I haven't had a single drop of soda since my 2nd pregnancy and that was november 2009. I was grocery shopping yesterday and passed by the jelly beans station where it is sold by the pound. I usually only buy the sour ones hut then I saw all the soda flavored ones and bought some of each flavor.

My friend told me that eating soda-flavored candy is the same as drinking it and I might as well give in and have a soda.

From my point of view I think it's not the same but is it cheating?

I guess that depends on why you're not drinking soda. If it's to prove to yourself that you can live without the taste, I guess it's cheating. I can't imagine why that would be the reason, though.

I fail to see your friend's logic. Eating apple flavored jelly beans isn't the same as eating an apple, after all! That being said, I don't see how they're any different than the occasional treat you might work into your plan.

The reason why I stopped was because I didn't want to gain a lot of weight like I did with my first pregnancy. I was on bed rest the entire time and drinking as much as I did before (3 cans/day) was going to add lots and lots of extra weight. After I had my baby I did not drink it again because I was nursing and caffeine isn't good for the baby. I just haven't craved or wanted any since then.

First of all, only you get to make the rules for you, so only you get to decide what is and is not "cheating" and even if "cheating" is possible.

For me, it's not. No matter what I choose to eat, it's not "cheating," it's just a choice I'm making. I chose to eliminate entirely, the concepts of "bad foods," "good foods," as well as "cheating" and "food guilt."

I no longer feel bad or guilty for food choices. I get to choose, and I want to make the best choices I can, but less than perfect choices aren't reason to feel guilty or bad or obsess over whether I'm being as perfect as I should be.

I just do the best I can, and move on.

I try to avoid most high-carb foods, because they increase my hunger. I try to avoid wheat and sugar, because I've found that they aggravate health issues I have.

But when I do eat something that I consider a less-than-perfect choice, I don't beat myself up for it. I remind myself why it's not a great idea to make that choice too very often. And I try to remind myself to remember before I eat it, and then make a conscious choice.

I do sometimes make a conscious choice to eat something that I know will or could have negative consequences. I've decided that I'm willing to accept those consequences, or do what it takes to minimize the consequences.

As an example, for me, high-carb foods trigger strong hunger. Hunger that's difficult to resist. If I chose high-carb foods every day, I would eventually succumb to that hunger and would find it very difficult to lose weight. However, once in a while I do choose to eat a high-carb food that I know is going to make me hungry later in the day. So, I prepare for it. Usually afterward the effort it took to stay on plan any way reminds me why I don't want to do this very often.

However, when I thought of such splurges as "cheating," I would feel guilt, and the guilt would make me feel like a fool. And feeling like a fool would often convince me that I was a fool, and I would act the fool. Cheating made me feel like I couldn't win at weight loss - and when you believe something, you often make the belief come true.


Above all, you need to remember that you make the rules for you, and you determine the appropriate time, if any, to break your own rules.