A
while back I wrote about “cheat” days. I mentioned that I don't have
any. At the time, I was thinking about those days when you wake up and
you get pancakes, generously pour syrup on them and to add a little salt
to this breakfast, you cook a pound of bacon. The dog is looking at you
lovingly because it thinks it will get some, it doesn't!
After
such a breakfast, since you have already cheated so much anyway, you
may as well have ice cream. The whole day is centered around eating
badly. It's not a planned day, it just happens. You get out of control.
Those were the “cheat” days I was thinking about when I wrote that post.
However
a blogging friend wrote this: “I hate the term 'cheat day' because it
automatically denotes doing something we shouldn’t do.” Please keep in
mind I'm referring only to uncontrolled day we might have and not the
“unrestricted day” some of you might allow yourself, but I'll come back
to that later on.
I
agreed with my friend and commented that I didn't like the word “cheat”
either... However there are other words I don't like too: fat, obese,
overweight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart attack,
diabetes, etc.
So
from now on I'll use the word “cheat” because it does denote doing
something we shouldn’t do. If we allow ourselves to cheat we are getting
away from our goal. DO WE ONLY WISH TO BE HEALTHY OR DO WE NEED IT? Be
good to yourself, don't cheat, that's the message here.
It
kills me to read that people I care about and who have so many
opportunities where they could step up to the healthy plate but end up
stepping up to junk food straight to their mouth. We are all different
and I get that, what I don't get is if we don't get good results and we keep doing what we were doing, do we really expect a different outcome? You know that’s the definition of: c-r-a-z-y!
I
started a No PS challenge which is a challenge about not eating the
poison that is sugar, for a month. This is NOT a challenge between you
and I, it's a challenge for each one of us, it's to cleanse ourselves of
the sugar in our life. I am convinced this was my biggest weight
problem. If we don't cleanse our body how do we think we can control the cravings?
My
commitment is now a lot more involved than a month, I WILL NOT HAVE
REFINED SUGAR like cakes (doesn't matter who's birthday it is), cookies,
pies, soft drinks, chocolate or any other sweet I can control UNTIL I
HAVE REACHED MY GOAL. Even then, it's not going to be a daily
occurrence, it is going to be for special occasions. The portion size
will not interfere with my health. I'm using every occasions to learn
more about eating healthy and I think that when I resume sugar
consumption it's going to be a very slow process... there is no sugar
rush.
While
at this point I may have lost all of you and no one is reading anymore,
I might as well continue venting and get one more thing off my chest:
“unrestricted day” I don't recommend it without some structure.
First,
it shouldn't be about “unrestricted”, it should be about learning to
eat as if you were at the weight you want to be and maintain. For me, if
I were taking an “unrestricted day” I would eat like a 150 lbs man. Not
like a 215 lbs man or whatever is my weight at the time. The reason is
simple, I don't want to send any messages to my brain that I'm doing
this temporarily and that as soon I have lost enough weight I'll resume
to what I was doing before.
Second,
I will not have desserts other than fruits. I want to stay away from
what was my problem to start with. I could foul myself and say I'm in
control and that a little piece of cake is OK but my brain is waiting
for a signal that I'm losing control. It's all about mental attitude!
Third,
I'll eat balanced meals, now and when I reach my goal! I won't
regularly have junk food. I don't want to eat junks on my “unrestricted
day” this would just send one more message to my brain: “Junk is good
and as soon I'm off the thing...!”
I am not pointing fingers at anyone. All I want to do is be a real friend and maybe touch you in a way you might need.
I
hope you folks have a great weekend but what I really hope for the most
is that you keep heath in your mind and you step way up.
You haven't lost me! I am not planning totally unrestricted days. But I am not on a "diet" now and then change when I hit goal weight. I'm going for the balance of eating now like I always will, as you hint at as another option. That means once a week allowing a few carefully chosen treats (not cheats). I'm not going to never eat chocolate again, so I want to learn to eat it in moderation now, not later. Sometimes I'll eat at a restaurant, or whatever friends and family cook for me, or a Christmas celebration, and I think that is ok in a balanced life. Having no treats until I hit goal weight would be unrealistic for me, and even if I did it I would then binge and get straight back to my starting weight as soon as I was suddenly allowed to eat treats.
ReplyDeleteIf I was you I would question myself about why do I binge? I don't think binging is about not having a certain food for sometime, I think it's about emotions. It's all about mental Natalie!
DeleteModeration is really my target about life style, it is not about cutting off anything. But I recognized I can't moderate if I'm addicted. For sugar I took over a month to control my addiction, for wine, I set it to at least 3 months.
We all have to find how to manage that is the most efficient way for us, A few months back, you had left over junk in your home, you went to bed and it was heavy on your mind, you got up and you took the junk and through it in the garbage where it was out of your reach for ever. That might be the best way to help you to moderate. You could buy chocolate. before even eating any of it, through in the garbage two third of it in the garbage and then you will have no other choice than eating a moderate amount. -just a suggestion!
Good post Richard.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts - I go for a healthy lifestyle (not diet) a healthy lifestyle should be with us throughout. Before we eat ask ourselves 'Is this going to keep me healthy?' Junk food, too much sugar, too much refined carbohydrates doesn't.
Hope the weekend is going well for you.
All the best Jan
Thanks Jan to share your wise thoughts with us. I am a believer and I'm learning as much as possible about "Is this going to keep me healthy?"
DeleteHave a great week,
I think that it's a really good point that if something isn't working out...then it's time to think of a change. We don't need junk food at all in our lives. It might be best for some people to cut it out completely. Junk food really is bad for you. Everyone knows that. So you could choose to never eat any again instead of going through mental gymnastics to figure out how you can have some.
ReplyDeleteBut I also think that if you find a way that works for you, it's okay to have some junk food. I eat junk food, but it's a tiny percentage of a healthy diet. I think it's mostly a problem when eating junk food is a habit: having a snack each time you're watching a movie, having dessert with every supper, eating something salty when you're feeling down, going out to a restaurant every week...
If junk food is a habit, there's a problem. If you have a junk food "trigger", there's a problem. You have a bad habit. You need to work on getting rid of bad habits. You could still have junk food, but it should be an unexpected or infrequent treat and you should recognize that you don't need to have it at all.
Since I started mentally including stuff like "fruit juice" and "regular pasta instead of whole wheat" as junk food, I find it's easier not to obsess over traditional junk food. There's food that's good for you, there's food that's not as good for you, eat more of the good, have less of the less good and there we go! That works for me, but...not everyone is the same.
-WWE
You are such a wise lady WWE, your parent must have done a good job raising you... wait I'm your father! ha ha ha
DeleteWe all have our "laps", some have more laps than others! But I think if we are not looking for our solution and just hope every thing will be fine then we are going to get back where we were.
I don't eat refined sugars and it's not allowed in my lab or my kitchen. Vile stuff. As a food writer, I have no use for the stuff. Those 'sweet' bakes on my blog, including pancakes are without refined ingredients.
ReplyDeleteSugar is also hard on the immune system. To me, it's all about the immune system and the gut. Making those insides good and strong.
But enough about what I think. How much sugar did you eat before and did you have cravings for sugar before? If so, are you starting to desire it less? Do you find your head is more clear? How about your skin? Do you also notice less inflammation of the gut?
Do tell, do tell.
ha ha I'm not as drastic as you are. I will probably have sugar at some time in the future, but I will be very cautious about how much. I am listening to you and I will be doing experiment on my own to learn about alternative... should be starting next month.
DeleteI had tons of sugar before, I was raise on the stuff, and I had craving even dreams about it if I was going any length of time without.
I think my head is clearer but I stopped drinking alcohol so I really think it's what is at play for now. I didn't see any change with my skin but I am not that in tune with the stuff to start with :) ha ha ha I read: "less inflammation of the nut?" I'm still laughing at that one and was really wondering where you were going with the question. I didn't notice any thing unusual about my gut, but you know my waist line was around 38 and now I'm at 32, so I couldn't tell if there is any thing different.
You are being totally honest with yourself and I think that's great. If you prefer to use the term 'cheat' then do it. It's your blog, so blog away as you please! And I can't take it, Richard, so go ahead and slug me with those tough words :)
ReplyDeleteSadly this whole post was really not about me... This was a direct "friendly" talk.
Delete