that my macro and micro nutrients were being met.