So, like many of you, I look forward to the weekends all week - and not because I don't like my job, I love my job, but it's just nice to be able to relax and do nothing all day. It's nice to be able to sleep in and read a book and know that you have no responsibilities beyond the basic necessities of life for the next 48 hours. Therefore, weekends are my beacons of light during a long week.
I once read somewhere that on any diet/healthy eating plan (I really hate the word diet, I think it implies something temporary) you should allow yourself cheat days, or reward days, where you let yourself go and congratulate yourself on a week's worth of health conscious choices. This is the kind of idea I can get on board with. After a week of saying no to sweets and fatty meals I think I deserve a bit of a taste bud vacation - especially on my aforementioned cherished weekend! So, over the last 6-8 months I've developed a fairly consistent pattern of letting myself have a little more leeway on the weekends food-wise (and sometimes fitness-wise). I don't count calories (like I do all week) and I have things I normally wouldn't (like a really, truly delicious dessert, or a super high-cal, high-fat breakfast like bacon and eggs or pancakes). I also tend to eat a lot more because I'm not doing anything - I will snack while reading or allow myself to have chips and dip or something truly decadent, like a whole chocolate bar!
Lately, however, I've seen some flaws in this pattern. My weekends start earlier (Thursday is almost Friday, which is the weekend, right?), last longer (Monday is just Sunday's hangover...), and contain a lot more calories (dinner plus movie food plus half a bag of M&M's is a totally acceptable amount to eat on a Saturday night...). I haven't noticed any appreciable difference on the scale yet (I only weigh myself once a month to stop myself from being an obsessive scale watcher), but I think it's only a matter of time.
I think I've lost a bit of mental toughgness - I need to say no to my cravings when they come on Thursday and remind myself that my cheat weekend really doesn't start until Friday night (at the earliest). I don't want to cut out my cheat weekends; I think the concept of them is really great. Any healthy eating plan that doesn't include a chance to give into your cravings occasionally is one that is doomed to fail. I am a firm believer of 'everything in moderation'. Cutting out all the really delicious foods, the ones that are really bad for you, isn't a good way to live. We need to enjoy our food, not be handcuffed by it (I can't eat this, I can't eat that...). So where's the middle ground here? How can I get back on track now that the weekend is fast approaching? How can I keep myself from being eaten alive by what I like to call 'food guilt'?
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