Needing Some Talking Down

when you find yourself in a hope, stop digging

Yesterday I had the same problem and told myself that if I made something at home with similar ingredients I could have the "bad" food today if I still wanted it and that worked for me. I also try to keep a lot of food around the house that I can quickly prepare and eat or prepare with minimal effort. Logging the food that I want to eat before I eat it also helps, when I see the actual overage on the app sometimes it helps be more discouraging than just knowing I'd be "over". Don't beat yourself up, you can do better today, tomorrow, and the day after that so one day isn't going to kill your progress (as long as that day was yesterday and not today, lol).

Self compassion! Those days when you feel like you are taking a beating, maybe it’s ok to let your self control and will power to ease back so your soul can feel a little better? Maybe allow a little excess with some moderation to nourish your inner self?

I am in the camp of no "good" and "bad" foods. However, I am also in the camp of obsessive data tracking. I know that if I eat a tortilla, I will want another, and possibly 3 more. Same thing with cereal, or pocky. After tracking a pattern long enough, I can tell myself that it's easier to stop before the first one than it is to stop in the middle (though I have managed that, with tremendous effort).

To a person with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. In our culture, all emotions are connected to food in some way (even positive ones like celebration). If you're feeling lousy, the one-size-fits-all solution is to go eat something so you don't feel lousy anymore. I know why the culture is like this (and I know I was acculturated this way), but that doesn't prevent me from seeing it as wrongheaded. If you feel lousy, the logical solution is to do something to not feel lousy anymore, but that doesn't mean you have to eat if you're not especially hungry. Take a walk. Read a book. Make something (keeping my hands busy never fails; I lose hours without thinking about food that way). Take a bath. Play with your dog or your kids or volunteer somewhere. If food didn't cause the problem, it's probably not going to fix it.

That said, we're all human and it's normal to slip up sometimes. Don't beat yourself up. Commit to feeling and doing better right now. Keep your head up!

Personally I think we need to be allowed crazy meals. not weekly per say but one terrible meal isn't going to ruin your progress and is just a blip in the big picture.

Otherwise I agree with the above, go for a walk or something non food you like. Or pick a food splurge but in moderation.

we need to enjoy life in the now as well not just be so strict we feel guilty for one meal. Eating well is a lifelong journey beyond the weight loss If we make the journey miserable by not forgiving ourselves or making it so we can NEVER have just one crazy meal (just not too regularly) we will set ourselves up to fail in the long term.

I plan to have a crazy meal this summer. ONE I don't completely "fit in" my week. It's not something i do regularly (as in I haven't done it in...4 months?) but I want to be able to enjoy life. to just go out. To go and eat that horrible 500+ calorie Dairy Queen Ice cream without starving myself the entire day to "make up for it". So I loose a bit less than week (or nothing), this is a marathon not a sprint.