My First Cheat Meal: A Breakthrough, not a Breakdown

bri1720
bri1720 Posts: 254 Member
edited September 22 in Motivation and Support
So, I had my first cheat meal. I was not going to get home until around 7:00pm and did not want to have to cook and wind up eating later than it already was. So, I looked up McDonald's chicken meals in an attempt to try and plan a meal. After a few minutes I decided, there really wasn't anything that McDonald's had to offer me that I could not make better for myself, so searching was just going to be a waste of time.

I pulled into the drive-thru and just stared at the menu. I stuck with chicken and got a Chicken Club and fries. My son was super excited to be getting his chicken nugget happy meal which I had deprived him of this whole time. I was terrified that I would remember how much I loved my guilty pleasure and that it would ruin everything I have been working so hard for for the past 20 days. I feared that I would like it, quit, and go back to my bad habits.

I was really hungry since I usually eat early so I started eating the fries in the car. At first they were really good, but I think it was how hungry I was. As I kept eating them, I thought "Is this really the same thing I used to enjoy so much before? They don't taste like anything special." Then when I got home, I ate my sandwhich and thought the exact same thing. I finished and thought "Eh, not a big deal." The meals I have made these past few weeks tasted far better than this meal.

I'm sure some of it was subliminal seeing as though I knew it wasn't healthy, but I couldn't stop thinking that it wasn't that big of a deal to have had this cheat meal. I could honestly say it didn't taste that great. And then it hit me....this is working!!!! Rather than breaking down, losing will power and wanting to do it again and again, I had a breakthrough. I could do without all the crap I have been eating for so long and I am okay with it. I even started thinking about what I would make for dinner the next day to makeup for this dull meal.

I know it's not easy to stay away from things we like especially when they taste so good (or used to for me), but I honestly did not feel worried about breaking down and forgetting my goal. If anything, I felt like sticking to this plan more than ever. Each person is different. Some people have to try a few times to succeed.

I, for the first time in a long time, feel very successful.

Stick with it troops. It may take one try or it may take many. But eventually, you will succeed.

Replies

  • lastchance2010
    lastchance2010 Posts: 494 Member
    how AMAZING...that's how i felt when I stopped running to McD's for a quick meal for me and the kids...now I'm like this isn't as good as it used to be. Yay...congrats and keep up the great work! :glasses:
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    I usually feel that way when I have fast food. That's why I make sure my "cheat" meals are something MUCH better and more worth the calories.
  • LoserCruiser
    LoserCruiser Posts: 184
    Great to hear! I can say that I still enjoy my McDonalds once a week! I know its unhealthy and a bad choice, but I use to eat it every second day or so and I use to eat a LOT more when I was there, now I eat less of it, choose coke zero instead of regular coke but still feel I get that McDonalds kick that I so much love which stops the cravings I use to have for it!
  • Dom82
    Dom82 Posts: 235
    Know exactly how you feel! I decided to have a burger for my cheat meal a few weeks ago. I was really looking forward to it and it smelled really good. I hate half of it and then couldn't stomach the grease anymore. Defiantly didn't taste as good as i remembered! LOL

    Last night my OH wanted to take me for takeout and then to the pub. I turned that down and said i would prefer my salad and chicken skewers! I hate cooking friday night but really didn't want the burger!

    Keep up the good work! :flowerforyou:
  • Cristy_AZ
    Cristy_AZ Posts: 986
    Excellent breakthrough!! My husband and I quit eating fast food a long time ago and found the same thing, when you decide to go ahead and have one it's amazing that you could ever have liked it!! Real, whole foods are so much better tasting besides being better for you!! Way to go !!
  • velix
    velix Posts: 437 Member
    I had a similar moment of enlightenment last week - concerning pistachios (and today, it was Cheetos Puffs)... I used to eat these things in massive quantities, and enjoyed every minute of it - and the other day when I had the pistachios (not even half of my old regular intake) I felt ill ... and today, the cheetos ... they were good the first few, and then they started to hurt my tongue ... I realized, similar to you, that the things I loved so much before - well - 'eh, not so much' .....

    it's a great moment of realization indeed! Congratulations ;-)
  • CGade
    CGade Posts: 46 Member
    Thank you soooo much for the inspiring words....good for you!!! I have noticed tht if I REALLY think about it, sometimes the foods that I think are ging to make me "bad" or eat out of control, they really aren't as good as my head make it out to be ! How cool is that realization..and freeing!!!! enjoy your holidays!!!
  • jperry902
    jperry902 Posts: 18
    I hear ya man.. I used to get double cheeseburgers there all the time.. I decided to go get one after my diet had started because I had a killer hangover, and I knew the grease in it would make me feel great, but I found myself saying the same thing. Not as good as I used to think it was.. good work on making the discovery! after that, a lot of things in being healthy come easier, I find!
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