"Eat it- one day won't hurt!"

wamydia

I think it's because people are honestly trying to help the poster see that they may be too hard on themselves -- too restrictive. I agree with what a lot of other people have said on here about restricting yourself too much causing you to fail in the long term. I'll take it one step further and say that I'm of the opinion that overly restrictive dieting (or any type) is the primary cause of yo-yo dieting and plays a big role in why we have an ongoing obesity problem in the world today.

Being too restrictive sets a person up for a viscious cycle. You're only human. You're going to want things that are supposedly "bad" for you sometimes. Eventually you're going to cave and have it. But because you have set yourself up for such high expectations, that one little slip can be like the end of the world and trigger that "I hate myself because I eat and I eat because I hate myself" cycle. It can make a person feel like they have epically failed and there's no point in even continuing to try, even if they have been doing very well up to that point. And for people who do make it through to their end goal without faltering, it makes it impossible for them to maintain because it's a rare person who is willing to live the rest of their life on those kinds of restrictions. I think people are just trying to steer others away from this happening to them.

Ramberta

As people have already said, it really depends on the OP and their attitude toward the cake. If they seem to be afraid of it, then a lot of people are going to give responses that speak to that; namely, that one piece of cake really won't kill you. It's about encouraging the OP to try to have a less restrictive (and more manageable) perspective on food. Now, if the OP frames the question such that it is clearly about caloric deficits and a string of bad days, etc, I think people are generally more supportive of the OP's hesitancy to eat the cake. But as someone else said, we aren't here to enable someone's unhealthy fear of food. If the OP is just afraid of "bad" food, obviously that doesn't make any sense to many of us and we won't support that kind of thinking.

But often it's not the fear of the food itself, but the fear that one indulgence will turn into that string of bad days, and that they will snowball out of control. It's not usually a rational fear-- and it is almost an excuse, that one minor "mistake" is somehow a reason to call everything off and give up-- but in some cases it's more legitimate.

I am one of those people who has to limit how much junky food I have at home at any given time, and only buy it in very small quantities, because I am struggling with eating my favorite foods (especially sugary ones) in moderation. It's a lot easier to say "oh yeah have that one piece of cake" when you yourself can only eat one... but perhaps if encouraged to "live it up" and "enjoy" enough, the OP will end up eating four and hating themselves for it. A healthy relationship with food takes a long time to cultivate.

astartig

I am low carb high protein. I plan for one day a month where i eat carbs. Whatever I want with in reason including a dessert. No big deal. It's not a binge day or anything. Just reasonable food probably above my calorie allowance of 1200 by a decent margin but whatever. It keeps me from falling off the wagon the rest of the month. The amount of set back from one day a month is negligible. It might set me back a month (not each occasion setting a month back, just in general) or something to my ultimate goal but when you're talking about changing your habits for a life time that's not a big deal.
That carb day would be set on thanksgiving or my birthday or my families birthday that sort of thing. And yeah, once I am closer to maintenance I'll be making room for occasional treats that fit into my diet somewhat you can't have the exact same number of calories every day anyway or it stagnates the diet. you need a bit under some days and a bit over others.

balance.

Too strict can't maintain
too loose and you fail to loose weight.

Nishi2013

Because super restrictive diets just set people up for failure. You have to learn to eat in a way that you can sustain for the rest of your life. It's better to learn to eat in moderation than to try to completely cut something you love our of your diet.


And one bad meal/dessert/day won't undo someone's hard work.

I totally agree with this post. You have to treat yourself once in a while and it won't undo all your hard work. I allow myself a cheat meal or snack once a week and it hasn't worked against me.

One size does not fit all. For some of us one bite or one day leads to completely falling off the wagon. Cheat days are for Poole who can rebound back after the day is out.

Realize: There is no wagon!!

...lol seriously though: There IS a wagon: you either live a healthy, reasonable lifestyle, or you don't. Whether that second option is hyper-restrictive dieting or constant overindulgence doesn't matter. You simply have to choose which wagon you want to try to be on, in the end.

This... Some of us just choose a different path to get to the goal because we are all different.

Achrya

A lot of people here really like to talk about the food they want to eat. The advice for almost anything will be "EAT IT!!!" Or "PUT A BACON AND CHEESE ON IT!!!"

If someone came to these forums and asked "should I eat.." about each meal individually for a year, that person would gain at least 100 pounds.

But the entire point of the app is to track and eat in moderation. So don't be the idiot asking a bunch of hungry people "should I eat.." on the internet. Eat it or don't. Up to you.

Why do people always assume people here are hungry? I just upped to close to 2000 calories a day. I'm not hungry. My advice isn't based on hunger, it's based on what I would do. If someone bought me cake, I'd eat it. If someone brought in donuts, I'd have one (with milk. nommmm) If bacon cheeseburgers are being offered you're damn right I'm gonna eat it.