Why is it that people eat fast food 3 times a day one month, and then next month, they don’t eat anything at all except for a Slim Fast shake? Sooner or later, you need to take a step back and ask yourself, is this the right approach? The answer is no. It’s best to find a balance that is healthy and can be sustained, yet allows you to eat junk food every now and then, without the guilt. If you’ve ever been on a diet that lasted at least a few weeks, how do you feel after you’ve given up? Probably like crap. You know that you’ve broken the rules. You may even lose your motivation at that point, because you feel disappointed in yourself.
Change that. There’s no reason why some rules can’t be broken. In fact, you don’t have to break rules, because when it comes to your diet, you make them. If you tell yourself that you’re not going to touch pizza, cake, chocolate, or anything else for a year, what do you think the chances are of that happening? Sure, it may be a good goal, but in reality, you’re setting yourself up for a disappointment. You’re going to have bad days, birthday parties, holidays, and everything else that will eventually force you to give into temptation.
Start by giving yourself room for error. Call this your “free day.” You can do this a number of different ways, but the main focus should be eating healthy on a regular basis, with an occasional splurge. I do it by eating healthy 6 days a week. I give myself one day (Sunday) to eat anything/everything I feel like shoving down my throat. This isn’t a license to purposely force feed yourself. Don’t eat that extra snack before bed on a full stomach, only because you know it’s your last chance to do it until next week. Instead, it’s a license to eat what you’ve been craving lately, and what you’re hungry for.
On Sunday, instead of eating oatmeal and a banana, I’ll pull out the Fruity Pebbles. Instead of a tuna fish sandwich on wheat for lunch, I’ll buy a meatball sub from Quiznos. For dinner, I might order pizza. I may even snack on some Oreos. Some may say that this is extreme splurging. Yet, I can maintain that diet for years if I choose to. There’s no comparison between eating healthy 6 days a week for a lifetime, and not eating healthy at all because you continue to ride the yo-yo. Instead of feeling guilty while eating the pizza, I enjoy it. Instead of losing my motivation to work out, my hunger (for the perfect body) grows stronger. I didn’t break the rules, I control them.
You can make rules that benefit you and your lifestyle. Maybe you’d rather give yourself a total of four days each month, instead of having a specific day to eat whatever you want. That way if you’re feeling down for a few days, you can take a break, come back and hit the ground running. When you give yourself these free days, you allow yourself to focus on eating healthy, instead of thinking about all the things you can’t have.
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What I do usually, is to try to eat as many healthy/good food as I can. When “a chance” arrives, I will then ignore my diet.
I eat oatmeals and cereals for breakfast, but when I’m running out of milk, I buy a croissant or a donut for a change.
Same with meals.. I try not to finish up the rice or the meal if it’s too much. However, when I go with my friends to my favorite restaurants once a while, I’m gonna eat like there’s no tomorrow
It’s good to be healthy, but it’s good to pamper yourself as well once a while!
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I like your ‘Incremental Dieting’ approach. It sounds more human but has it worked for you? Can you still show a weight loss or are you maintaining your weight without a gain.
Thanks-
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Nice post. I know someone who did the exact same ‘diet’ and it worked great for that person. I think it is important to reward you for your diet (like that one day were you can eat whatever you feel like it) but I also think as time passes by you will not look at your diet as something terrible that you need to maintain but it just becomes part of your daily life. The problem is that it will take time to adjust to your new ‘eating behavior’. There is nothing wrong with a bit of junk food every once in a while.
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I agree - being to strict with yourself is just setting yourself up for failure. My motto: don’t be a fool, eat for fuel!
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Your suggestion of ‘incremental diet’ reminds me of the nicotine patch. Then again, knowing me, I would probably eat till I drop on those ‘free days’.
I think the motivation to cut down on diet is really important. If the incentive is not immediate, there’s a high chance of relapsing into gorging again.
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Jason, we are kindred spirits. I do exactly the same thing, six days on and one off. It’s not the least bit difficult because I include the foods that I love in my day to day. Sushi, fruits, raw vegetables, whole grain cereals (dry), green tea, etc. (I think I was a rabbit in my former life.) I particularly love breakfast on Sundays. I eat eggs, bacon, biscuits, hash brown, drink orange juice, just the works. Unfortunately I’m usually to full to eat much else the rest of the day.
The key is to not make life unreasonable or eating habits that are impossible when you change the way that you eat. This post points everything out so well, it’s practically a guideline.
Well, we know who’ll be bikini and swim trunk ready for summer - US!
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@Michael - Nice idea
@Fineartathome - Well, I actually have the exact opposite problem. I have trouble GAINING weight. However, this strategy does work with my diet and my gym schedule. Even though I don’t gain weight easy, I still try to eat healthy, because as we all know, you still have a heart that needs to survive.
@CK - Nicotine patch
@Shelia - Another good point. There are plenty of healthy foods that are still enjoyable.
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Commitment is important in diet..
I am not good to follow diet…
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What I do is that I try to eat healthy as much as possible while enjoying my favorite foods. For example, if I want to eat chicken wings, I’ll make chicken tenders instead with the same flavors but baked instead. If I like chocolate chip cookies, I’ll make my own using healthier ingredients than store bought. It’s a lot of effort to cook, but instead of just sitting down eating, I work in the kitchen and get delicious rewards. The plus is, I also know what’s inside the food!
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“I do it by eating healthy 6 days a week. I give myself one day (Sunday) to eat anything/everything I feel like shoving down my throat.” I do that too! Haha, I think it’s a great idea and it doesn’t make me feel like I’m obligated to pressure myself
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Yeah I did this last night. I always try to eat healthy versions of the foods I crave, but sometimes I find myself at Fridays eating some steak and a brownie. Hopped back on the horse again today, lots of good veggies, fruits, and home made low fat protein :D. The trick is to not feel guilty for having a day of eating bad things, I think. The more guilty you feel, the more you feel like “oh god I’ve failed, must…eat…whole… CABINET!”
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Jason reply on June 6, 2008:
LOL, very true.