I am of mixed mind about the whole concept of a "cheat". On the one hand, in the beginning I needed a level of discipline that I had not previously had, in order to change my habits and eventually my lifestyle. The LC WOE is now "normal" for me, so I don't need to be quite as vigilant at every meal.

However, I tend to take a more "big-picture" approach to LC'ing. If I have one meal which is not completely LC, or if I go over a reasonable limit of carbs in a day, I don't punish myself for it. I look at it in terms of weeks and months, not days, or meals, or bites.

With that in mind, the idea that a slip-up is a "cheat" is a difficult one for me to accept. In my opinion, a cheat implies that there are rigid rules which must be followed inflexibly, as if this were a game and I would lose points. Just as I don't think in terms of "diet" (as in something temporary that I will one day fall off from), I don't think that a small amount of flexibility is "cheating".

Besides, if I were keeping score, all that airline food would be costing me big time.