Birthday Bash
 

Dear all,

I have a birthday coming up this weekend and I have to say I'm a little worried as far as my eating will go. I've been doing really well so far with a loss of 6 pounds. I will have every kind of cake imaginable there, sushi, you name it. There will also be alcohol. I also won't be able to make it to the gym the day before like I was planning on doing. I'm just worried I'll use this as an excuse to screw my whole diet up like I did once on my brother's birthday. The birthday went on for weeks so to speak. I want advice on how to make this the "healthiest mindset" birthday ever so I can bounce back to my routine the next day.

Thanks for any advice. :hug:

On days like that I allow myself the DAY, and that's it. Any leftovers or revisits to the bad food must be worked into my allowed calories. If I can't handle it I throw it out.

If you are worried it will set you into a tail spin, plan what you will eat and drink and stick to the plan. If you can handle a special day of treats, go for it. I try not to look at it as a "cheat" day, because this is LIFE. If we are reasonable with ourselves I think special celebration days (if they are few and far between) are just fine.

One day of indulgence never hurt anyone... it's the spillage into subsequent days that cause the damage. I vote that you enjoy yourself, be social, and then make sure that you get back on track the very next day.

Some things you can do in order to make sure that you get back on plan;

- Make a gym/hike/Zumba date with a friend for the next morning that you can't skip out on. This will get you started out on the right foot and make it easier to stay on plan the rest of the day.

- Don't let any of the birthday foods into your house! Keep it out of your environment and away from you!

- Plan out what you are going to eat the next day ahead of time. Make sure your meals are well balanced and satisfying, and maybe even work in a small treat so that you don't feel deprived that day.

This kind of thing varies from person to person, but if I let myself go (i.e. allow myself a "free" day) for a special occasion, I invariably fall off the wagon to varying degrees. It's why I personally can never make an exception for myself. Ever. Unless perhaps it's one single bite of something just for the taste.

You have to determine what you can tolerate and what you can't, then stick with it. I made a mistake going to the movie theater this past week and allowing myself a bag of Jordan Almonds to snack on. After all, I'm supposed to enjoy myself at a movie, right? I wound up eating the whole bag - over 1,000 calories - and going way over my daily calorie budget to finish out my day. I felt like cr** the next day for making negative progress toward my goal, and I regretted my indulgence. This wouldn't affect others the same way, but it has a way of hammering me. However, I learned from it and now know how to do things differently next time around. My wife went six months on a very strict diet without so much as one taste of sugar (with one heavenly exception of a taste of birthday cake), so it all depends on one's constitution.

I could easily eat 7,000 extra calories in one day if I lost it, and I would gain two extra pounds of fat that would take me weeks to lose again. AND the subsequent days would probably add more excess calories out of depression from my binge.

Its highly doubtful that you would actually absorb 7000 calories even if you ingested that many... but fine. I was trying to be helpful. Binge or don't, but don't ask for help if you're going to be snarky to the people who take time to try to help. Sheesh.

Snarky?

Is it a rule to only agree with others here? 99% of the time I do. I'm sorry you were offended, and I don't come in here intending to offend anyone. But forums are places for varying opinions and solutions, some of which won't agree with yours. Don't take it so personal.

So I've been eating "naughty" for the last three days. How much damage could I possibly have done? :dizzy: