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!
Here lately, because of some medicine, I’ve been fighting insomnia. With this, I’m finding that I’m wanting to snack late at night. Thankfully, there hasn’t been anything to snack on , until now — Easter Candy! Ugh! But, I like the idea of placing it somewhere that will take an effort to get to. Living in Florida, we can’t leave it out too long or it gets too soft… I’m thinking somewhere in the frig!
Oh boy! this is going to be tough…Being an ex-smoker, it’s been difficult to control the sugar intake. I need to keep myself occupied ALL the time otherwise I get bored and crave cigarettes…I’ve been rewarding myself with sweeties…urgh..And now all those Easter goodies..It sure feels like being shot in the foot!
Being Easter I enjoyed some eggs with our children. However, now they’re all gone we as a family are pretty well cutting out sugar for the next 2 months. Our eldest daughter was recently diagnosed with a sugar problem, our younger daughter has eczema flair ups from sugar and various of our boys also have problems aggravated by sugar. Let alone the calories it adds to our day! So, no sugar as a normal thing but will still enjoy our birthday cakes in May when we celebrate 3 birthdays in the one month. Still, 1 cake divided between 8 people means our servings aren’t huge, it’s all gone in one sitting and we can really enjoy it, knowing we’ve been good the rest of the time.
Being Easter I enjoyed some eggs with our children. However, now they’re all gone we as a family are pretty well cutting out sugar for the next 2 months. Our eldest daughter was recently diagnosed with a sugar problem, our younger daughter has eczema flair ups from sugar and various of our boys also have problems aggravated by sugar. Let alone the calories it adds to our day! So, no sugar as a normal thing but will still enjoy our birthday cakes in May when we celebrate 3 birthdays in the one month. Still, 1 cake divided between 8 people means our servings aren’t huge, it’s all gone in one sitting and we can really enjoy it, knowing we’ve been good the rest of the time.
I don’t keep that stuff in the house because I’m not going to the store to get it just because I want it. However, I have a stash of things at work. Since I work in a pharmacy inside a grocery store, if I don’t keep a small stash of treats, when a craving hits I really go overboard. At home, I just have either some chocolate milk (protein? lol) or if I want something sweet I use a Hawaiian punch additive to a bottle of water. If I’m wanting salt, I eat a pickle….man am I a sucker for pickles lol.
I don’t keep that stuff in the house because I’m not going to the store to get it just because I want it. However, I have a stash of things at work. Since I work in a pharmacy inside a grocery store, if I don’t keep a small stash of treats, when a craving hits I really go overboard. At home, I just have either some chocolate milk (protein? lol) or if I want something sweet I use a Hawaiian punch additive to a bottle of water. If I’m wanting salt, I eat a pickle….man am I a sucker for pickles lol.
So doable! I love the idea of hidden treats. I must admit, sometimes I “need” a tiny piece of chocolate. 🙂 I think I will be purging the Easter Candy, hiding the kids stuff where I can’t get to it, but their Dad and they can, while hiding a few small things for or from me.
So doable! I love the idea of hidden treats. I must admit, sometimes I “need” a tiny piece of chocolate. 🙂 I think I will be purging the Easter Candy, hiding the kids stuff where I can’t get to it, but their Dad and they can, while hiding a few small things for or from me.
Well, I thought a long time on this one. There are some things I have been wanting lately, like Pizza. So, instead of buying one from a pizza place, my rookie and I decided to make one. We used a thin crust, thin sliced fresh vegetables, tomatoes, and a little low fat cheese, and paired it with a salad of spring greens, apple, drizzled lighty with low fat Italian. It was sooo good. I like pizza this way! And the craving is gone and I don’t feel all guilty about it either.
Well, I thought a long time on this one. There are some things I have been wanting lately, like Pizza. So, instead of buying one from a pizza place, my rookie and I decided to make one. We used a thin crust, thin sliced fresh vegetables, tomatoes, and a little low fat cheese, and paired it with a salad of spring greens, apple, drizzled lighty with low fat Italian. It was sooo good. I like pizza this way! And the craving is gone and I don’t feel all guilty about it either.
Started My Fitness Pal. It’s 6:30 AM and I’ve already eaten over my limit. *sigh* this is not going to be easy. Today I am also going to put away all my snacks and stay away from the snacks at the office. When I feel like snacking I will drink water instead.
Love the idea of keeping it around but not in plain site. Dr Pepper is my thing. I just need one from time to time but keeping them around means I want to drink more. I’ve cut back to no more than one 12oz can a day, but I know I can do less than 2-3 a week. Going to try putting it elsewhere because buying a case of cans is cheaper than going to the vending machine for a 20oz bottle every few days…though that is cheaper than the gas station believe it or not 🙂
Love the idea of keeping it around but not in plain site. Dr Pepper is my thing. I just need one from time to time but keeping them around means I want to drink more. I’ve cut back to no more than one 12oz can a day, but I know I can do less than 2-3 a week. Going to try putting it elsewhere because buying a case of cans is cheaper than going to the vending machine for a 20oz bottle every few days…though that is cheaper than the gas station believe it or not 🙂
Love the idea of keeping it around but not in plain site. Dr Pepper is my thing. I just need one from time to time but keeping them around means I want to drink more. I’ve cut back to no more than one 12oz can a day, but I know I can do less than 2-3 a week. Going to try putting it elsewhere because buying a case of cans is cheaper than going to the vending machine for a 20oz bottle every few days…though that is cheaper than the gas station believe it or not 🙂
Have been away over easter and have ate chocolate and drank alot of wine….aware of what I was doing…but it’s only once a year, did alot of walking and back on to being sensible today 🙂
This was a step I’ve already been taking for a long time. I very rarely eat fries or burgers, and it’s not an issue. But I love sweets. My indulgences include one small square of dark chocolate per day, the occasional Nutella on strawberries, apples, or graham crackers, things like that. Once in a while we have fried veggies such as okra, green tomatoes, or squash, but we don’t fry much else. This past week we met family for spring break and had Easter candy around and ate theme park food and thick crust pizza one night. This week we’ll get back to “normal” eating.
This was a step I’ve already been taking for a long time. I very rarely eat fries or burgers, and it’s not an issue. But I love sweets. My indulgences include one small square of dark chocolate per day, the occasional Nutella on strawberries, apples, or graham crackers, things like that. Once in a while we have fried veggies such as okra, green tomatoes, or squash, but we don’t fry much else. This past week we met family for spring break and had Easter candy around and ate theme park food and thick crust pizza one night. This week we’ll get back to “normal” eating.
This was a step I’ve already been taking for a long time. I very rarely eat fries or burgers, and it’s not an issue. But I love sweets. My indulgences include one small square of dark chocolate per day, the occasional Nutella on strawberries, apples, or graham crackers, things like that. Once in a while we have fried veggies such as okra, green tomatoes, or squash, but we don’t fry much else. This past week we met family for spring break and had Easter candy around and ate theme park food and thick crust pizza one night. This week we’ll get back to “normal” eating.
I don’t eat something sweet everyday…however I have learned the hard way that when you crave something badly enough, just go eat it. If not, you’ll end up doubling the calories on other things while trying to beat the craving with smaller caloric items. And then you’re still craving the ‘forbidden food’! Just have the damn Creme Egg! 🙂
So we have a snack cupboard (mainly the bf’s stuff), I keep my pretzels, angelfood cake and rare Creme Egg on a shelf all by itself. I’m rarely tempted by his treats, actually, which I didn’t think was possible! Different frame of mind now I suppose.
I don’t eat something sweet everyday…however I have learned the hard way that when you crave something badly enough, just go eat it. If not, you’ll end up doubling the calories on other things while trying to beat the craving with smaller caloric items. And then you’re still craving the ‘forbidden food’! Just have the damn Creme Egg! 🙂
So we have a snack cupboard (mainly the bf’s stuff), I keep my pretzels, angelfood cake and rare Creme Egg on a shelf all by itself. I’m rarely tempted by his treats, actually, which I didn’t think was possible! Different frame of mind now I suppose.