Quote:
Originally Posted by satylite
My approach is simply to start eating healthily and moving my ***. I have a calorie range I'm shooting for, and I'm trying my damndest to make better choices. I know this will work for me because I've taken a lot of time to get to know myself and my eating habits and my brain and my patterns over the past several months. Frankly, every time I've put myself on a rigid plan, I've failed. I felt deprived or stuck or guilty for "cheating", and truthfully I can't live my life like that. I've accepted that there are days or instances where I'm going to choose to have that burger or slice of birthday cake at the office, but the make it or break it moment is when I choose where to go from there.
The same goes for you. I know many people who have lost a huge amount of weight and took one free for all day per week, and they've attested that it kept them on track the rest of the time. Some have told me that in knowing they have that out once a week, they wound up not even using it. Call it comfort or a safety net, but it's always there. The key is not slipping into 2 or 3 or 4 days like that. Instead of having a whole free day, there's always allowing certain foods into your diet on a daily basis in small or reasonable amounts. That works for some folks too.
I may not like buzzwords, but the phrase "calories in, calories out" has become my mantra. Because when it comes down to it, that's the very bottom line.
Everybody's body is different. Some people can handle splurge meals every week, others cannot. Since you are building it into your calories, it isn't really a splurge meal technically. You sound like you know what you are doing. I personally, don't set a day to do that. I just allow myself moderations when I feel the need to eat certain things.
I do agree with the emotional eating. If I start doing this a few days in a row then I know something else is going on. Right now I'm on my period so I tend to crave chocolates. I bought 1 small pkg of sugar free chocolate covered toffees. Those are higher in contents. Then I bought hard cocoloate flavored candies (for 8 calories a peice) to satisfy. I make my husband hide it so I don't see it. Then I only ask for it when I think about it and crave it. Otherwise if I see it, THEN it will trigger my craving. Those are my strategies. I think everybody builds their own. Good luck to you. Just watch the outcome and adjust as you go along.