You know they always say dont reward yourself with food. But here is my thinking lately. There are some treat foods I can have occasionally and work them into my diet. For example, I can keep a bag of Dove promises up above the pantry and eat one after lunch, I dont binge on them, and at ~ 40 calories it doesnt break my bank.

There are other foods that either I cant have in the house (ice cream) or just pack too much of a caloric wallop to really "incorporate" into my diet (cheesecake & pie, because frankly the "diet" versions just dont cut it - what is pie without the buttery flaky crust? ).

So what if at major milestones (something that would take at least 2-3 months to accomplish) I rewarded myself with a slice of pie or an icecream sundae. Yep my calories for ONE day would be all f'd up, but that doesnt break my diet.

I dunno, I just dont think it would be all that harmful. I know about the whole rewarding yourself with food, but you know what I do that anyway.

I would rather have a REAL icecream sundae every 3 months than diet lowcal icecream every day.

Oh and dont even start with the "3 bite" rule. Tried it, cant do it. I can avoid a food altogether with relatively little pain and little craving, but I can not just have a taste. THAT is a plan for disaster for me. The last time I tried to do that I ended up on a major binge.

I count calories, and I try to stay within a certain range each day (1200-1400) so it often allows me to have a small treat as well (dark chocolate or whatever). I also don't succumb to the problem that I've blown my whole diet if I go over for a day because of a treat. It has taken me close to a year, and I'm not quite there yet, but if I feel the need, or think I deserve something special as a reward, then I have that treat. I think over this whole year I've had ice cream about 3 times and cake once. I had one piece of pie and a few morsels of candy (never a whole big bar, but often an ounce of an expensive dark chocolate bar). So yeah, I think if you have the right mindset, and you don't do it too often, you can still lose weight and have a treat now and then.

But for those who don't have the right mindset (those who think one treat has blown the whole diet) then they should stay away from any kind of food rewards and stick to non-food rewards. Everyone is different and I always say do what works for you.

oh, i know what you mean, i really cannot stand low fat or diet versions of food. They really make me puke, except for diet pepsi. Can't have any other soda!

well, when i mean diet foods, i basically just meant desserts. Everything else low fat isn't terribly bad.

The whole goal/reward thing just doesn't work for me, so I don't use food as a reward but I definitely allow myself treats now and then that are outside of my calorie range. For me, they are usually in conjunction with some sort of special occasion or an event that outside of my normal routine. For example, if I'm at a business lunch and dessert is provided, I'm allowed to eat one serving of dessert. I don't always take advantage of this rule, but more times than not I do. I probably have one to two of these events per month (so your idea of a treat every 2-3 months would be way more disciplined than me). If I'm going out to dinner with friends and can't get caloric info on the restaurant in advance, I'm allowed to order whatever I want (although we never order dessert). On my and my SO's birthdays, I'm allowed to have one piece of birthday cake. If there is leftover cake, I'll even allow myself one piece a day until it's gone (otherwise it would drive me nuts having it in the house and my SO would never let me throw out a birthday cake).

I say go for it. If i dont have a "splurge desert" every now and then, i will binge and i mean BINGE. And if i dont set limits on what is "every now and then"...well then it becomes every other day, ha ha. So for me once a month, at THAT time of the month, i have a splurge desert...usually chocolate. So i say, go for it....once in a while.