When you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to go off plan

oxers wrote: »

ana3067 wrote: »

But to label it as a cheat day is just making you view food in black and white, negative terms.

Okay, I know this thread is basically done, but I think this is REALLY important. When you start assigning moral judgments to food choices, you're wandering into really dangerous territory. You're not good for eating 4oz of chicken breast and you're not bad for eating a bowl of alfredo. You're neither good nor bad, you're a person. And your choices are the same way. Some choices will get you to your goal faster, some choices will make you happy, but that's where their power begins and ends. When you get to a place where you require external validation and someone to tell you it's okay to eat what you want to eat, to absolve yourself of the guilt of putting food in your body, I mean. That's not good. That's a whole lot more unhealthy being a few pounds overweight.

I just think our relationship with food and with ourselves should be paramount when chasing down a healthy lifestyle. You know?

I very much agree with this.

I also think that labeling something as forbidden makes it more desirable, so allowing yourself to have a bit of treat food is OK. If you don't let yourself eat any of that, you'll just crave it more.

Also, you're eating in a calorie deficit to lose weight, which means that of course your body is going to be trying to trick you into eating more food.

And if you do binge, just accept it & move on. Don't bash yourself for it - you're not a bad person for binging (even though many of us judge ourselves on that). You gave in to a normal body's craving for more food, and that's OK. Every day is a new day. Every meal is a new meal. It's easy to give up completely on eating healthy after a day of eating sugary/fatty/too many calories food. But just recognize that happened, and move forward. Don't weigh yourself right away, either, since you'll be retaining water after a binge.

To the OP, then I agree with the others eat it. but log it. It's fundamental that you keep an accurate record of what you consume as its the backbone of your MFP lifestyle change. Not logging it doesnt mean it didnt exist.

oxers wrote: »

ana3067 wrote: »

But to label it as a cheat day is just making you view food in black and white, negative terms.

Okay, I know this thread is basically done, but I think this is REALLY important. When you start assigning moral judgments to food choices, you're wandering into really dangerous territory. You're not good for eating 4oz of chicken breast and you're not bad for eating a bowl of alfredo. You're neither good nor bad, you're a person. And your choices are the same way. Some choices will get you to your goal faster, some choices will make you happy, but that's where their power begins and ends. When you get to a place where you require external validation and someone to tell you it's okay to eat what you want to eat, to absolve yourself of the guilt of putting food in your body, I mean. That's not good. That's a whole lot more unhealthy being a few pounds overweight.

I just think our relationship with food and with ourselves should be paramount when chasing down a healthy lifestyle. You know?

Cant say I disagree with this, but I think you have to take into account that there are many types of personalities and that for many the whole process of diets, weight self esteem and relationship with food is a matter for stress and has been going on for years.

Going on a diet then some need more support than others, not everyone has the confidence and focus of some others and they do require support and validation becayse they are scared of going off track and spiraling back down. Where they cnat trust themsleves in the past it makes them more confident to have people on their friends list be honest and tell them. It might sound crazy, but it is a safety valve, where dieting on their own has previously not worked.

Eventually as they hit targets and grow in confidence plus learn about the good habits, then I think they need less support, but in the beginning not everyone is so self assured or knows exactly what they are doing.

I have lost more that 90 pounds so far and the whole time I have been doing it, some days were super high in calories, other days were super low, but mostly somewhere in between. I just eat to my mood and hormones, within reason. At times when I have a stressful project or simply do not feel like dieting I maintain for extended periods of time, or even gain a couple, knowingly, every now and then.

The most important thing through it all is this: make more steps forward than you do backward and you will eventually get there. It's better to do that than to stress yourself out to the point where you quit all together and give up.

The best skill you can learn is to always be aware of what is going on with your food. If you are losing, maintaining, or gaining you are doing it consciously and out of your own choice. That you aren't losing control or slipping up, but evaluating your situation and deciding if it's worth it, and sometimes it is!