Day 9: Splurge Strategically Part 2 | 30-Day Weight Loss-athon
It’s Day 9 of the 30-Day Weight Loss-athon. Time for part two of our secret splurging weapon.
Read the steps first, then take 10 minutes to think about them and take action. Ready?
What You Need:
- Honesty.
Step 1
First, let’s recap. There are two keys to splurging strategically – knowing what to eat sometimes, which we talked about yesterday, and knowing what to eat pretty much never, which we’ll turn to now.
So here’s the all-important second part of the splurge strategically concept: If you don’t love it, eat it never.
It’s not enough to only eat your beloved treats on the occasions you really want them, as we discussed yesterday. You also have to say sayonara to those calorie-saturated foods you don’t love.
Step 2
This part of the deal is crucial. You now have to be super-honest about the high-calorie foods you don’t care that much about. Sure they might be pretty yummy, but unless they totally tickle your toes, don’t waste your splurge calories on them.
Here are some ways I put this into practice:
- I adore chocolate – but not if it’s too creamy. If I’m offered creamy chocolates, I happily say no thanks, and save myself for the harder stuff.
- I love fries – but only if they’re golden and well cooked. I always ask for my fries to be well done, but any time they’re not, I leave them on the plate.
- To be honest I could take or leave cake. So I always leave it.
- If my dessert is served with ice cream, I have just enough ice cream to go with the dessert, and leave the rest. Ditto fudges and sauces.
- I love burgers but often find the bun too big, so I happily leave half the bun.
- Pizza is a favorite. Garlic bread is expendable, so I always skip it.
- I really enjoy red wine, champagne and the occasional G&T. The rest, including most cocktails, I graciously decline.
- If I’m eating anything high-calorie and not loving it, I abandon it pronto. It’s not worth wasting my precious splurges on anything sub-par.
In some ways this is a psychological chicken-and-egg. You find it hard not to want everything if you’ve never let yourself enjoy the special things. So you have to kind of ease in to allowing yourself occasional treats.
But once you get used to the idea that you can have your most-loved treats, you’ll start to feel okay about saying a haughty no thanks to the other stuff, which you’ll soon come to regard as extremely blah.
Step 3
So now it’s time to take action. Decide on the high-calorie foods you used to eat, but that you don’t truly, madly, deeply love, and let them go. Toss them, give them away, burn them in a ritual.
Save yourself for the good stuff.
Check in!
And you’re done!
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See you tomorrow!
Guess I’m on the right track by turning down inferior chocolates in favor of the good stuff occasionally.
Like Jean, I can do without chips, and above all I will do without KFC:) The amount in the chicken breast is simply not worth it for me.
Like Jean, I can do without chips, and above all I will do without KFC:) The amount in the chicken breast is simply not worth it for me.
Hard candies I don’t need…and other stuff of course. Will definitely be more selective of my splurge calories. 🙂
Hard candies I don’t need…and other stuff of course. Will definitely be more selective of my splurge calories. 🙂
Chocolate and beer, not at the same time, are mine. Don’t care for them and their calories can be through the roof. They are banished from my menu.
Chocolate and beer, not at the same time, are mine. Don’t care for them and their calories can be through the roof. They are banished from my menu.
I love this idea! Only GOOD chocolate from now on LOL.
I love this idea! Only GOOD chocolate from now on LOL.
I love this idea! Only GOOD chocolate from now on LOL.
I used to do this. If it was worth the calories I would enjoy it, otherwise I didn’t eat it. It’s such a simple concept–why do I find it so hard to do now?
I only truly love red tulip easter rabbits.. everything else chocolate I can live without.. citrus desserts are yum so anything else can go forever.. oh I need to be able to eat strawberry icecrean.. occasionally
I only truly love red tulip easter rabbits.. everything else chocolate I can live without.. citrus desserts are yum so anything else can go forever.. oh I need to be able to eat strawberry icecrean.. occasionally
I only truly love red tulip easter rabbits.. everything else chocolate I can live without.. citrus desserts are yum so anything else can go forever.. oh I need to be able to eat strawberry icecrean.. occasionally
I was offered some chocolate once or twice over Easter and I decided that I had had enough chocolate over the Easter period. I’ve been trying for awhile to only have pizza desert ect less frequently and having a green salad instead of fried chips.
I was offered some chocolate once or twice over Easter and I decided that I had had enough chocolate over the Easter period. I’ve been trying for awhile to only have pizza desert ect less frequently and having a green salad instead of fried chips.
Sorry to be late… Been doing, just not checking in. 🙁 I love your ideas… and, fortunately I do several of them. 🙂 Going to add more!
Lemon lime bitters is my fav drink – now have it made on soda instead of lemonade, still have to work on my will power to resist hot chips (fish and chips for tea at the beach) but did limit myself to half of what I normally have.
Lemon lime bitters is my fav drink – now have it made on soda instead of lemonade, still have to work on my will power to resist hot chips (fish and chips for tea at the beach) but did limit myself to half of what I normally have.
Lemon lime bitters is my fav drink – now have it made on soda instead of lemonade, still have to work on my will power to resist hot chips (fish and chips for tea at the beach) but did limit myself to half of what I normally have.