How to fit in "off plan" food choices without derailing?

journey2zen

Let me preface this with saying I'm not suggesting any specific food SHOULD be off limits. However, due to health issues I personally have to eat a fairly strict diet most of the time.

My concern is burnout. I want to be able to go off my personal plan once or twice a week for a meal or a snack or a dessert, without it becoming like the floodgates have opened and my mind--subconsciously or not--gives in to the point that the meal becomes two meals, the snacks become two snacks, the desert becomes a whole bag of cookies, and so on.

I am wondering what you all do to rein yourself in without having to be always on plan.

For what it's worth, I'll share my normal diet here:

I eat veggies, fruits, nuts, beans, tofu, eggs, seeds a lot.
I will slowly be adding back whole grains like rice, oatmeal, and the like.
I have very small amounts of dairy, but most days none at all.
I do not eat meat.
I avoid sugar and flour.

So when I say off plan, I am talking about, for example, having a cookie or having a tortilla, maybe a sandwich, now and then.

I'd like to be able to do that once or twice a week and then have no problem going right back to my norm. But in the past, anytime I'm not strict, I've either quickly or gradually gone back to overdoing the sugar and the flour and the dairy. And then I'd gain weight and feel physically horrible. Recently I was in the hospital as a result of those choices. On plan, I lose weight weight and start to feel good, but deprived at times.

What do you do to fit in the things you don't normally have without messing it all up?

collectingblues

Is there a medical reason for any of the food restrictions? If there is, then sadly, just like celiac, there really is no safe way to re-incorporate them.

If there isn't, it may be worth sitting down with a dietitian and/or therapist to figure out a game plan to be able to eat without triggering a binge cycle.

NovusDies

Without knowing why you are under these restrictions I cannot offer advice that applies to me and my situation if I thought it was harming you medically/mentally.

Panini911

if it's a medical issue talk to a doctor and/or registered dietician.

on a weight loss level i eat foods i like daily. like chocolate. cheese. bread when i feel like it. when i get a craving i work it in. i work in home made pizza often. cookies/dessert (other htan my daily chocolate) a few times a week. i don`t label food good or bad just ensure ti get a variety/balance of nutrition on average.

some foods i will buy single portion or go out and eat if I am likely to "lose control and overeat".

Commander_Keen

journey2zen wrote: »

Let me preface this with saying I'm not suggesting any specific food SHOULD be off limits. However, due to health issues I personally have to eat a fairly strict diet most of the time.

My concern is burnout. I want to be able to go off my personal plan once or twice a week for a meal or a snack or a dessert, without it becoming like the floodgates have opened and my mind--subconsciously or not--gives in to the point that the meal becomes two meals, the snacks become two snacks, the desert becomes a whole bag of cookies, and so on.

I am wondering what you all do to rein yourself in without having to be always on plan.

For what it's worth, I'll share my normal diet here:

I eat veggies, fruits, nuts, beans, tofu, eggs, seeds a lot.
I will slowly be adding back whole grains like rice, oatmeal, and the like.
I have very small amounts of dairy, but most days none at all.
I do not eat meat.
I avoid sugar and flour.

So when I say off plan, I am talking about, for example, having a cookie or having a tortilla, maybe a sandwich, now and then.

I'd like to be able to do that once or twice a week and then have no problem going right back to my norm. But in the past, anytime I'm not strict, I've either quickly or gradually gone back to overdoing the sugar and the flour and the dairy. And then I'd gain weight and feel physically horrible. Recently I was in the hospital as a result of those choices. On plan, I lose weight weight and start to feel good, but deprived at times.

What do you do to fit in the things you don't normally have without messing it all up?

I don't think one can. Once you rationalize that its o.k to have that one cookie, then why not two, or three.
By the 3rd cookie one can say, eh..I will go back on the diet tomorrow. Now once you say that, that stops you from having Ice cream the rest of the day?

I think for me, its just mind over matter until I hit "My goal"/ "My weight"

You could reward your self for every 10 lbs that you lose. Right so, you lost 10lbs, ate multiple cookies, your weight fluctuates 2 lbs, so now that is a "loss" of 8 lbs. Not enough to discourage you,

texasredreb

Speaking in general, broad terms and not to your specific condition.... When I plan to go "off plan" I aslso plan the next several meals and make sure that they are tasty (my favorite "on plan" meals) so that I can feel satisfaction with the off plan choice and satisfaction that I'm back to normal. I also plan to eat the "off plan" food right before bed and then go to bed. I'm full and happy and not inclined to over indulge.

Panini911

Commander_Keen wrote: »

journey2zen wrote: »

Let me preface this with saying I'm not suggesting any specific food SHOULD be off limits. However, due to health issues I personally have to eat a fairly strict diet most of the time.

My concern is burnout. I want to be able to go off my personal plan once or twice a week for a meal or a snack or a dessert, without it becoming like the floodgates have opened and my mind--subconsciously or not--gives in to the point that the meal becomes two meals, the snacks become two snacks, the desert becomes a whole bag of cookies, and so on.

I am wondering what you all do to rein yourself in without having to be always on plan.

For what it's worth, I'll share my normal diet here:

I eat veggies, fruits, nuts, beans, tofu, eggs, seeds a lot.
I will slowly be adding back whole grains like rice, oatmeal, and the like.
I have very small amounts of dairy, but most days none at all.
I do not eat meat.
I avoid sugar and flour.

So when I say off plan, I am talking about, for example, having a cookie or having a tortilla, maybe a sandwich, now and then.

I'd like to be able to do that once or twice a week and then have no problem going right back to my norm. But in the past, anytime I'm not strict, I've either quickly or gradually gone back to overdoing the sugar and the flour and the dairy. And then I'd gain weight and feel physically horrible. Recently I was in the hospital as a result of those choices. On plan, I lose weight weight and start to feel good, but deprived at times.

What do you do to fit in the things you don't normally have without messing it all up?

I don't think one can. Once you rationalize that its o.k to have that one cookie, then why not two, or three.
By the 3rd cookie one can say, eh..I will go back on the diet tomorrow. Now once you say that, that stops you from having Ice cream the rest of the day?

I think for me, its just mind over matter until I hit "My goal"/ "My weight"

You could reward your self for every 10 lbs that you lose. Right so, you lost 10lbs, ate multiple cookies, your weight fluctuates 2 lbs, so now that is a "loss" of 8 lbs. Not enough to discourage you,

so no cookies for the rest of your life? Food as a reward is a even more of a slippery slope i think.

Meh, i`d rather lose weight and still enjoy my food daily thanks.

MikePTY

Commander_Keen wrote: »

journey2zen wrote: »

Let me preface this with saying I'm not suggesting any specific food SHOULD be off limits. However, due to health issues I personally have to eat a fairly strict diet most of the time.

My concern is burnout. I want to be able to go off my personal plan once or twice a week for a meal or a snack or a dessert, without it becoming like the floodgates have opened and my mind--subconsciously or not--gives in to the point that the meal becomes two meals, the snacks become two snacks, the desert becomes a whole bag of cookies, and so on.

I am wondering what you all do to rein yourself in without having to be always on plan.

For what it's worth, I'll share my normal diet here:

I eat veggies, fruits, nuts, beans, tofu, eggs, seeds a lot.
I will slowly be adding back whole grains like rice, oatmeal, and the like.
I have very small amounts of dairy, but most days none at all.
I do not eat meat.
I avoid sugar and flour.

So when I say off plan, I am talking about, for example, having a cookie or having a tortilla, maybe a sandwich, now and then.

I'd like to be able to do that once or twice a week and then have no problem going right back to my norm. But in the past, anytime I'm not strict, I've either quickly or gradually gone back to overdoing the sugar and the flour and the dairy. And then I'd gain weight and feel physically horrible. Recently I was in the hospital as a result of those choices. On plan, I lose weight weight and start to feel good, but deprived at times.

What do you do to fit in the things you don't normally have without messing it all up?

I don't think one can. Once you rationalize that its o.k to have that one cookie, then why not two, or three.
By the 3rd cookie one can say, eh..I will go back on the diet tomorrow. Now once you say that, that stops you from having Ice cream the rest of the day?

I think for me, its just mind over matter until I hit "My goal"/ "My weight"

You could reward your self for every 10 lbs that you lose. Right so, you lost 10lbs, ate multiple cookies, your weight fluctuates 2 lbs, so now that is a "loss" of 8 lbs. Not enough to discourage you,

I don't agree with this at all. Rigidity in any plan makes for a high likelihood of failure. I am regularly able to incorporate so called "cheats" in my diet and get right back on and continue with my plan. In fact, these so called "cheats" are a part of my plan. They are a lot bigger than just a cookie here, a tortilla there. But they fit within the overall long term arch of my plan. A cookie is more likely to lead to 10 cookies if you feel like having a cookie is "bad" and it fails your diet. Then you get the "well I had a cookie, I might as well give up" mentality. But if you budget one or two or however many cookies for yourself with whatever frequency is appropriate, then there's no reason you can't enjoy it.

For many of us, this is not a temporary thing. It is a long term, life long, lifestyle change. And part of that is enjoying things you like along the way. It makes it easier to adapt to maintenance when you finally do hit that goal.

To the OP - as others have mentioned, none of us can answer for you what certain breaks from your diet would do to the medical things you are dealing with, so it is important to get those clarified first. But from a diet/weight loss perspective, there is no reason you need to have strict rigidity for it. Eating things you enjoy is not only okay, but recommended.

OGingerBeardMan

Plan your entire day in advance and make sure that any "deviations" from your typical meal plans still fit within your calorie/macro goals. I am doing this today. I realized late last week that it had been over a month since I'd had Chick-Fil-A. Prior to moving to making better eating decisions, I was eating it pretty much every day. Not saying that thee's anything wrong with eating out, only that I ate too much too often which is what led me to the state I'm in. That and sitting on my fat *kitten* for far too much of the day.

However, I am fitting it in today. I have specific carb/protein/fat ratios that I am working to hit, so I planned out my day today at 7:30 and just made a couple of tweaks to my other meals (I eat 5/day) to make sure everything balanced out.

The key with diet is being intentional. Eat to fuel your body and give it the nutrition it needs, but also eat because eating is damn enjoyable so you shouldn't be too restrictive on yourself. Just plan it out and stick to the plan.

lorrpb

If you weigh your food whenever possible, log it, and eat to your calorie goals, there is no reason for a cookie or tortilla to completely derail you. Log it and if it takes up a lot of calories, eat at maintenance calories that day. Then the next day eat to your usual deficit goal.

NovusDies

Commander_Keen wrote: »

journey2zen wrote: »

Let me preface this with saying I'm not suggesting any specific food SHOULD be off limits. However, due to health issues I personally have to eat a fairly strict diet most of the time.

My concern is burnout. I want to be able to go off my personal plan once or twice a week for a meal or a snack or a dessert, without it becoming like the floodgates have opened and my mind--subconsciously or not--gives in to the point that the meal becomes two meals, the snacks become two snacks, the desert becomes a whole bag of cookies, and so on.

I am wondering what you all do to rein yourself in without having to be always on plan.

For what it's worth, I'll share my normal diet here:

I eat veggies, fruits, nuts, beans, tofu, eggs, seeds a lot.
I will slowly be adding back whole grains like rice, oatmeal, and the like.
I have very small amounts of dairy, but most days none at all.
I do not eat meat.
I avoid sugar and flour.

So when I say off plan, I am talking about, for example, having a cookie or having a tortilla, maybe a sandwich, now and then.

I'd like to be able to do that once or twice a week and then have no problem going right back to my norm. But in the past, anytime I'm not strict, I've either quickly or gradually gone back to overdoing the sugar and the flour and the dairy. And then I'd gain weight and feel physically horrible. Recently I was in the hospital as a result of those choices. On plan, I lose weight weight and start to feel good, but deprived at times.

What do you do to fit in the things you don't normally have without messing it all up?

I don't think one can. Once you rationalize that its o.k to have that one cookie, then why not two, or three.
By the 3rd cookie one can say, eh..I will go back on the diet tomorrow. Now once you say that, that stops you from having Ice cream the rest of the day?

I think for me, its just mind over matter until I hit "My goal"/ "My weight"

You could reward your self for every 10 lbs that you lose. Right so, you lost 10lbs, ate multiple cookies, your weight fluctuates 2 lbs, so now that is a "loss" of 8 lbs. Not enough to discourage you,

It would take 7000 calories of cookies to gain 2 pounds of fat from just the cookies. Anything else is temporary water gain which comes and goes even if you don't eat the cookies.

What stops me is that I never go off my plan. Eating more food on occasion is part of my plan. Unlike the OP I do not have dietary restrictions though. The more I tell myself I can't have a cookie the more I want it. If I crave it I find a way to make it fit in my plan.

journey2zen

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone. I appreciate it. I don't have much faith in doctors due to a host of bad experiences, and it doesn't help that most don't get much training in nutrition. I feel pretty confident that I am making the right food choices for my default diet, just struggle with derailment. I'll try purposefully planning it in advance rather than allow for spur of the moment impulses.

I just went out for lunch and was tempted to eat a cookie. I looked at my calories and saw that I could, theoretically fit it in. But since it wasn't planned and it'd really reduce what's left for dinner, I decided not to get it.

lemurcat2

One thing that helps me is to not think of being on or off plan -- for me that leads to all or nothing thinking where one cookie="I screwed up, might as well blow off the day," which if you think about it is not logical at all.

Logging was helpful for me, since there were inherent limitations. I did eat pretty strictly when I first started losing weight, and once I started logging I realized my calories were too low, so I decided to add some of my indulgent favorites back in, but only within my calories. One thing I did for a while (when I had more calories since I'd started exercising more) was have 200 cal of ice cream after dinner some (not all) evenings. For whatever reason I find it easier to have something like that later in the day after dinner, and after I already knew I'd hit my nutrition goals and when it was within calories. Again, inherently limiting, since in my mind I know I had to stay in calories.

Another way of fitting in indulgences that I did at other times was eating a bit lower on 6 days and then higher (but still below maintenance) on the 7th, which I did in order to feel comfortable going out to dinner. There are lots of great restaurants where I live and it has been part of my social life, so I didn't want to give that kind of thing up, so learned to fit it in. But I didn't use it as an excuse to just chow down -- I'd still make sensible choices, watch portions, so on. Knowing I'd get to eat more indulgently on one day helped me be compliant with my calories and so on on the others.

Finally, another option if you are getting bored is to challenge interest in food into recreating tastes you love into the food choices and goals you have now. Experimenting with different dishes and how to make delicious foods that met personal taste desires helped me not get bored with my food ever (and I ate the way I planned to eat at maintenance, just fewer cals).

JeromeBarry1

@journey2zen "Zen" might be the proper word. Recently I started a discussion celebrating that a package of Fritos which I had purchased in my role as family grocery shopper had been emptied and discarded by my family members without me so much as having a single crunchy Frito chip. Since then, I've updated that discussion to note that even more packages of tasty snacks I'd purchased for my family have been emptied and discarded by my family without my participation. My hypothesis is that simply saying, or in my case, typing, my victory helped cement it into my mind. Last night I bought, for the first time since I've been trying keto this year, several boxes of protein granola bars. That's a trivial thing, really. The previous occasion when I had these tasty treats in my house, they were part of an extravagantly excessive consumption of calories as I carelessly consumed believing those to be the last. My strength of 'zen', for the moment, provides that I can schedule a tasty granola bar, and make it fit my keto carb plan. At this time my dinner is cooking and the remaining waking hours of this day are well in hand for staying within my calorie budget.

How does this help? It shows you that you can enjoy a snack or a dessert, keep it within your calorie budget, and keep the floodgates closed. Think it, say it, be it.

lynn_glenmont

journey2zen wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone. I appreciate it. I don't have much faith in doctors due to a host of bad experiences, and it doesn't help that most don't get much training in nutrition. I feel pretty confident that I am making the right food choices for my default diet, just struggle with derailment. I'll try purposefully planning it in advance rather than allow for spur of the moment impulses.

I just went out for lunch and was tempted to eat a cookie. I looked at my calories and saw that I could, theoretically fit it in. But since it wasn't planned and it'd really reduce what's left for dinner, I decided not to get it.

Can you clarify what you meant in the original post about having to have a strict diet for your health, because you're getting two different types of responses depending on how people are interpreting it? Are these self-imposed food restrictions based on what you think is healthy in general, or are these specific foods you need to avoid because they are counterindicated for specific medical conditions you have?

merekins

Two things
1. Know you will go off plan, accept that, and immediately go back on plan. Wanna know why I got fat? Trying to be perfect, failing, and then saying to myself “might as well eat the whole pint now, and tomorrow, and the next day.” For humans, all or nothing will always result in nothing. Wanna know how I lost the weight? Eating in deficit and when I go over calories, I go right back on the plan. No guilt. No beating myself up. No giving up. It’s food and I’m going to enjoy it. Sometimes, like yesterday, I just eat what I want. Today, no punishments. Just ate my normal calories and moved on. That is progress.
2. How to handle one cookie? Get yourself the best cookie you can. The one you really want, not the one that just happens to be there. I bake most of the desserts and spend time finding the best recipe and look forward to making it. Last week I made an incredible bakewell tart, this past week, my favorite sugar cookie with vanilla frosting. Be a dessert snob!!! Hell, be a food snob. That’s my secret. I eat what I actually want. This week, that is a Moroccan Chicken Pie. Last week that was mushroom risotto as well as a cheeseburger. When I meal plan for the week, I ask everyone of there is something they want. I pick 1-2 of those and base the rest off what will utilize those ingredients the most. It makes a big difference having something to look forward to...and know that isn’t your last chance to have something you really want.

Adc7225

I understand what are saying and one of the things that I did was like mentioned above I would get the best cookie, preferably one that I had to go out of my to get, the same with chocolates. Budget has a limit on Godiva. I agree, become a food snob, it has a way of making things unappetizing. Going out of my way to get the best or specific things also helped me to move more, I would walk home from work 3+ miles when stopping to get a goody. Pre-logging also helps, it can make that momentary weakness of giving in not seem worth it at all.

150poundsofme

Maybe it depends on the mood you are in. Are you feeling good with your emotions? Then maybe you can handle just one cookie. But if you just got annoyed with someone or something didn't go as you planned, and if you can, I would hold up on that treat. How has your record been in the past - have you just had "one" and you were fine or did "just one" derail your food plan?

whoami67

I would plan, probably several days in advance, the "cheat" and write it down along with writing down the other things I'm going to eat that day. To me, eating my forbidden foods as often as twice a week would really move them into the category of allowed foods. I tend to eat those foods that negatively affect my health about once or twice a year or maybe if I'm feeling particularly weak and out of control, once every other month. You may be different.

I have some health restrictions on what I can eat, some doctor mandated and others that I've learned are detrimental to my health. But sometimes I really want to eat those things I shouldn't eat. It does help me to find suitable ingredient substitutes.

Is there a type of cookie you could eat, that could bake, that uses allowed ingredients? Is there a sandwich substitute...a type of breadlike substance you could make that would be a good alternative option? Or, for example, there was a time when I could eat fermented raw milk dairy (homemade kefir or yogurt), but not regular dairy. I could handle small amounts of properly soaked or sprouted grains, but not larger amounts, not every day, and not unprepared grains. Perhaps you could expand your food choices by changing how you prepare the foods.

NovusDies

journey2zen wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone. I appreciate it. I don't have much faith in doctors due to a host of bad experiences, and it doesn't help that most don't get much training in nutrition. I feel pretty confident that I am making the right food choices for my default diet, just struggle with derailment. I'll try purposefully planning it in advance rather than allow for spur of the moment impulses.

I just went out for lunch and was tempted to eat a cookie. I looked at my calories and saw that I could, theoretically fit it in. But since it wasn't planned and it'd really reduce what's left for dinner, I decided not to get it.

I am going to assume you will handle yourself responsibly with whatever is suggested here with regard to your dietary restrictions.

As I mentioned my plan allows for additional eating. In my yearly plan I have a set number of days for diet breaks, vacations, special occasions, holidays, and wildcard days. In most of these I allow myself to eat around my maintenance calories in some I allow even more. I recently went on vacation and for the first time since Feb 2018 I went kind of nuts with eating. I did it deliberately because I was experiencing a bit of diet fatigue. It helped and I am renewed in my efforts. All of my non deficit days are to help keep me from feeling burnt out or deprived. Some will cause a little setback while the rest will simply be zero loss days. Some of those wildcard days are for when I am having a really bad day and the rest are just for fun.

This is the same yearly plan that I had from Feb 2018 - Feb 2019 and I lost a substantial amount of weight because even though I was not in a deficit 100 percent of the time I was in a deficit most of the time. More importantly my adherence was never in jeopardy. Being "good" all the time doesn't work for me. I have several decades of failures to know that for a fact.

I am not suggesting that you should have eaten the cookie. I, too, think it is a bad idea to make spur of the moment decisions. The only time I allow myself to reverse the course of a day is when, as I mentioned, I am just having a really bad day. They don't happen often but they do happen. I am just giving you this information to perhaps help answer your original question of how to handle eating without derailing.

I also bank calories as @lemurcat2 suggested for weekend treats.

corinasue1143

My dietician suggested— pick a week. Friday morning to Thursday night, or Monday morning to
Sunday night for instance. That is always your week. During that week, you can have one and only one treat. Think about what you really want, when you want it, how much of it you really want, then enjoy it. That’s it. Then you can start thinking about next week. If something comes up unexpectedly before you have that special something, you can change your mind and do the unexpected instead of the planned, if it comes up during your week, but after your special something, you just have to say, No thank you. Worked for me. Something to think about.