So upset with myself

There is nothing wrong with birthday cake, hershey kisses, or m&m's.

Most of the folks here will tell you to eat everything you like in moderation.

You could eat nothing but chocolate within your calories and lose weight just fine. But odds are you would be hungry and malnourished eventually.

If you like chocolate, plan to have some with lunch and/or dinner. Account for the calories. I nearly always have dessert with dinner. It may just be a Ghiradelli square of chocolate, but I always have something.

Focus on eating nutritious foods throughout the day so you're not too hungry. Find what you feel is yummy and keeps you full. Foods rich in protein and fiber help here.

Then, have some chocolate. It's fine. It doesn't mean you "fell off the wagon" or anything like that.

~Lyssa

I allow myself a Ghiradelli Chocolate square every night. It's 60 calories and it's my treat. Please don't beat yourself up. You are not perfect. No of us are. Tomorrow is a new day and a fresh start. You can do this.

Are you restricting too much? It's much more likely you will binge if you are refusing yourself things you love like chocolate. I ate 70 calories worth of dark chocolate pumpkin spice almond candy. That's the kind of thing I eat when I dont have a ton of calories left by want something sweet. If I have the calories, I'll have a donut (did that the other day) or a cookie. I tend to know I'll want something sweet at some point in the day so I generally decide what I want it to be and reserve the calories for it ahead of time. If I simply refused to allow myself something sweet, I wouldn't last long.

Everyone is different some people can have sweets in moderation for me personally i can't just have half a bag of m&ms or one cookie so it's something I completely stay away from unless it's a really special occasion and I work off the excess calories I ate, the key is finding what works for you.

Good advice above.

You are indeed your own worst enemy because you expect far too much of yourself: as others have pointed out, there is no such thing as perfect. You're just setting yourself up to fail. How about a change of mindset? Look at it this way: you ate well (+1), worked out (+1), passed on the cake (+1), ate the candy (-1). That's a net of +2. You could have had the cake and the candy, but you didn't. I'd call that a small victory.

(editing to fix my math. some engineer I am, sheesh)

if you cant leave it alone, stop buying it.

i can leave anything alone except peanut butter cups.

guess what i very rarely buy.....

Perfect does not exist.

There is nothing wrong with including chocolate in your diet.

I would log it and then do better tomorrow. It's not the end of the world.

Hfeff wrote: »

I can't seem to get through one day perfect. I exercised today, ate well, didn't eat birthday cake at the party, had a salad for dinner and then proceeded to eat 8 Hershey miniatures and a handful of m m peanut. Why can't I stay on track? I am my own worst enemy.

Prior to the Hershey's minis, how many calories had you eaten?

Ever since I stated logging and counting calories on 11/30/15, my daily caloric goal has been the same: 1600. I have rarely actually achieved it. In fact, my average is more like 1700-1800. Only 19/62 days did I eat 1600 or less. Still lost weight - fourteen pounds to be exact. Nearly twice the rate of weight loss I have set as my goal. That loss has not, I repeat has not, been linear.

My secret? Every day I wake up set to achieve my 1600 goal but don't beat myself up if I fail. I just log as accurately as possible and move on. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Perfection is not requisite for success. Honesty with yourself, reasonably accurate logging, dedication, and realistic expectations are. Oh, yeah, and the ability to not beat yourself up emotionally or talk oneself off the bus if you are not perfect.

FWIW, I eat what I want as far as types/categories/groups of food and I don't exercise beyond the walking required to grocery shop/run errands every 2-4 weeks.