Giving in to cravings

I fail to see how one will achieve their health goals by resigning themselves to the rest of a life without having a meal out or a treat. That is just nonsense, imo. To the Op, there is no reason to feel guilt over having the occasional meal that is outside of your plan. It is, for most people, a part of living and enjoying life and will not mess up your plans unless you are going to make a daily habit of it. Many here have a weekly meal that falls outside their usual sort of foods.

I fail to see how one will achieve their health goals by resigning themselves to the rest of a life without having a meal out or a treat. That is just nonsense, imo. To the Op, there is no reason to feel guilt over having the occasional meal that is outside of your plan. It is, for most people, a part of living and enjoying life and will not mess up your plans unless you are going to make a daily habit of it. Many here have a weekly meal that falls outside their usual sort of foods.

She is asking how not to do something she doesn't want to do. I personally don't give into cravings, if I want something that is outside of the norm of what I eat, I maneuver my calories around it (skip breakfast, eat a light lunch etc) but its rare that I find I genuinely WANT to.

I love whiskey, I have a well stocked bar full of bourbon, scotch, Canadian rye etc. Do I want it sometimes? Sure. Do I say no? Every time. The point is that I come to this decision not feeling deprived or broken up over it.

If it's something she genuinely wanted to do then she should feel okay with it. If she knows she did it against her better preference/judgement, it's a matter of will power and weighing what matters more.

I know this is off topic, but why do you keep a fully stocked bar if you don't drink?

To the OP, you can't go your whole life not indulging from time to time. That's why this should be a lifestyle change and not a diet. If you want to change your lifestyle so you don't ever enjoy something "bad," then that's cool. But you're going to have times when you want to indulge, and that's nothing of which to be ashamed.

I fail to see how one will achieve their health goals by resigning themselves to the rest of a life without having a meal out or a treat. That is just nonsense, imo. To the Op, there is no reason to feel guilt over having the occasional meal that is outside of your plan. It is, for most people, a part of living and enjoying life and will not mess up your plans unless you are going to make a daily habit of it. Many here have a weekly meal that falls outside their usual sort of foods.

She is asking how not to do something she doesn't want to do. I personally don't give into cravings, if I want something that is outside of the norm of what I eat, I maneuver my calories around it (skip breakfast, eat a light lunch etc) but its rare that I find I genuinely WANT to.

I love whiskey, I have a well stocked bar full of bourbon, scotch, Canadian rye etc. Do I want it sometimes? Sure. Do I say no? Every time. The point is that I come to this decision not feeling deprived or broken up over it.

If it's something she genuinely wanted to do then she should feel okay with it. If she knows she did it against her better preference/judgement, it's a matter of will power and weighing what matters more.

I know this is off topic, but why do you keep a fully stocked bar if you don't drink?

To the OP, you can't go your whole life not indulging from time to time. That's why this should be a lifestyle change and not a diet. If you want to change your lifestyle so you don't ever enjoy something "bad," then that's cool. But you're going to have times when you want to indulge, and that's nothing of which to be ashamed.

Guests, and because I can.

I fail to see how one will achieve their health goals by resigning themselves to the rest of a life without having a meal out or a treat. That is just nonsense, imo. To the Op, there is no reason to feel guilt over having the occasional meal that is outside of your plan. It is, for most people, a part of living and enjoying life and will not mess up your plans unless you are going to make a daily habit of it. Many here have a weekly meal that falls outside their usual sort of foods.

She is asking how not to do something she doesn't want to do. I personally don't give into cravings, if I want something that is outside of the norm of what I eat, I maneuver my calories around it (skip breakfast, eat a light lunch etc) but its rare that I find I genuinely WANT to.

I love whiskey, I have a well stocked bar full of bourbon, scotch, Canadian rye etc. Do I want it sometimes? Sure. Do I say no? Every time. The point is that I come to this decision not feeling deprived or broken up over it.

If it's something she genuinely wanted to do then she should feel okay with it. If she knows she did it against her better preference/judgement, it's a matter of will power and weighing what matters more.

I know this is off topic, but why do you keep a fully stocked bar if you don't drink?

To the OP, you can't go your whole life not indulging from time to time. That's why this should be a lifestyle change and not a diet. If you want to change your lifestyle so you don't ever enjoy something "bad," then that's cool. But you're going to have times when you want to indulge, and that's nothing of which to be ashamed.

Guests, and because I can.

Point taken.

I join the crowd who encourages you to just not make it a habit. Get back on the horse tomorrow.

I had one of these days today, too. *hugs* We're not bad people, we just need to be better tomorrow.

I also want to mention that some people *cough*me*cough* are diagnosed with eating disorders such as compulsive eating. A compulsion is just that--even though you may not want to, you feel compelled to do it and have no control.

If you're in a situation like that, counseling can help. But part of that is forgiveness of yourself. In many cases, feelings of guilt lead to self-loathing and can then cause you to stress and feel the compulsion to eat again.

So if you find that this is a vicious cycle that is really severe, talk to someone. If you think it's just an off-plan day, smile and don't sweat it. Work out a lil extra tomorrow and be proud of yourself for getting back on the wagon.

Edited to add: small portion with LOTS of cold water can sometimes give you the taste you want while filling you up and keeping your portions small.

Never:indifferent:
And I also report all my earnings to the IRS......:laugh:

And I especially never crave Pizza, McD food or KFC.
Never. Not now....this second....:huh:

:laugh: Right...:glasses:

Deal with your cravings. Learn to have some without giving up control and your success.

The way I see it there are two sides to this:

1) I agree with allowing yourself some treats as part of a well balanced healthy diet- Deprivation leads to failure in the long term. I personally believe strongly that the more nutritionally complete your diet is, and when you stock yourself full of low-calorie density foods like fruits and veggies, you reduce the occurrence of cravings as a whole.

2) At some point you have to establish the above stated well balanced diet, and re-train yourself to stick to it. This takes time and self control. Most of us got to the point of needing to diet by overindulging cravings- you need to be able to override some cravings here and there. We live in a society where there are delicious and pleasurable options available everywhere, and you have to be able to say "no" to some of the donuts brought in to the office, and muffins at meetings, and christmas cookies constantly available for 2 months, and french fries at every bathroom break on the road, etc. etc. etc. Temptations will always be there. You can't indulge every one.

For specific cravings I know I have, like chocolate, I keep good dark chocolate on hand and fit it in to my calories. For salty cravings I keep natural popcorn around. I think the rule-of-thumb 21 days to create a new habit time frame is about right for most people.