All day for some reason I've been CRAVING Church's chicken even though I rarely ever eat it. I tried putting it out of my mind while doing errands, drank a ton of water, and still, I was CRAVING it.


So, I gave in. I ordered 2 pieces of dark meat chicken and ate it with a 90 calorie Sprite.

And I don't feel guilty. I've been really good the past few weeks, stayed out of the drive-thru for the most part, eaten really healthy foods, etc.

Have any of you succumbed to a craving like that and not felt guilty? Or, if you did feel guilty, why did you feel guilty and what did you to do rectify that guilt?

In my opinion, there is a big difference between succumbing to a temptation and planning ahead for an off-plan treat. If I plan ahead, then why would I feel guilty? If I give into a craving without planning ahead, then I've fallen back into the pattern that lead me to 278 pounds. Guilt? Wasted emotion. Aggravation with myself and my addictions? Yeah.

Very true!

I don't do guilt, it's nothing but destructive. I have no use for things that just make me feel bad. I've had good eating days and bad eating days, the most helpful thing I do is pick myself up and move on. Selfloathing or bludgeoning myself with failure just hurts, it doesn't do jack to fix what happened or help me do better in the future.

I am learning controlled splurges are okay and a part of living life. I can look about at some times when I had a serious craving and desire for a certain food I deemed bad. I would not plan for or allow myself to have a controlled splurge but I ended up snacking on all sorts of things longing for the craving. In the end I still went over my calorie budget for the day. I would have done better to plan it in and go for my craving in a small amount.

I don't do self-loathing but I think I do guilt.

If something goes wrong (I eat a bag of M&MS [the pound size], I finish off a pan of brownies, or I watch TV instead of going for a walk) I definitely feel guilty.

But it also causes me to self-evaluate. Was it a bad day? Am I allowing myself too little room for indulgences in my diet? Am I setting myself up? Am I exhausted or am I just bored with my workout? Sometimes the answer is -- none of the above.

If I don't feel guilty, it can mean that I'm in denial and that usually leads to more events that embrace an "eff it all!" attitude. Since I'm pretty much an expert in that attitude, I have to be careful or it's a downward spiral for me.

And I wouldn't say I'm a penance kind of girl. I don't punish myself or make myself go for an extra workout (because then workouts become punishment). Because guilt (for me) isn't about "See how bad you are!" as it's "Whoa. Is something wrong?"

Hi - I totally agree with Artic Mama. You can't change any "giving in" or whatever you want to call it. Once it's been swallowed, it's gone. Heaven knows we all have fallen off the wagon at one time or another. We just have to "get back on the horse" & back OP. I"m also learning the difference between , boredom, thirst, etc. It's taken quite awhile & I have to be really consious of that. I lost the pound this week that I gained last week so I'm happy. It's a cloudy but not cold day here so that's a bonus. I've been cleaning area rugs & now just have to do one more rug then I'm done with that until fall And I took up the living room area rug for the summer. I dog sit & have lots coming over the summer & the laminate is so easy to care for. Baxter (my ShihTzu) isn't to happy about the rug being gone - oh well! I so enjoy all the posts I read on 3FC. Thank You!

For me, it is not about the off plan treat, it's more about what is motivating me to have a craving in the first place. In the vast majority of cases, I am feeling stressed, angry, lonely, bored, or sad and that is why I suddenly have a "craving". It is not the end of the world if I give into the occasional craving, but I know, that if my cravings are the result of wanting to numb my negative feelings, then I will always have cravings, and I will never really heal the real problem that caused me to put on all this weight.

Right now I am not allowing myself any "dangerous" foods. (fatty foods like nachos and pizza and chips are my trigger foods) The good news is that more often than not these days, I am not craving them either.

If I go off the wagon and give into a craving for fatty foods or sweets, then I just need to pick myself back up again and get back on plan the next day.

I have succumbed to cravings before and have felt both emotions...depending on the type of succumbing did. In the past, when I've tried to ignore cravings, I ended up nibbling on a bunch of other little things trying to satisfy it and then ended up eating a boat load of whatever it was I wanted in the first place. <this makes me feel guilty>

Recently, I've responded more to cravings in a more controlled fashion - by allowing myself WHATEVER I crave in smaller moderated portion and I try to combine it with something else that's really healthy. <this does not make me feel guilty>

Like authentic suggested, I think it's important to analyze whether it's emotions that are triggering the craving so you don't fall back into old and potentially bad habits.

But ultimately, guilt is a negative emotion that doesn't do anyone any good. The best thing seems to be to plan for it whenever possible and remove all the reasons for you to feel guilty about it (like Girly suggested).

MOST IMPORTANT...to me...is that perfection is impossible and expecting that of yourself is definitely a setup for failure. So long as we don't use that as an excuse to over-indulge constantly...I think we'll be okay.