[JulieJ08]

I seem to be settling into a pattern (more maintenance than losing, but I am still losing slowly) of eating on plan (which for me is about *what* I eat more than anything [wholefoods] since I'm not calorie-counting), and being relaxed about it on the weekend. On the weekend, I have pancakes if I want them (and I have little to no desire for regular pancakes anymore, I like whole grain and no sugar), I eat out if I want, I have dessert if I want (but I'm picky about my desserts now).

My main rules on the weekend are not to eat if I'm not hungry (hungry hungry, not "that sure sounds yummy"), eat if I am, stop when I'm just full, and have what's really satisfying. The point is that "eating anything I want" just doesn't mean the same thing anymore! If it did, I'd be approaching things differently. So you have to know when flexibility is your friend and when it isn't, and that line will be different for everyone.

[Glory87]

Originally Posted by cfmama

I don't do cheat or splurge meals at this point. I find that the cravings that come with them are just too hard to handle. Once I get into maintenance mode I can see myself doing that though

When I was actively losing weight - I only went off plan two times - my birthday (had a fabulous dinner in a restaurant with wine, dessert) and Christmas day. I say it was "off plan" but I planned to go off plan, so I guess it was on plan.

Now that I'm maintaining, I stay pretty much on plan during the week and have a treat meal (not a cheat - since it is planned) once a week.

I am very careful to make sure it is a treat MEAL. I do not go crazy for an entire day, I have one meal where I maybe eat out of the bread basket, have a drink, split a dessert. The next meal - back on plan. I could do a LOT of damage if I went off plan for an entire day.

I also allow myself daily treats, as long as they fit within my calories for the day. A typical daily indulgence is a 100 calorie biscotti with coffee, 7 dark chocolate sea salt almonds (100 calories) or 100 calories of really nice dark chocolate. Or yesterday - at Coffee Bean I had a tiny lemon/coconut cupcake. I actually loved the frosting and hated the cupcakey part so just ate the top off and threw the rest away. That's a big step for me - not FINISHING something