I worked it into my calories for the day (it's been a crazy day and I hadn't eaten very much at all by dinner time and I've been craving pizza (it was a tiny personal pizza with nothing but cheese and veggies)

I ate the pizza and then a "big man" handful of m&ms. I have the comfort of knowing that I am still under calories for the day...but I feel miserable.

How did I used to eat like this all the time?!

I didn't binge (not something I struggle with, thankfully), I alotted the calories for myself, I am still under calorie goal for the day....and I still feel guilty. Do you think it's because the food itself makes my body feel icky and sluggish and so I transfer that into feeling guilty??

It could be the food itself... I know when I drink alcohol now I get sick to my stomach over the calories-- even when I've alloted for them in my day. Maybe next time just have a tiny piece. Even a bite. Curb the craving. But then eat a big salad or other healthy choice item.

I don't think it was the food itself. If you've begun to tell yourself that there's a specific way you should eat and that you need to eat that way all the time, you're going to have some guilt when you go off plan. Personally I'm trying to avoid following or creating any specific "diet". I think that setting a strict eating plan sets most people up for failure. Even if you manage to follow through with it long enough to lose weight, the chances of being able to keep it up indefinitely to maintain that weight loss is ridiculously low. I ate pizza today, too. My overall calories for the day were still decent, so I'm not guilty about it. Better to eat some pizza and M&Ms now then forgo them entirely until a day when you have no willpower left and totally binge. You're still on track. Don't sweat the small stuff!

Would you like us to get a switch from the tree and beat you over it? Are you doing that, figuratively speaking, to yourself? Why?

Sort out your head issues. It is okay to feel disappointed when you miss a goal you have for yourself, like staying on your eating plan. But persistent guilt over perceived food 'sins' that are neither out of control nor beyond what you have already agreed to allow yourself, in terms of a calorie count? That's not healthy - and it has nothing to do with the food!

Food is not a moral choice - you are not a bad person or 'less' if you do not eat whatever you perceive is the 'perfect diet'. Now, not all choices will get you to your goal and not all will impact your body in a positive way, but there is no inherently evil food that isn't straight poison. Eating pizza and m&ms isn't a sin. But it may well be something you cannot allow yourself to do, if it leads to greater food struggles (as it does with me).

The food may definitely be weighing you down or digesting with difficulty, but from the tone of your post I'd say this is mostly a mental game for you. Really think about what healthy attitudes to food are and don't beat yourself up over mistakes. That leads to disordered thoughts and then disordered eating, far worse than any possible issue with the initial red light food might have caused.

If pizza and candy leads to you feeling down on yourself, don't eat it. It's not worth the psychological flogging. But please don't get into the habit of obsessing over 'bad' food decisions or beating yourself up when you fail your own goals - that way leads to bad, bad things.

Use this as a lesson - avoid these foods not because they are good, bad, or otherwise, but because you don't feel as good on them or about them as you do other sources of fuel. Eat what makes you healthy, the WHOLE you, mind and all.

January-- I totally agree with you! That's why I worked them into my calories for the day!

I feel physically ill. That's the problem...that's why I think it may be the food itself. I still eat the foods I love to eat, I just eat less of them. There's no way I could cut them out or I would fail miserably.

I guess I'm wondering if because I feel physically ill, I feel guilty about my choice. Because it made me feel really sick it seems worse of a choice than it actually was since I didn't go over calories for the day.

regardless of the ACTUAL reason why, I'm still thinking "Man, I should NOT have eaten that." and normally when I think that it's because I've gone over calories- haha.


does anybody else feel physically sick after sugar or anything? I usually just have 1 or 2 hershey kisses to curb a chocolate/sugar craving....but I had about 1/4 of a cup of m&ms and I think it was just too much after the entire personal pizza.

Yes, starches and sugar often wreak havoc on the body and don't feel as good to eat as fat, protein, and plant carbohydrates. There is an entire physiological cascade that comes with eating and the players in that game differ depending on what you eat, your stress levels, etc.

I, myself, really need to be eating almost paleo to feel healthy. I have issues with dairy, wheat, and yes, sugar. Addiction aside, it gives me food sensitivity symptoms and triggers an inflammatory response. I get sluggish, achy, tired, headaches and breakouts, it saps my energy like crazy. I can eat fat and protein until the day is long and so long as it isn't eggs, I feel marvelous.

For me, things like pizza and m&ms really need to be a once-a-season sort of thing, because they make me sick and crave more junk. Thus, I have to grow up and decide if I'd rather pleasure myself with foods that are hard on my body to digest or find alternatives that don't make my immune system go on the defensive. It doesn't need to be all or nothing for some people, but the older I get the less worth it that temporary junk fix is, compared to a more body-friendly alternative.

You get used to eating "healthfully" and even when you make a concession for something not so healthy...or lets just call it something not so "clean" your mind still goes to the thought of what you had was bad. So it was not the best of choices, but it wasn't an entire sleeve of cookies either. In pizza at least there is some nutritional value....and the m&ms well one handful isn't going to make or break you so long as you got right back into line.

I read somewhere here that food is nutrition, not emotion. That could not be more true, however, I still confuse the two!!!

I think a part of it is that maybe the day wasn't well planned out in a way that had you with a glut of calories at day's end....which your mind took advantage of and started thinking HEY...I CAN eat this or that or this or that. I don't have to eat broiled chicken with salad tonight. The first time I was in that situation since July was a Sunday that went bad. I found myself at 7 p.m. having had just a coffee with skim milk because I took a long nap to avoid the nonsense. I'd been craving a burrito from Chipotle, so I took advantage of not having to cook for the family and drove myself there. I skimmed some calories off of it by not having the sour cream, cheese or guacamole, but still it was a caloric nigthmare....and I lost 2 pounds that week

The last time I did it was with mac and cheese. Now, I had gone for a period after that when I wasn't hungry at all and had absolutely no cravings and could care less if I ate or not. But that mac & cheese crave returns like a mad dog that has to be kept in a cage!

When you can fit a not so good for you crave into your calorie budget....it can be a good thing.

I really think it was the M & M's. If you haven't given your body that much sugar in awhile, then it also wasn't expecting it or ready to break it down.

It doesn't typically happen to me unless it is ice cream or any sort of alcohol, I also feel crappy. I used to eat ice cream and drink with the best of them - but after cutting these things out for a long period of time, I don't process them correctly. I start feeling draggy with the icecream, headachey. I have tons of trouble sleeping after alcohol, my heart actually races, even if it was just one glass of champagne.

Next time, I would try just eating the pizza. See how you feel. I think those that are the most successful at dieting pay close attention to how their bodies and minds respond to certain substances.

I think about this all the time when I eat "junk food". It's a great reminder as to how I got to my starting weight. It was typical to eat junk food every day, all day, and in excess. Now I look back on it and think "WTH was I doing? Did I really hate me that much?"

Now it's just an occasional treat and I am much pickier about what a "treat" is, lol.

It could be guilt...but I would put more money on the food itself. I know that even when I keep my calories within my allotted range, sometimes the food I eat is considered a "bad food" (four Tootsie Pops yesterday - at 60 cal each!... ) and so I can feel a little guilt for that - but really, it's that sugar in those Tootsie Pops!! - Icky & Sluggish just like you said!

Even tho you were within your caloric range, I'd contribute that icky/sluggishness to those M&Ms PLUS all the sodium that was in your personal pizza. Sugar AND sodium... baddddddd combo!

hey, no harm in eating those things every once and a while. i think you're feeling crappy about it because it's something that you associate with your old lifestyle. just remember, normal people who don't have weight problems eat those things, too! you haven't done anything wrong. just drink lots of water to offset that sodium you got out of the pizza!