Day 8: Splurge Strategically Part 1 | 30-Day Weight Loss-athon
Time for Day 8 of the 30-Day Weight Loss-athon. If you go crazy trying to deny yourself food that diet boot-campers forbid, then today’s 10 minutes could restore your sanity.
Read the steps first, then take 10 minutes to think about them and take action.Ready?
What You Need:
- Your sanity, right?
Step 1
First, before anyone starts planning a lifetime of lettuce and lima beans, let’s take a reality check about what’s forever forbidden.
I adore chocolate and a lot of what’s considered junk food – burgers, fries, pizza, chips, and cookies. People are always asking me how I can eat that stuff yet stay slim. The answer is: I splurge strategically.
Splurging strategically helps me to stay slim and – just as important for a chocoholic – it helps me to stay sane.
But there are two keys to splurging strategically – knowing what to eat sometimes, which we’ll tackle today, and knowing what to eat pretty much never, which we’ll deal with tomorrow.
Step 2
With all things ‘naughty’ or calorific, there’s only one solution to staying slim and staying sane: If you love it, eat it sometimes.
- If you eat it all the time, then you’ll get fat. It’s cause and effect: cruel, but unavoidable.
- If you don’t let yourself eat it at all, then you’ll go berserk – and eventually binge. Then you’ll be crazy and fat. Oopsie.
By letting yourself strategically enjoy the foods you love, you avoid feeling deprived, which stops you sabotaging your own weight-loss efforts.
The big proviso here is the word strategically. You can’t make treats a habit – they need to come out only when you want to satisfy a strong desire.
Maybe you’re one of those fabled individuals who’ve mastered emotional eating. (Note: 52 Weight Loss Missions customers, we deal with this tricky topic in Mission 43: Address Emotional Eating – Part 1 and Address Emotional Eating – Part 2). Well then, yay for you.
But for the rest of us, a little chocolate, cake or ice cream when you’ve had a crummy day is not the worst thing in the world, and can be an effective way to release the pressure valve now and then.
In the same way, something delicious and calorific when you really crave it can be pretty cool.
I’ll say it another way so there’s no misunderstanding: you cannot have these treats as a standard, habitual part of your diet: have them only when you really feel like them.
So make the decision that when it comes to high-calorie treats, you’ll eat only the foods you love, and only when you really feel like them. And when you do, thoroughly enjoy them.
Step 3
Okay, so we’ve agreed that it’s okay to have the things you really love when you really feel like them.
To help you avoid them the rest of the time, we need this final step.
Whatever treats you decide you want to have in your house, don’t have them in plain view.
Keep them out of the pantry or any place where you may accidentally come across them. Put them in a box or bag (not a clear one) and store them in a cupboard you don’t use. They’ll be there when you really feel like them, but they won’t pop out and tempt youwhen you weren’t even thinking about them.
And if you like, pop a post-it on there that says something like,
‘I can have this if I really want it. Do I really want it?’
Step 4
But wait, there’s more. The splurge strategically concept has two parts to it – so please be sure to check back for tomorrow’s action.
Check in!
And you’re done! Be sure to leave your comment below to check in and stay accountable.
If you’re reading this by email or in a reader then please click here to leave your comment. See you tomorrow!
Since my husband is also losing weight so it’s easiest to have no bad snacks in the house- making easter treats was tough but those are going out of the house this afternoon!
Since my husband is also losing weight so it’s easiest to have no bad snacks in the house- making easter treats was tough but those are going out of the house this afternoon!
When I’m trying to cut down on weight, I just don’t buy biscuits, cake, chocolate as standard but I buy them for birthdays and other celebrations then I know I have a treat to look forward to 🙂
Being a diabetic, I have learned to make some of my favorites a little more diabetic-friendly. I use Splenda and Ideal sweeteners for yummy treats that the whole family can enjoy.
Being a diabetic, I have learned to make some of my favorites a little more diabetic-friendly. I use Splenda and Ideal sweeteners for yummy treats that the whole family can enjoy.
Being a diabetic, I have learned to make some of my favorites a little more diabetic-friendly. I use Splenda and Ideal sweeteners for yummy treats that the whole family can enjoy.
I splurged, I took my mom out for Thai food, we ordered the salad rolls and split a Pad Thai, I counted the points (weight watchers), it was so worth it! Nothing worse than eating something with a lot of calories and it not being very good.
this is fairly brilliant thinking 🙂
we keep our chocolate in a special box in a special cupboard out of the pantry. sometimes I find I will (and can!) actually go weeks without eating it, because I forget it is there. out of sight, out of mind certainly works. might think about some more fridge/pantry re-arranging..
this is fairly brilliant thinking 🙂
we keep our chocolate in a special box in a special cupboard out of the pantry. sometimes I find I will (and can!) actually go weeks without eating it, because I forget it is there. out of sight, out of mind certainly works. might think about some more fridge/pantry re-arranging..
It’s helping a lot that while I’m on this weight loss mission we’re also trimming our budget. I just don’t buy crap. At all. I also find that the less sweets I eat, the less I crave. I’ve already decided there are times I’ll get to splurge, when I’m at The Cheesecake Factory I’m having some cheesecake. I’ve also been telling myself not now doesn’t mean not ever.
It’s helping a lot that while I’m on this weight loss mission we’re also trimming our budget. I just don’t buy crap. At all. I also find that the less sweets I eat, the less I crave. I’ve already decided there are times I’ll get to splurge, when I’m at The Cheesecake Factory I’m having some cheesecake. I’ve also been telling myself not now doesn’t mean not ever.
We ordered out the other night from a restaurant that makes country fried steak. I LOVE that meal. I can’t even imagine how many calories are in it. I did NOT order it, I felt so good about making a better choice I didn’t even feel like I was missing out.
We ordered out the other night from a restaurant that makes country fried steak. I LOVE that meal. I can’t even imagine how many calories are in it. I did NOT order it, I felt so good about making a better choice I didn’t even feel like I was missing out.
I keep my chocolate in my freezer downstairs so I only get it when I absolutely need it, and I only get the snack size chocolate too. Today I really want cake so I’m taking a lemon cake to my sister in law’s house to split 6 ways.. that way there’s only enough for me to get one piece and the rest of the cake isn’t sitting in the fridge tempting me!
I keep my chocolate in my freezer downstairs so I only get it when I absolutely need it, and I only get the snack size chocolate too. Today I really want cake so I’m taking a lemon cake to my sister in law’s house to split 6 ways.. that way there’s only enough for me to get one piece and the rest of the cake isn’t sitting in the fridge tempting me!
I keep my chocolate in my freezer downstairs so I only get it when I absolutely need it, and I only get the snack size chocolate too. Today I really want cake so I’m taking a lemon cake to my sister in law’s house to split 6 ways.. that way there’s only enough for me to get one piece and the rest of the cake isn’t sitting in the fridge tempting me!
I figure if I am truly craving something and going to splurge I can go out to get it. The benefit is it is only one serving so you don’t have extra in the house, and it costs a little more/is a bit more work so you have to think about if you truly want it. To satisfy sweet cravings at home I have fruit or a date or two. Fixes the sweet need usually.
The strategically planning is great. Out of site- out of mind works. Have brought fruit to substitute. Easter dinner I did have angelfood cake and strawberries but NO whipped cream.
The strategically planning is great. Out of site- out of mind works. Have brought fruit to substitute. Easter dinner I did have angelfood cake and strawberries but NO whipped cream.
The strategically planning is great. Out of site- out of mind works. Have brought fruit to substitute. Easter dinner I did have angelfood cake and strawberries but NO whipped cream.