How often do you treat yourself?

jjpptt2 wrote: »

BZAH10 wrote: »

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

I try to 'treat' myself every day with every meal.
I 'cheat' myself when I don't log, don't care, and don't know why.

The easiest thing about my losing weight was giving up the movie theatre food. When you think about it, that is a lousy place to dine or snack.

I agree with all of this. I make sure everything I eat is stuff I love. I won't waste calories on any food I don't absolutely love.

I rarely go to the movies (just can't sit still that long) but if I do I don't eat there. I'm sitting still not doing anything for 2+ hours. I certainly don't need any extra "fuel" for that.

Can I ask about this statement? You're not the first I've seen say something similar, and it always elicits a bit of a side-eye response from me.

That sounds really idealistic to me. Maybe it's just that my tastes/preferences are a bit skewed, but do you really love chicken and broccoli as much as you love pizza and bacon cheese burgers? Or whatever "healthy" food you want vs whatever "junk" food...

If I ate only foods that I loved, could I hit my calorie and macro goals? Probably. But the amount of food I'd be eating would be so small that I'd eventually cave and give in to my need for greater quantity/volume of food. I would imagine that overall nutrition would suffer as well. So I balance foods I love with foods that I don't mind.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs or something, but are people really able to eat an entire diet of foods they "love"?


I'm not trying to be snarky... and if it comes off that way I apologize. But I think enjoying what you eat while managing intake is really important to long term success, so I do think this point is worth flushing out.

I figure I can answer, too. I'll use as references my dinner last night, a crudely simple stir-fry, and my breakfast today, a 'green' smoothie. I've been eating vast quantities of food for most of my life and I can assure you that I have more self-control in the presence of these foods than some others, you might see Raisinetes today or have seen me mention my banishment of Nutella. I like my smoothie and want to use the ingredients I put in it because I choose to get my protein and nutrients that way. Likewise, I chose the vegetables last night for flavor, nutrients, and calories. "Love" isn't a word I need to use to describe my relationship with food.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

BZAH10 wrote: »

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

I try to 'treat' myself every day with every meal.
I 'cheat' myself when I don't log, don't care, and don't know why.

The easiest thing about my losing weight was giving up the movie theatre food. When you think about it, that is a lousy place to dine or snack.

I agree with all of this. I make sure everything I eat is stuff I love. I won't waste calories on any food I don't absolutely love.

I rarely go to the movies (just can't sit still that long) but if I do I don't eat there. I'm sitting still not doing anything for 2+ hours. I certainly don't need any extra "fuel" for that.

Can I ask about this statement? You're not the first I've seen say something similar, and it always elicits a bit of a side-eye response from me.

That sounds really idealistic to me. Maybe it's just that my tastes/preferences are a bit skewed, but do you really love chicken and broccoli as much as you love pizza and bacon cheese burgers? Or whatever "healthy" food you want vs whatever "junk" food...

If I ate only foods that I loved, could I hit my calorie and macro goals? Probably. But the amount of food I'd be eating would be so small that I'd eventually cave and give in to my need for greater quantity/volume of food. I would imagine that overall nutrition would suffer as well. So I balance foods I love with foods that I don't mind.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs or something, but are people really able to eat an entire diet of foods they "love"?


I'm not trying to be snarky... and if it comes off that way I apologize. But I think enjoying what you eat while managing intake is really important to long term success, so I do think this point is worth flushing out.

I look at this more in terms of my sometimes foods and indulgences. Like if someone brings in some commercially baked cookies, I'm probably not going to bother because they're not that great...my wife's homemade chocolate chip cookies I would gladly splurge on. If I want to splurge on some pizza, it's going to be good pizza from Village Pizza, not Pizza Hut. If I want to go nuts with a burger and fries and whatnot, I'm not going to do it at McDonalds or other fast food joint...but I'd totally hit up Laguna Burger or O'neils here in town.

Basically, if I'm going to indulge I'm going to do it with what I consider to be better quality food/restaurants, etc. I don't want to waste my splurge on stuff that's just meh.

Thanks - I think you're saying/illustrating the point I was trying to make.

jjpptt2 wrote: »

BZAH10 wrote: »

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

I try to 'treat' myself every day with every meal.
I 'cheat' myself when I don't log, don't care, and don't know why.

The easiest thing about my losing weight was giving up the movie theatre food. When you think about it, that is a lousy place to dine or snack.

I agree with all of this. I make sure everything I eat is stuff I love. I won't waste calories on any food I don't absolutely love.

I rarely go to the movies (just can't sit still that long) but if I do I don't eat there. I'm sitting still not doing anything for 2+ hours. I certainly don't need any extra "fuel" for that.

Can I ask about this statement? You're not the first I've seen say something similar, and it always elicits a bit of a side-eye response from me.

That sounds really idealistic to me. Maybe it's just that my tastes/preferences are a bit skewed, but do you really love chicken and broccoli as much as you love pizza and bacon cheese burgers? Or whatever "healthy" food you want vs whatever "junk" food...

If I ate only foods that I loved, could I hit my calorie and macro goals? Probably. But the amount of food I'd be eating would be so small that I'd eventually cave and give in to my need for greater quantity/volume of food. I would imagine that overall nutrition would suffer as well. So I balance foods I love with foods that I don't mind.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs or something, but are people really able to eat an entire diet of foods they "love"?


I'm not trying to be snarky... and if it comes off that way I apologize. But I think enjoying what you eat while managing intake is really important to long term success, so I do think this point is worth flushing out.

I won't claim to eat only foods I "love", but definitely think life is too short for foods that don't taste good. I don't spend calories on food I don't actively enjoy, generally.

I can't think of anything I eat just for health or because it has low calories or high nutrition or whatever. I don't understand it when I read about people eating "healthy" food they think tastes icky. Why?

Maybe I'm misreading what you're saying, but it seems like the implication in the bolded is that one can "love" pizza and bacon cheese burgers but not chicken or broccoli, which seems weird to me. Heck, I love chocolate and craft beer, so sometimes I spend calories on them. I dislike a lot of so-called "hyperpalatable" foods (Oreos, Poptarts, most fast food, etc.) and a bunch of "healthy" ones (seaweed, lima beans, etc.), so why would I eat them?

But the world is full of thousands of tasty foods that are also nutritious, and many of those are low in calories. I'd have absolutely no trouble overeating exclusively on "non-junk" foods (however you define that), and it wouldn't be Deep Sadness to do so. Sure, I'd rather eat in a well-rounded way that includes not only broccoli but also chocolate and pizza, in reasonable amounts for each given my overall eating priorities. I'd say I love broccoli just as much as pizza, but I wouldn't want a whole diet of either one exclusively.

Not gonna eat the chicken or burger though - been vegetarian for almost 44 years, never did much like meat. But I don't really think pizza or bacon cheeseburgers are junk food, or that others who like them shouldn't eat them, either.

It's people giving up foods they love - absent medical necessity - that doesn't make sense to me.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

BZAH10 wrote: »

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

I try to 'treat' myself every day with every meal.
I 'cheat' myself when I don't log, don't care, and don't know why.

The easiest thing about my losing weight was giving up the movie theatre food. When you think about it, that is a lousy place to dine or snack.

I agree with all of this. I make sure everything I eat is stuff I love. I won't waste calories on any food I don't absolutely love.

I rarely go to the movies (just can't sit still that long) but if I do I don't eat there. I'm sitting still not doing anything for 2+ hours. I certainly don't need any extra "fuel" for that.

Can I ask about this statement? You're not the first I've seen say something similar, and it always elicits a bit of a side-eye response from me.

That sounds really idealistic to me. Maybe it's just that my tastes/preferences are a bit skewed, but do you really love chicken and broccoli as much as you love pizza and bacon cheese burgers? Or whatever "healthy" food you want vs whatever "junk" food...

If I ate only foods that I loved, could I hit my calorie and macro goals? Probably. But the amount of food I'd be eating would be so small that I'd eventually cave and give in to my need for greater quantity/volume of food. I would imagine that overall nutrition would suffer as well. So I balance foods I love with foods that I don't mind.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs or something, but are people really able to eat an entire diet of foods they "love"?


I'm not trying to be snarky... and if it comes off that way I apologize. But I think enjoying what you eat while managing intake is really important to long term success, so I do think this point is worth flushing out.

I won't claim to eat only foods I "love", but definitely think life is too short for foods that don't taste good. I don't spend calories on food I don't actively enjoy, generally.

I can't think of anything I eat just for health or because it has low calories or high nutrition or whatever. I don't understand it when I read about people eating "healthy" food they think tastes icky. Why?

Maybe I'm misreading what you're saying, but it seems like the implication in the bolded is that one can "love" pizza and bacon cheese burgers but not chicken or broccoli, which seems weird to me. Heck, I love chocolate and craft beer, so sometimes I spend calories on them. I dislike a lot of so-called "hyperpalatable" foods (Oreos, Poptarts, most fast food, etc.) and a bunch of "healthy" ones (seaweed, lima beans, etc.), so why would I eat them?

But the world is full of thousands of tasty foods that are also nutritious, and many of those are low in calories. I'd have absolutely no trouble overeating exclusively on "non-junk" foods (however you define that), and it wouldn't be Deep Sadness to do so. Sure, I'd rather eat in a well-rounded way that includes not only broccoli but also chocolate and pizza, in reasonable amounts for each given my overall eating priorities. I'd say I love broccoli just as much as pizza, but I wouldn't want a whole diet of either one exclusively.

Not gonna eat the chicken or burger though - been vegetarian for almost 44 years, never did much like meat. But I don't really think pizza or bacon cheeseburgers are junk food, or that others who like them shouldn't eat them, either.

It's people giving up foods they love - absent medical necessity - that doesn't make sense to me.

I'm a pretty picky eater, so that is probably skewing the conversation a bit for me, but...

There are foods that I love.
There are foods that I like.
There are foods that are ok.
There are foods I dislike.

Success, for me, comes from eating mostly foods I like. I eat some foods I love on occasion, but generally have to balance them with foods that are just ok (not always, but usually).

We all agree that most people won't be successful (or happy) eating foods they don't like. I questioned if it was accurate and realistic to say that one eats only food they love, with love being the key word.

That's the context for my post/question.

We had a potluck lunch for some departing coworkers today, but the bosses provided the protein in the form of sandwiches. I have celiac disease and couldn't eat that so I ate potato chips with spinach dip, fruit with a couple of tablespoons of vanilla yogurt, and a large piece of a GF cake I made. I had intended to also eat tuna, but wasn't hungry (thanks fruit and extra water I drank) and didn't. At about 2:15, a friend split a reese cup pack with me because she has diabetes and couldn't eat the whole thing. I ate chicken, peppers and onions and new potatoes for dinner. I then drank a protein shake made with milk because I still wasn't over 1200 calories. I am going to walk my dog now and might eat a GF cookie when I come back. Oh, and I have had 6 cups of coffee with half and half too.
I don't have cheat days. I eat less of the things I like, except for the large piece of cake, which was a treat because I don't make it often.

For me personally, I like to have reasonable portioned treats and fit them into my day's calories. Some days I go over, but it's balanced by the days I'm under. I have yet to experience a day where I'm a lot over. Most events I go to I pick and choose which treats are worth having.

My weakness is ice cream too. I bought a tub of Haagen Dazs the other day and it was heavenly! Worth every calorie! I rarely treat myself to ice cream because I tend to overeat it, but the occasional splurge works for me. What are your favourite healthier ice creams? I’ve seen a few lower calorie ones I’ve wondered about like the Breyers ones.

daily.
i eat ice cream every day. almost
because i put the calories aside.

All the time but I am learning to use things other than food as a treat.