Why Do I Feel So Guilty

Ok, I've been doing great on my diet so far for the past like week and a half. But tonight I made chili and had some of that instead of my diet dinners that I've been eating. So why do I feel so guilty after eating it? Is it ok to have something like that now and again? I am trying to lose about 25 more lbs. But I'm really struggling.

What's wrong with eating chili? You can enjoy some in moderation and actually make it healthy if your recipe isn't already by tweeking a few things in it.

Btw...what are 'diet dinners'? Definitely don't need to be eating those, they sound awful and I don't even know what they are. :laugh: The name of them makes me cringe.

Keep in mind going on a diet will only be temporary, changing your lifestyle will be permanent, you get to chose which one! Eating healthier and working out isn't a diet, it's a change in our lifestyles, it's something we can maintain for life.

Diets from the past are something we went on, lost weight by starving ourselves or eating icky food and then gained all the weight back as quickly as it came off.

NO GUILT!!!! :flowerforyou: This is a lifestyle change, NOT a diet! If you lose the weight deating ONLY diet dinners, and never figure out how to eat food everyone else is eating, then once you stop eating the diet dinners you will struggle to maintain. DH and I still have the same stuff we've always eaten. But now we are switching out canned veggies for fresh (or frozen), white potatoes for sweet potatoes (but not even nearly as much of those!), cheap ground meat for LEAN ground meat, prepackaged dinners for similar dinners made by US with 1/3 or less of the sodium. You don't have to be on a diet to lose weight! We've changed to healthier eating options, and are now at over 105lbs lost between the two of us. Don't deprive yourself. Make it healthier, and only eat the serving amount that fits in your daily plan.

If you'd like some ideas on how to make some meals healthier, PM me, or check out the "Recipes" board. There are TONS of great ideas on there! Keep up the good work!

Here's to good choices!:drinker:

ETA: AMEN HealthyChanges!! I totally agree with what she said 100%!!!

Oh my god!!! It's only chilli...not that big a deal. Just wait till you eat something really bad.

Ok, I've been doing great on my diet so far for the past like week and a half. But tonight I made chili and had some of that instead of my diet dinners that I've been eating. So why do I feel so guilty after eating it? Is it ok to have something like that now and again? I am trying to lose about 25 more lbs. But I'm really struggling.

Oh! Just now popped open your diary and noticed what you're referring to as 'diet meals'. Frozen food for nearly every meal. Consider adding the sodium tab to see how much sodium that is adding into your daily food diary. I think it just might blow your mind.

Those aren't diet foods, those are very high sodium foods that are often high in fat and might be ok to eat on occasion but I would suggest being careful not to eat them more often than that. That extra sodium they dump in processed foods can be a real nightmare, you can cook up food and create your own meals and freeze them if you like and take them to work etc. It can really make it much easier if that's what you're looking for. Baked chicken, brown rice, greens, they will satisfy you far more than the nearly empty cals in the frozen pkgs.:flowerforyou:

Just something to think about...

No need to feel guilty at all!

Chilli is one of my regular meals! Just make it more healthy by adding vegies into it and drainign the fat off the Beef as you cook it! In order for your weight loss to be permanent you can't cut out all the things you see as "naughty" Slim people still eat chilli! Its that old mantra, everything is ok in moderation!

Wow, talk about timing for your message! I just polished off a small chili from Wendy's to which I poured it over a side salad and enjoyed a nice healthy version of a a taco salad. As long as it fits into my diet and I stay in target of my calories, carbs, fats, and proteins, then I don't worry about it! I have tried diet foods/meals like Nutrisystem or others in the past, as well as liquid shakes only, and discovered that I tended to cheat more when I was on those plans because I felt so deprived. I have realized this time around that I need to make a lifestyle change and need to find a way to still eat like a normal person, while losing weight! So, no, please don't beat yourself up for enjoying some chili!!!

The chili is not cheating, the chili is the best thing you have put in your body in weeks!

Put down the 100 calorie packs of cookies and the frozen dinners! You should feel way more guilty over those than homemade chili.

Skip the frozen aisle and the cookie aisle next time you go shopping, and buy only fresh fruits and veggies from the produce section, and lean meats from the fresh meat case. Some wheat pasta and whole grain rice. Cook your own versions of those "diet dinners" that are full of sodium!

And you are eating way too little.
The 1200 is a goal to REACH, not a number to stay UNDER. Your deficit to lose weight is already built into that number. You need to eat every last calorie of that 1200 to avoid starving yourself, which will stall weight loss and make you more likely to cheat.
Eat 1200 calories of natural healthy foods, and drink your water servings every day, and you will notice a huge difference.

AMEN!! This is exactly what I was going to write. STEP AWAY from the frozen dinners and eat some REAL FOOD! Those dinners are okay every once in awhile, but you need to eat like a "real person" too. And fresh food is going to be better for you.

Every food can be included into your diet and nothing needs to be off limits. It's all about balance. I have the higher calorie foods if they're presented to me and I genuinely want them (why would anyone want to pass on freshly made chili on a cold fall day? That's what life is all about!), but I watch my portion size. Or, if my portion is larger, I balance it out later in the day with a workout or lighter eating.

Bottom line, enjoy the chili and don't stress. One bowl of chili will not ruin your diet.