I don't cheat, I indulge. They are 98% unplanned. Usually I choose to indulge because the item will somehow make my quality of life better. I remember this flourless chocolate cake I shared with my husband after crosscountry skiing in Yellowstone all day. There was a hot tub involved. Mindlessly slipping a chip into my mouth or having a quickie with a piece of bread isn't worth it to me. But a whole body experience, now that's what I'm talking about. But I'm a Taurus, we eat with all of our senses.

I do not buy into this concept of 'cheating' with food. I follow a very healthy paleo lifestyle and eat healthy food. If I so choose I will eat something considered non paleo, it's not a big deal, this is not a religion and I do not have to go confess my sins after. Every morsel of food we lift to out mouths is a choice, nothing more, as we all continue down the paleo path we just get more practiced better at making better and better choices. If i feel like ordering pizza for movie night with my kid I choose to do so or if I want ice cream I choose to eat some, but I am fully prepared for the resulting consequences, if any, of that choice.

I lost the most body, felt the best, and stuck to the healthiest program by giving myself one 21st century ANYTHING goes binge day. It was planned, religious and fun. The rule was absolutely no unplanned food 6 days a week, moderate exercise and on that one day, Saturday for me, I get to eat and do whatever I want. My cholesterol numbers improved, A1C dramatically improved and I felt like a million bucks on every day but the one morning after the binge day. I'll admit the binge hangover is kind of rough.

I have two cheats and plan accordingly because they fall right smack into the planned/not planned category at all times. Craft beer as I'm heavily involved in the brew community here in NY: working events, homebrew(ing), random bottle finds, launches, parties, etc. The other is.. pie. HOMEMADE pie. If there is pie anywhere at anytime then I am doomed as it must be mine. Usually one bite of crust because I gotta see if it's tasty and then the filling. It's kind of nice as I have chef friends who accept how I eat and will bake a ramekin of filling with a little circle of crust on it for me :)

I basically eat well all the time so any cheats would come as a surprise, but I only just cheat a little (one bit to try something).....just don't have the desire to over do it otherwise.

When I add in a baked potato I consider this my cheat for the week, but its planned and its really not a bad cheat, but knocks me out of ketosis for a day or so.

Generally I have to plan them because I know the average cheat food that would get offered to me would be a painful experience. "There are donuts in the conference room" "Hey, want a cookie?" "Office birthdays! Come to so-and-so's office for cake!" I know every single one of those will have my guts feeling like they're being sliced open in a few hours from all the gluten. Once I figured out what was causing me so much pain, turning those items down became easy.

So if I want to cheat, I need to plan in advance because I need to make sure it's a cheat I will enjoy, not one that would have me on the floor sobbing and swelling.

Mine are usually something in the middle, call it a committed impulse. For example last night I had icecream on impulse to celebrate getting though a tough class. But we don't keep it around and didn't have the dewar loaded so we went to get some.

I typically decide I want X and than must take further action to get it. In the case of random offers, it just isn't very appealing unless I have decided I want it first.

I don't cheat unplanned. Most of the food that 'sneaks up on you' is disappointing when you give in so I choose to cheat when I know I can be sure it will be delicious. I planned a cream tea cheat for yesterday. When I got to it there was no cream. Scones with cheap jam and butter weren't worth it so I left it.

I don't cheat. I even hate the term cheat. When deciding to go paleo, it was based on the science behind it. Which means that some foods are bad and never eaten (grain-based stuff), some foods are good (grass fed meats). Others are in-between. Nothing is 100% good for you, you just have to judge each food on a cost-benefit analysis (yes, that sounds scary, but it isn't). I almost never eat potato chips - potatoes are too startchy for me and they're probably made with bad oils. But if I go out to lunch after a WOD and the burger (without a bun!) comes with a side of potato chips, I may eat them. Immediately after a WOD, I know I need glycogen, so the starch doesn't matter, and the bad oil really isn't in a large quantity that I would have any effect (because I do this once a month or less).

Basically don't "cheat" for the sake of cheating. Don't have a treat and call it a cheat. Just look at what you're eating and say: Right now is eating this going to improve my life in some way (enjoyment is a valid improvement) more than it would hurt it (gut damage and potential autoimmune issues from gluten always outweighs anything else for me).

Most of my cheats are planned. I am really good about resisting those spontaneous "Hey want a cookie?!" moments.
And when I plan a cheat, I make sure it's something I TRULY LOVED pre-paleo so it's worth it. I'm not going to cheat with something that's "meh".
Most times though I try to make paleo treats as my "cheat". But not always... I love Reese's Peanut Butter cups :/ ... and Oreos.

I promised myself when I started eating paleo that I'd never be so paleo that it prevented me from enjoying life or going out with my wife/friends.

It does mean I don't eat everything in sight every chance I get. It does mean I abstain from sugary or wheat/grain based offerings most of the time. It does not mean I can't grab a beer with my buddy, or enjoy a left over portion of my cheese cake wedding cake with my wife on our recent 3 month anniversary.

If you want to look at it from a “paleo” perspective, Grok would have eaten whatever he could find that would nourish him and keep his cave-belly happy. If he came across a vast expanse of strawberries he wouldn’t refuse to eat them on the grounds that there was too much sugar in the fruit. There is evidence that suggests paleo man fermented juice in pouches that they carried around, so Grok probably didn’t abstain from alcohol out of a desire to keep his liver happy. His body used whatever he found that he could put in it.

So in the spirit of that, I eat the things I find. I generally make smart choices about it, but I’m no paleo-nazi, and I refuse to become one.

I'm about to change gears for a month or two...

I'm going to try having absolutely no cheats 6-days-a-week and one go for the insane gusto madhouse anything goes feast day.

I'm hoping to reset my leptin resistance and other hormone levels this way.

My cheats are not planned so to speak but I expect them. I love beer and Caramel Machiattos. I usually have both twice a week, but the rest of the week I am good :)

Mine are always planned. I've always been good at resisting random offers of food from people just because everyone else is eating so that isn't an issue for me. I don't think of it as cheating really since I don't feel bad about it. I just make sure the food is truly worth it and that I savour every bite. I guess an example of a cheat for me would be if I'm at a restaurant that's known for its excellent pasta or pizza. I'll probably order some meat or fish anyway but I'll exchange a few bites of it for some of my brother's ravioli or my friend's pizza. That kind of thing. I hardly ever eat out or at people's houses where there is something non-paleo that's really worth it anyway. I do admit, I love really good bread and cheat about once a month with it. I just make sure it's after a good workout so I know my glycogen is depleted. I can limit the amount because I know small amounts of wheat don't make me sick, but anything more than about two slices and I'll feel it a bit.

I plan on my coffee cheat a few times a week (though I know some of you don't consider coffee a cheat)

other than that I maybe have a potato or some coconut ice cream once or twice a month but they aren't really planned other than I know it ususally happens on a Saturday if we have company.

100% unplanned. I do not believe in cheat days or scheduling things. This keeps me good most of the time, and also means when I do indulge in something, I do it for a good reason and it means more.

For instance, I never drink beer, but got invited out by some friends last night to a fundraiser. So all the sales of this one beer went to charity. I had a few beers, saw some old friends, and helped those in need all at the same time. I dont beat myself up over it because I never drink beer otherwise, and I am not using some weekly allotment of whatever cheats Ive given myself or some such nonsense. I think planning cheats in advance leads you down the faileo road rather quickly.

The one thing I noticed about cheating is I will have a craving the next day at the same time I had the cheat. This craving won't be too strong but if I give in the 2nd time then the next day after is very hard. For one month I gave up anything sweet(like cookies or ice creams from Whole foods) and I felt so good and craving-free that I extended it 2 more weeks and broke it only b/c of the social aspect. I wish I hadn't b/c since then it's been rough. Sugar kills me.

During that time I abstained from sweet things, I still had something like Organic pizza from Whole Foods or organic frozen enchiladas and I found this to be satisfying while not making me have "next day" cravings.

I would say that I'm a 75% planned and 25% unplanned. The unplanned ones throw me for more of a loop emotionally. I have learned, I am just better off planning.

I am a calorie counter, so it is much easier to fit in a piece of cake or some ice cream if I know I'm going to have it. I can arrange my day to allow for the extra calories.

Now, I do know that one day of excess calories isn't going to make me wake up obese again, but sometimes my brain tries to forget that and it freaks me out a bit. When I have an unplanned cheat, it just doesn't always feel right. These are my eating disordered biases coming out though, most people probably don't have the issues that I have.