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Old 08-02-2008, 11:13 AM   #1  
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Default What's Your Excuse??

Lots of folks have "reasons" that they use to tell themselves it's OK to go off their program. What are some of your excuses? And how do you know that they are excuses?

I'll start--

"I've worked so hard today, I really deserve to relax with some off-plan _____."

This is an excuse because working hard does not entitle anyone to overeat their calories, eat sugar/chocolate/chips/junk, and so on.

"I'm hungry but I'm not in the mood for my planned foods. I think I'll go out to ____ instead."

Being in or out of a mood has nothing to do with the question of staying on a program. The mood just becomes an excuse to indulge by going out to eat.

"Oh, I just think I'll eat at (high-cal restaurant here) even though I'm not sure what's on the menu. After all, it's not going to do that much damage."

Yeah, right. A recent thread here in Support showed that it's easy to eat over 2,000 calories in one meal at many restaurants and not even know it. I need to look things up before I go to a restaurant, not after.

How about you?

Jay

Last edited by JayEll; 08-02-2008 at 11:14 AM.
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Old 08-02-2008, 11:17 AM   #2  
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Umm so most recent was. . . Its my birthday so its okay. Were on vacation for my birthday so i can splurge. The one steak wont matter. The cupcake, 2 cakes, cheesecake and resturant wont make me gain. HAHAHAHA 5lb gain for my "well deserved" birthday vacation. Not doing that again

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Old 08-02-2008, 11:39 AM   #3  
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Candy its my birthday soon and my mum keeps saying 'its okay to go a little crazy, its your birthday' but thank you SO much for reminding me that the lbs dont give a damn what day it is!

One of my excuses is 'I'll just eat this now and be better tomorrow' (but then i totally go awol)
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Old 08-02-2008, 11:50 AM   #4  
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Quote:
Candy its my birthday soon and my mum keeps saying 'its okay to go a little crazy, its your birthday' but thank you SO much for reminding me that the lbs dont give a damn what day it is!
My birthday was last week and I got a lot of 'it doesn't count, it's your birthday' from the people around me. I know better, thankfully, and while I splurged a little, I mostly kept my head and came back from a birthday trip with no gain. So it's possible to enjoy your birthday and still stick to your plan!

As for the original question, I don't tend to talk myself into stuff, I guess. Usually when I eat something that's off-plan, I just do it because I want to and then regret it (or not) later. Though maybe I am just not conscious of my own excuses? That's a possibility.
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Old 08-02-2008, 12:20 PM   #5  
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i try not to make any....
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Old 08-02-2008, 03:56 PM   #6  
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In my case, it's a pending excuse. I haven't had a birthday cake in many many years, and for a long time I've said that for my 40th birthday I was going to get myself a big, bright pink birthday cake with bright blue trim. Trouble is...I turn 40 in 6 weeks. In the back of my mind I've been debating what to do.
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Old 08-02-2008, 04:06 PM   #7  
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I am pretty much impulsive with my off plan eating. I don't seem to bother with excuses. I see it, I want it, I eat it. I never tell myself I can have something becuase I "deserve it". Sounds too much like BS, I think.

Yesterday, we went to Costco. I brought along my salad dressing with the intention of getting the chicken caesar salad and using my own dressing. Well, I got up to the window, saw the turkey wrap and got that instead. The turkey wrap is enough for three meals. I checked later - it has 810 calories. I should have had 1/3 -1/2 of it and an apple (which I also had with me). I didn't even discuss any of these options with myself.
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Old 08-02-2008, 04:17 PM   #8  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Redheaded I am View Post
In my case, it's a pending excuse. I haven't had a birthday cake in many many years, and for a long time I've said that for my 40th birthday I was going to get myself a big, bright pink birthday cake with bright blue trim. Trouble is...I turn 40 in 6 weeks. In the back of my mind I've been debating what to do.
How about a bright pink cupcake? One cupcake isn't going to set you back much, and they're making such beautiful ones these days.
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Old 08-02-2008, 04:35 PM   #9  
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my excuses usually revolve around exercising and include "im so tired and i have so much work to do". But im working on it >.<
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Old 08-02-2008, 05:32 PM   #10  
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Pretty much the only time I eat off plan is for work/social events, when I have to eat out. When I'm at home, I rarely go off plan. I never eat off plan as a reward, because I don't feel like cooking, or because I don't feel like eating what I planned.

My biggest problem is getting back on plan when I've been off plan. When I eat out for lunch or dinner, I have gotten into a really bad habit of going off plan for the rest of the day (good thing I never eat breakfast out--the whole day would be shot ). The problem is that I don't count the calories in the off-plan meal because it's so hard to do with restaurant food. And then, since I didn't bother to count the calories for lunch or dinner, I stop counting for the rest of the day. And if I'm not counting, it doesn't feel like the food has calories and I eat way too much of food that I really shouldn't eat at all. I feel like I have to eat as much as I can because it's my only chance to eat like this--I know I'll be back on plan the next day. And I am always on plan the next day, but I really need to get on plan by the next meal. I don't know if the solution is to be more restrictive about off-plan eating, be less restrictive (so I don't feel like it's my only chance to eat treats), or just live with it since it doesn't happen that often.

Luckily, I rarely eat out. I only do it for social or business purposes. My SO and I rarely just go out to eat by ourselves. If I want a special meal for the two of us, I make something special. If I don't feel like cooking, I make something that doesn't require a lot of prep (e.g., sandwiches) or we get pre-made salads from TJ's.

I do always have birthday cake on my birthday. We always go out for dinner (I'm not cooking my own special birthday dinner) and we always have cake. If there are leftovers, I can even have a piece of cake a day until the cake is gone. Usually I try to get a small cake so there won't be a lot of leftovers. Life's too short to not have cake on my birthday (and it's only once a year anyway, for Pete's sake). It's not an excuse; it's a rule. I have lots of rules that I live by. Another one is that if I'm at someone else's birthday party, I get to have a piece of their birthday cake too (I'm 40 and I work from home so it's not too often that I'm at birthday parties these days). I know that some people can be on plan 100% 24-7-365, but that's not me. I have to have allow for some off-plan eating occasionally. The only thing I'm working on is getting back on plan again afterwards.
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Old 08-02-2008, 06:20 PM   #11  
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Thumbs up Killed one "Special Day" Excuse

I've been working on the "today is special" thinking since observing that the number of special days has grown to about 365 a year, LOL.

For my birthday this year, I thought "Why not just have a Boston Cream Pie? My birthday is a special day." However, I recognized the feeling that went with that thought. I didn't want a small piece, I wanted a WHOLE Boston Cream Pie. Any that wasn't consumed at my birthday dinner would go in the fridge for me to finish. Some that night, some tomorrow, but a bunch would go in me. Not on my plan.

So I had a Birthday Watermelon instead. Was a real kick. My DD put candles on it and I had the whole experience. And it was a killer-good watermelon.

Last edited by BillBlueEyes; 08-02-2008 at 09:07 PM. Reason: typo
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Old 08-02-2008, 06:20 PM   #12  
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"I'm on vacation...I'll get back on track when I get home."

Ughhhh...this is what I'm dealing with now. I spent 5 days in New Orleans and according to my scale, gained 5 lbs. I didn't know that was even possible! :-(
I am back on my regime but it'll probably take a couple weeks to lose thise 5 lbs. Boy, those beigniets were amazing though......
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Old 08-02-2008, 06:34 PM   #13  
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ContessaN: That's the hardest excuse for me to break, also. When we go away on vacay, I used to always put dieting completely out of my head, and eat whatever looked good. I reasoned I may never be here again, and I want to eat this, or eat here, blah, blah, blah. Problem is we are foodies (OK, there is my OTHER excuse) and I always made reservations in advance at top rated or highly reviewed restaurants. And I ALWAYS would try their dessert, especially if it was a "signature" dessert. I would split it with hub, but still, that was too much! And if in Mexico or someplace like that--a lot of drinking as well, all day on the beach or late into the night.

I have got to be sensible about the vacays now. This will be my biggest struggle, for sure. Luckily, since recently moving to CA and basically starting our careers over, there isn't much money lately for any extended, far-flung getaways. That's a positive, I see now!
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Old 08-02-2008, 07:08 PM   #14  
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I have to be really careful when I exercise hard not to let myself eat too much that day thinking "Well - I burned 500 calories, a 300 calorie cookie is okay".
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Old 08-02-2008, 07:59 PM   #15  
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My excuse ~ Angie isn't home so I can have it!

Like last night's heart attack lasagna I made....

and am now trying to hide before she gets home.
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