I know this sounds kind of weird, but not eating my "crave" foods really worked to eliminate the cravings. I always thought if I denied myself cookies, I'd want more and more cookies. In fact, I know don't crave cookies at all. They aren't even a blip on my food radar anymore.
Oh MY GOSH!! I read this and immediately thought about when I quit smoking. At first, I craved cigarettes, wanted one 24/7.... last a couple months. Then, it was every 5 minutes.... then every half hour. After a few years, it was once every six months, for about 5 seconds.
I will be smokefree 10 years this coming December 31st, and I no cravings for cigarettes, EVER! I used to say a tragedy would make me light one up, but not even that will get to take another puff.
The idea of not having what you craved before will eventually become no craving at all! Just like not smoking. Wow, what incentive!!
I understand that a few of you might disagree with me on what I posted about a cheat day. I have done a LOT of reseach on this and I still stand by what I said.
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It's great that you can handle "crave-y" foods in moderation, some people (myself included) just can't. Some foods - like white crackers, cookies, chips, pretzels set off intense carb cravings that last all day. Eating those foods invariably makes me feel worse, so...after months of figuring out what works for me, I dramatically limit those foods. I used to crave those foods all the time - they were my go-to foods of choice.
Your further explanation of your meaning is pretty different than your initial post of "You should have 1 day (the whole day) as a "cheat day" where you eat what you crave" and makes more sense to me from a diet/health perspective. I don't think I would ever recommend an entire day of eating "foods you crave" to a someone trying to lose weight - my idea of "foods you crave" is a lot different than your description of "a healthy version of a hamburger" or a turkey sausage instead of a regular sausage (which are healthy subsitutions I make on a daily basis). Mine would be more like chocolate molten lava cake or Salt & Vinegar Pringles For a lot of people it would be fast food or ice cream.
For me - it was just easier not to "cheat" while I was losing weight. The black/white yes/no made everything simple for me.
I don't think of a cheat day as a day to binge, I am saying that if I allowed myself to have a cheat day that might cause a binge.
The beauty of calorie counting is that I can eat whatever I want every day, but I stay within a set number of calories. Counting calories is the most flexible way to diet.
I understand that a few of you might disagree with me on what I posted about a cheat day. I have done a LOT of reseach on this and I still stand by what I said.
I can tell you that I've lost 165 lbs, have kept it off for 1 month shy of 2 years now and I didn't have a "cheat day" the year I was losing. So to say that in order to lose weight one SHOULD do this, kinda gets to me.
You mentioned that you've done a lot of research. I am very curious to hear more about that. Could you please share that with us. Thanks.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 06-04-2009 at 06:39 AM.
I can tell you that I've lost 165 lbs, have kept it off for 1 month shy of 2 years now and I didn't have a "cheat day" the year I was losing. So to say that in order to lose weight one SHOULD do this, kinda gets to me.
You mentioned that you've done a lot of research. I am very curious to hear more about that. Could you please share that with us. Thanks.
robin, congratulations on such a great loss. You have lost about twice as much as I have, I don't do cheat days either.
I do feel that even on your “cheat days” you should still try to eat healthy.
Example = you want a burger…DON’T GO TO McD’s or JIB or any fast food place! Make your own burger…with all the fixins you like! Just use whole wheat buns and ground turkey instead of beef. Use 2% Kraft cheese (the pepperjack is awesome). Add on spinach or lettuce, tomato, onion, reduced sodium pickles, roasted red pepper, jalapeno…you name it. Use lite mayo or skip the mayo and go with the mustard. There are lower fat/calorie options all over the place that will turn the greasy fatty hamburger that makes you feel miserable into a very filling healthful meal.
A cheat day or meal isn’t meant to be a day/meal that you binge and eat horrible, bad for your body foods (like fast food or junk)…it is meant for you to relax a little and add a few more calories in and maybe go ahead and have that little bit of full fat cheese or dressing. Just in moderation.
I don’t claim to know it all, but I did do my research.
I also know that just because this works for Jane Doe that it might not work for Mary Sunshine. I am only trying to offer advice that MIGHT work. It is always trial and error until you can find what works for you.
Having a cheat day has worked for me in the past.
The only reason I gained the weight back is due to depression and insane hormone fluctuations (both of which are now under control).
I hope you can respect my opinion as I am respecting yours.
Samantha, I'm just curious what type of foods you eat regularly? Not judging, truly curious. As the "cheat" foods you describe are the things I eat daily. I didn't cut anything out when I changed my lifestyle, I just found better ways/foods to get the same thing, I still have hamburgers (97/3 beef) on whole wheat buns, honey mustard, etc., mac n cheese made w/ whole wheat pasta and low fat cheese. So, if these are your cheat meal type things what do you eat on a regular basis?
I don’t claim to know it all, but I did do my research.
I also know that just because this works for Jane Doe that it might not work for Mary Sunshine. I am only trying to offer advice that MIGHT work. It is always trial and error until you can find what works for you.
Having a cheat day has worked for me in the past.
The only reason I gained the weight back is due to depression and insane hormone fluctuations (both of which are now under control).
I hope you can respect my opinion as I am respecting yours.
I definitely respect that - but I hope you can see how different this is from your initial approach where you stated that everyone should have a cheat day (THE WHOLE DAY) where they eat everything they crave. It was pretty emphatic - that it is what everyone SHOULD do.
You've gone on to amend what you meant by "crave foods" (which is NOTHING like my interpretation of a crave food - to me a hot fudge sundae is a crave food) and then to further clarify that it worked for you, not necessarily everyone else - which I completely agree with.
I thought your intial statement (as it was phrased) was spectacularly bad advice (because based on my interpretation of a whole day eating crave foods, it sounded like an ice cream, fast food, pizza blow out), but your last post was very reasonable and made a lot of sense.
You should have 1 day (the whole day) as a "cheat day" where you eat what you crave...that way during the rest of the week you don't over do it with other foods (or binge) due to those cravings.
Quote:
A cheat day or meal isn’t meant to be a day/meal that you binge and eat horrible, bad for your body foods (like fast food or junk)…it is meant for you to relax a little and add a few more calories in and maybe go ahead and have that little bit of full fat cheese or dressing. Just in moderation.
I'm with Glory. These two statements aren't even close. The second statement is a heckuva lot different then spending a whole day eating what you crave - because back in the day I craved - chocolate, cake and cookies. As well as pizza, ice cream, fried chicken, french fries, etc..
You also used the word SHOULD as if it's a given FACT that that's how weight loss is done. And let's face it, there isn't any ONE way that it IS done. We can never tell anyone what they SHOULD do. Suggest is one thing - state as a given, another.
According to some of your *research*, which is basically just a couple of peoples *opinions*, I disagree with what they say as well.
For example:
Quote:
Eight weeks into your 'diet', even though your abs are beginning to show, your energy levels are a lot lower then they used to be. Plus, your mind is starting to think about 'food'. Not chicken, sweet potatoes, or green beans, but of dipping a chocolate bar into a bowl of ice-cream! You can hardly call that food, but these are real thoughts and they aren't going away.
Eight weeks into my so called diet, my energy levels were SOARING. Soaring. Like never, ever before. I was a bundle of energy, after being lethargic,listless and unproductive for so many years.
Eight weeks into my so called diet nothing could have been further from my mind then chocolate or ice cream. I was so into this lifestyle, and having done away with "those foods" for the 8 weeks my "wants" and cravings for "those foods" was no where to be found on the radar screen. So, umm yeah - the thoughts of them - they want away. Far. Far. Away. Refraining from those foods completely dried up my wants for them.
Much of the *research* was the same kind of mumbo jumbo. Didn't jive with anything I was experiencing.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 06-04-2009 at 06:17 PM.
Respectfully hoping I'm not throwing petrol on flames but it's the concept of 'cheat' that I struggle with. I appreciate to some it may be mere semantics but to me 'cheating' is always a despicable word, and I don't need help to puncture my fragile self esteem!
I do try to eat whole foods the whole time and I don't have a designated day to not do that. I do designate Sundays as a higher calorie day - it used to be so that I could accommodate a more 'traditional' Sunday dinner, these days it tends to be to make sure my weekly average calories are well up where I want them to be.
There are days when I do have something non-whole but only at one meal, and only one element of the meal (like yesterday's bacon chop totally smothered in veggies) - and it's undeniable that because I do that I don't feel deprived of the stuff, it's become a natural choice to eat it less frequently; but I consider that that's part of my plan, so when I do it, I am totally On Plan and not cheating.
Eight weeks into my so called diet, my energy levels were SOARING. Soaring. Like never, ever before. I was a bundle of energy, after being lethargic,listless and unproductive for so many years.
Um ... we can tell You make me tired just reading your posts. But thank God eating right makes *someone* a bundle of energy.
I guess I could have gone into more detail earlier on and made it a lot more clear...I guess to me I've already got it set in my mind what a "cheat day" is and I didn't take into consideration other people POV of it.
I just gave a simple example...I have tons!
My craving is a SuperSonic Jalapeno Cheese Burger...I eat a Turkey Burgers. If my craving is a chocolate sunday...I eat Fat Free Breyer's Strawberry IceCream with Fat-Free Chocolate Sundae topping. If I want french fries...I eat unfried sweet potato sticks.
In regards to a sample menu for 1 day:
Breakfast = 4 egg whites, 1/2 c mushrooms, handfull (or 2) of baby spinach (if I need a kick I will add some homemade salsa) 2 cantaloupe slices
Snack = fat free cottage cheese w/ fresh pear or peach or strawberries
Lunch = 4 - 6 oz baked or rotisserie chicken w/ fresh green salad
Snack = carrot sticks & hummus
Dinner = baked chicken or fish w/ grilled or steamed veggies & brown rice
(I work out 1 hour after I eat dinner)
After workout "snack" = protein shake made with BL Protein powder - 1 c skim milk, 1 c strawberries (if you want tropical you can do the 50 orange juice by tropicana and add in fresh pineapple)
I try to balance my meals/snacks out so that I am close to (doesn't have to be exact) 1500 calories...
For a lot of people it would be fast food or ice cream.
