Need to stop myself!

First of all, unless you are allergic to it or it will put you way over your calorie goal it is not bad for you. There might be better options, but making yourself guilty over eating something isn't helping. When you say yes take the time to enjoy it and log it into your food diary.

Plan your day in advance, but leave 20% of your calories for something unexpected. Pack your breakfast and lunch as well as snacks.

glitzy196 wrote: »

Look up how many calories are in something before you eat it, that usually stops me in my tracks. I also spend a ridiculous amount of time looking up weight loss quotes..the one that really stuck with me is "something you have been craving for 15 minutes or the body you have wanted for a lifetime"

Something you have been craving can fit in your calories and won't keep you from having the body you have wanted for a lifetime. A 15 minute craving may not be worth it (say the cake in the break room that you don't really want, but it's there). A food you have been wanting for a few days is more than worth fitting in and can keep us on track.

Maybe saying "No!" is not the trick you need to re-learn. Maybe saying "Later" would be a better fit for your current situation. If you want something and it's too high in calories, reminding yourself you can still have it later and save up calories for it for a few days makes it even more satisfying.

Another words you may want to consider is "It's okay". Guilt feeds negative behavior which feeds guilt in a cycle that may be the death of your diet. Tell yourself that it's okay to have certain things you previously thought were bad for you because almost anything in moderation really isn't bad for you. No point in feeling guilty for doing something that won't sabotage your diet as much as you imagine. Learn to say "it's okay" when you do lose control and eat more than you'd planned, and instead of channeling your energy through guilt channel it to find strength and motivation to do better on your next meal.

Think of diet in terms of "ticks" rather than days. That trick helped me a lot. Every time I eat something is an individual and separate tick in a long time flow that spans a long long time, not just a day. Ruining one tick does not justify ruining the next. To further help myself not to think in terms of days I started tracking my calories weekly, then moved to tracking them across a 2-week span. I have a certain allowance for 2 weeks, and ruining one meal only means that subsequent meals will have to be adjusted to make up for it (unless the excess is too large to make up for, in which case I just acknowledge it and move on). This took care of this "the day is ruined" feeling.

No need to feel guilty about ruining a meal, but it doesn't justify wanting to ruin the rest of the day. On another thread where someone really overate and was feeling guilty, I remember making an example that seemed to get the idea across better: No use crying over spilled milk, but when you do spill some of your milk you don't go and pour the rest of it in the sink

There are some awesome suggestions here. I will use some of them myself. Today we had a company meeting...with bagels. I got so mad at myself and my lack of willpower for having that bagel, that I started thinking my whole day was ruined, and maybe I should just start over tomorrow. Of course it isn't ruined! I usually have leftover calories at the end of the day anyway and counted that bagel in!