Okay, so lately I really got annoyed of my plateau and I stopped eating all of the stuff I liked, no candy, no chips, no cakes, no pizza, even if it fit within my caloric limit of the day and I have been dropping in weight a lot lately. Mainly because I eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and stick to chicken and fish.
Now I know I'll probably seem really silly for asking this question, but is it okay to use a pizza hut stuffed crust pizza as motivation to lose an extra 5lb off my original "goal" just to eat that pizza? In case my weight creeps up because of the sodium, it won't be so hurtful?
I have been having intense cravings for that [*beep*] delicious pizza but I also know how much I hate my weight creeping up and taking forever to come back down every SINGLE time I eat pizza.
So is it really THAT bad to reward myself with it when I'm at my goal weight? Is this a crazy thought or do people actually do this? Is it going to backfire? CAN it backfire? Am I going to go on a crazy binge? I'm petrified of what will happen after that pizza but I really want to eat it. LOL
Sorry if I sound completely delusional, I don't know who to turn to, my family just says "oh eat it, you look fine already"... and well honestly you guys are my rock, you guys are the reason I found enough motivation to lose the weight.
Thanks in advance, and please don't be too harsh. lol
Personally, I'm trying to stay away from using food as a reward as it's just harmful to my mindset. If it works for you, you can try it. You know the pizza is hindering your weight loss so I'd go without it for a bit and just have a slice every so often (re: rarely) coupled with lots of water/salad for a meal.
I don't see any of my friends that haven't had issues with their weight or disordered eating rewarding themselves with food which is kind of my benchmark. They're not perfect food role models but they obviously have fewer issues with the whole weight/food/emotional thing than I do.
I guess I'm basically saying, try to fit in just enough to satisfy your craving and expect a bump. Be reasonable and honest with yourself if it causes worse cravings or a binge afterwards. Good luck.
Hmm.. personally I think it's a bad idea. For me anyway when I eat a lot of something like pizza I'll crave it even more for a while/few dys after I've eaten it. Rewarding yourself with food doesn't sound like a good idea, it's giving food too much power again. Can you eat maybe 2 slices with a salad as a meal? I mean then you've tasted it and enjoyed it. What would you get from eating all of it?
I think it's a bad idea too. Can you make a lower cal. pizza substitution? I've found that baking a mushroom with pizza sauce/toppings or making a salad with pizza veg and sauce kills the craving just as well for me, as an actual pizza does.
You guys are right. Thanks so much I think I'm just gonna make a pizza substitution for now, to calm down the craving, and once I get to my goal if I really want it, I'll have one slice. Chances are, because i haven't had pizza in a long time. One slice is probably all I'll be able to handle anyways.
Thanks for taking the time to answer me I'm already feeling the craving going away. xoxo
I think the single slice is a fine idea, even two if you really want it.
I get the idea behind not rewarding yourself with food, and I know it's not the best idea for most people, most of the time. But I don't think it's always bad or detrimental, or at least it doesn't have to be.
Long ago I said that when I got to 100 lbs lost (180 lbs), I was going to reward myself with a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. Because it was that season, and I LOVE pumpkin spice lattes, and I hadn't had one because I couldn't justify even one made with skim milk and no whipped cream because there is so much freaking sugar in those things (no way to make them low cal because of whatever syrup they use for those). And I said too that when I'd lost three pounds beyond that and was no longer obese, that I'd have a pumpkin spice frappuchino because those are even more amazing than the lattes, and I thought it was a reasonable reward for 8 months (edit: 10 months!) of really, really sticking to my plan. In the end, I had the pumpkin spice latte sometime a few weeks after I'd reached that goal, and I never remembered to have the frappuchino - the craving had gone away by that point, or I forgot about it until the pumpkin spice season was over, or something. But even if I'd had both, I don't think they would have led to a downward slide, or a bad habit of rewarding myself with lots of bad food for every milestone, or whatever. They were just treats I was going to allow myself, just like any other treat I might have and work into my daily calories; these ones were just going to come at a planned, specified time as a reward for the work I had put into getting there. And I, personally, think that's ok.
Anyway, just my two cents.
Last edited by chickadee32; 05-15-2012 at 09:00 PM.
Ditto to what chicakdee said. I love pizza and regularly have a Celeste cheese pizza for one (350 cals, only $1!). During tax season, we got pizza every Monday night so every Monday night I had two slices of garlic pizza (my absolute favorite) and still lost 10 pounds during that 2 months. I just made it part of my calorie-counting plan.
At the end of last year, I told myself that, if I got to 165, I'd stop at the new Papa John's I pass every day on my way home from work and get myself a pizza. I made my goal but never stopped there. I still haven't. I think making "treats" a part of my regular plan has made that sort of reward less tempting to me.
And, for what it's worth, my thin friends without food issues reward themselves with food all the time. Since food doesn't have the same emotional weight for them as it does for me, it's just something fun for them.
Thanks Chikadee and Steph!! You guys are right, anyways I'll ride it out and most probably by that time I probably won't want it, and if I ever do, I know it'll be in moderation because of all of the hard work I have done to get there.
And you're right about the thin friends rewarding themselves with food. My friends do it all the time, but they don't know my abusive relationship with food. it's not the same!
And you're right about the thin friends rewarding themselves with food. My friends do it all the time, but they don't know my abusive relationship with food. it's not the same!
Yeah, exactly. When you said "my family just says 'oh eat it, you look fine already', that totally resonated with me. Yes, I do look fine now, but if I used that to justify eating those treats too often I'd be right back to where I started in no time!
Have I gone completely mad?
I'm petrified of what will happen after that pizza but I really want to eat it. LOL 
I'm already feeling the craving going away. xoxo 
it's not the same! 
