Feeling Guilty

Like you said, "every once in a while" enjoy the splurge and get back on track tomorrow.

I don't feel guilty about it. This is a lifestyle that you need to make livable, not some silly super restrictive diet that will cause you to fail because you never indulge.

No matter what guilt says, 1 evening can not undo a month's progress. Don't listen. Good luck to you.

Before, if I ate something that was going to put me over my calories for the day, I would hate myself but have the attitude that since I was already over, the rest of the day didnt matter and I would "get back on track tomorrow" and literally blow the day. Then I just accepted the fact that this is a lifestyle change and not a diet. I am in it for the long haul and it's not going to happen over night. So, if I eat something that's a little excessive, I eat lighter the rest of the day and move on. We all need to live and enjoy life so if I am working out like I should and watching what I eat 90 % of the time, I am not going to let a little enjoyment make me feel bad.

Key word/s: once in a while.

If I were to eat healthy 100% of the time I would go crazy. Just enjoy and start anew tomorrow. Don't wait until Monday. Most likely if you count all the calories you had left all week, you would come out even or even under.

Once it's done, it's done. No sense in feeling guilty about it. Just let it go. Like others said, tomorrow is a new day, another chance to start over. I would add, however, that you don't have to wait till tomorrow to start over. You can start over NOW.

Don't, however, use this as a reason to say to yourself "Since I ate so crappy out with the office people, I might as well go ahead and have ______________ , and while I'm at it, I'll have ____________."

If you're a spiritual person, ask God to help you let it go, and He will.

Regardless of what you have done today, use the successes of the past month to keep you motivated and start anew NOW

Don't sweat it. My honest opinion is we need a crap day every once in a while. For me, it helps curb the cravings.

I get this issue if I have a bad eating night and then feel too sluggish and lethargic to exercise some of it off the next day. But the mentality to take is that, as long as you get back on track, the odd splurge wont do any harm and you can balance it back out over the next week pretty easily.

Do you remember that one commercial for said product where they showed the girl who made an unhealthy choice and then made bad decisions all day? Then they showed her making a healthy choice (maybe a commercial for the Special K drink or something) and she continued to eat healthy and make good choices?

Wow...hope that is understandable with my half-awake ramble. O.o

Anyway, the point is, making one healthy choice does lead to more and vice versa. If you realized that you made the "bad" choice, like everyone else said, Today is a new day to make one healthy choice after another. hope this makes sense. I really liked that commercial and I actually still keep it in mind during the day.

It's going to happen, so mark it up as your one cheat day instead of feeling guilty. That guilt is just going to trick you into thinking you're a failure and try to sabotage your further efforts. You've got this! Besides...lawdy.....alcohol and curly fries? Geez....only Mother Theresa could've resisted such temptations! Now I'm drooling......

Oh, and try to make a note about that possible trigger in the future (maybe being out with friends) just so you are able to better control what you eat/drink in the future.

Hey, your weightloss journey should be the start of a long-term lifestyle change, and that s*** would be pretty depressing if you couldn't have some unhealthy food with friends every once in a while. ;p It's silly to feel guilty if it's something you do very occasionally; it's just like treating yourself to a day at the spa or splurging on those gooooorgeous shoes -- you do it occasionally, it stings in the wallet just a little, but there's no long-term damage and it's worth it for the fun you have.

You shouldn't feel guilty. I never do when I go out with friends and have a few drinks and eat something "bad". In fact, I usually rarely gain any weight from it. The key is every once in a while. I went over my calories by 771 yesterday and didn't gain a pound this morning.

Sometimes real life gets in the way. Its how you deal with these paths that present themselves that makes your success continue. Budget in advance or try to make up for the deviations. Or just recognize that it was a bump in the path but you can keep going. See, you at least recognized that it happened. Imagine in the past (like most of us) that kind of indulgence would not have even been noticed!

Cant feel guilty about it. We are all human and its better to eat the curly fries and drink and have a good time every so often. You deserve to go out and have fun, and like you said its every so often so enjoy it and then get back to your diet and exercise program the next day.

Thanks to everyone for all of the awesome responses!! I actually weighed myself today and I am down 1 pound since Monday. I am so excited. Like some of you have mentioned this is a lifestyle change not a "diet". There are going to be ups and downs along the way, but thankfully I found MFP to help me through this journey.

Well done! No long-term harm done, hey? ;p