I feel part of the joy in my life is taken away when i can't

beach_chelle

sometimes before i even eat it i look at the calories on my app and say oh well i don't have enough calories for that and i don't feel like working out anymore today. Or other times i'll maybe cut the amount in half. I did find recently that when i ate out at mcdonalds it made me feel sick afterwards with stomach pains and head ache, so that is a helpful deterent. good luck!

rlysrh

There are moments, though, where I have indulged in something bad, only to discover that it really doesn't taste as good as I remembered.

Haha I've done that before too. Or sometimes I plan myself out a day of maintaining my calories so I can treat myself to a muffin or some chocolate or something and I'll spend the whole day before looking at the calories in certain food making sure I won't go over my maintenance amount and then the next day when I do eat the treats I don't feel nearly as good as I thought I would.

Monica_in_MO

Personally, I try very hard to remember the feeling I had the last time I overindulged and focus on that and not the amount of enjoyment I find in eating the food in the first place. I do, however, believe that an occasional planned treat is very enjoyable if I have mentally prepared to eat it.

CatClark

I totally feel your pain! If it's really strong, I try to beat that sad, deprived 'poor me' feeling by giving myself another little treat of similar cost - new eyeliner, something nice to use in a bath that night, a magazine (full of clothes I want to be able to wear!) - it ticks that treat box in my head

I also second all the excellent comments about finding low cal, low fat versions of treats that you love. There's a TV show in the UK called Cook Yourself Thin, which focuses on swapping naughty but delicious meals (i.e. Chicken Katsu Curry) with healthier versions (chicken baked in cornflake crumbs rather than fried in panko...) to save calories and fat over time. The idea is that if you "learn to cook clever and you can stay slim forever!" i.e. you shouldn't ever have to feel deprived, you just need to find the right alternative. If you can find any episodes online, I recommend them

**** Edited to add: Just google "gizzi erskine cook yourself thin" for lots of online vids! ****

stephgreene

When I have the temptation I start thinking about my goal. What I want to look like, what I want to achieve and what I've already achieved. A lot of times lately, I'll walk away from the food and go for a walk instead.