So have you blackballed all unhealthy foods, or do you cheat?

Seriously, I was wondering how many people have gone fully healthy?whole grains all the time, fresh fruits & veggies, only lean meats, nothing fried, nothing processed (or nothing from the dreaded MIDDLE OF THE STORE) no fast food, pizza or whatever ect ect ect?basically doing it whatever way they think is ultra healthy. This may include pizza for some of you...but you get my point.

And how many of you have worked in 100 calorie snack packs, lower cal chips, a slice of pizza OUT, or a fast food sandwhich and the occasional dessert or slice of white bread into their new healthy lifestyle while adding in whole grains, fresh fruit, veggies, lean meat, ect ect ect?

Also, have you lost weight on your plan? Has your health improved?

And for both groups, how much exorcize do you do and in what form?

for being as heavy as i was, there was no way i could not atleast cheat a meal in of my old food, but other that yeah healthy food it is, if anything a cheat meal for me gives me sanity.  I have lost 70 lbs on my plan, health has dramatically increased, haven't felt this healthy in 8 years. 

1500-2000 cal diet
walk 4 miles a day at a fast pace and at a good incline
strength train 4 days a week

In general I eat home cooked food, fruits, and veggies...but I definitely supplement my diet with 100 calorie packs.  They are so perfect, just the right amount to curb my craving while making sure I don't binge.  I'm on a 1200 cal/day diet and go to the gym at least 3x a week.  It's been two months and I've lost 13 pounds :) 

i do let myself cheat, because I know that when I see that tempting ice cream container there and ignore my body, that could lead to a binge. So I have a spoonful. I also had a really interesting experience- I was under cals on Thursday, and I decided to have a couple of oreos. And they didn't taste that good AT ALL. SO not worth it. Now I know to remember that next time and have something healthy instead. I have also had some unhealthy dinners- pizza, chinese, etc., that I have budgeted into my calories for the day and been fine with. But overall, I do eat helathy- I love doing so and I feel a thousand times better. I had some friends over last week and we pigged out on junk food, and even though I didn't have that much, I felt sooo gross the next morning. I love healthy foods. But I've lost 8 lbs in the month since I started calorie count, eating 1400-1800 cals a day depending on my activity level.

I once went two years without eating ANY sweets. I was going through anorexia though and feared a lot of the "unhealthy" foods for the longest time. Until the point after I got healthy again and then started to relapse back into a very low weight I didn't want to be hospitalized again so I fought my fears and started cramming the junk food in me. (to much anxiety, but never no purging.) Because of depriving myself for so long I binged for a long time (about 2 months) and put on a lot of weight. (30 pounds!) Then I dieted for about 6 months with no junk food and once again felt deprived and binged for 4 days and gained 12 pounds! (I tend to suffer from my anorexia and then binge eating disorder, because of my actions. :/)

So the point of this? You NEED a cheat day at least once a week or you will eventually cave in and probably binge. :/ Infact, today is my cheat day! Woohoo! :P My only problem is I seem to overdo it....:/ but one day a week won't hurt me compared to binging for a lot of days. Actually making your calories higher once a week will actually boost your metabolism! :)

I say if you want the cookie, eat the damn cookie! because if you don't in time you probably won't eat just one cookie, but the whole damn box! :/

 It's no way to live if you have to deprive yourself of the stuff you love. Yes we all want to be thin and healthy and you can be. but, doing it to the extent where you can't enjoy yourself..well whats the point to live then? You want to live longer, but why live it unhappy? And we all know if you tell yourself you can't have something..you want it more...:P Maybe if you tell yourself you can have something you won't want it as bad and if you take a bite you're like "Hmmm I can eat this whole thing...but you know what? Knowing I can, I just don't want to."

That's just my thinking..sorry for rambling. I'm just sick of women having to deprive themselves to live up to a standard of OTHER people's messed up views. I've done it for far too long and its about damn time I start living my life, but doing it the smart way. Moderation is the key, ladies and gentlemen. :)

When I decided to do this site, I had already decided no more diets. They just make you fat.  Since I have a binging problem, I have been focused on that. I can honestly say I have changed my binging habits dramatically!!  I still binge but it is much more rare.  Now, I am focusing on getting off the weight. I work out 6 days a week, walk, do turbo, firm, weights, swim.   I am trying to eat between 1700 and 2000 calories a day depending on how much I burned. I try to eat from allll food groups.  I don't deny myself anything.  That usually gets me in to trouble.   I am still struggling with a serving of cookies lets say and not going into a binge but I am getting there!  I also have to make a concious effort to eat more fruit and veggies which is sort of weird because I love fruit and veggies.  All my years of the diet mentality and deprivation I have chosen junk because I always think come tomorrow I can't have this anymore.  Diets really mess you up!

i do not deny myself anything but what i call the naughty stuff i try and limit it - if i overdo it one day then for the next couple of days i will try not to have anything naughty at all.

at the end of the day if you fancy something that you should not eat a lot of have it in moderation

I haven't blackballed ANY foods, and I don't cheat.

I really really hate the term "cheating" for a food-related event in a lifestyle. "Cheating" is what someone who is on a restrictive diet does when she goes off that restrictive diet for one meal or one day or one (or more) snacks.

I think that word should be stricken from a CCer's vocabulary to describe anything relating to food. IMHO, using such a negative word to describe eating perfectly normal, desirable, and yummy food that, yes, you ARE going to eat, is corrosive to one's spirit.

I can have WHATEVER I want. Really. I have to manage portions, and watch how much my total intake is, but if I want to fit a chocolate chocolate chip muffin into my day (and I do, usually on Tuesdays), I do. I don't feel guilty about it, and I certainly don't consider it cheating.

Some days, I eat more than other days. Yeah, I have maintenance days, and hurrah for that! I have learned how to eat at a level that will sustain my weight loss.

Feeling guilt over having eaten a cookie or three is silly. Feeling as though you're cheating for having a piece of birthday cake is absurd.

Why spoil a good eating experience with a negative feeling, or a negative word? Enjoy the cookies! Enjoy the cake! Build them in, or, if you don't, call it a maintenance day or forget it and do better tomorrow, but for pity's sake, don't feel bad about having eaten something that tastes good!

Thus sayeth the woman who had chocolate cake for breakfast, enjoyed it (it was GREAT with my morning coffee!), and doesn't feel the least bit bad about having done so!

I do not blackball all unhealthy foods, and I do not cheat.  I have occaisional treats, and I make sure that I have room in my calorie and fat allotment for them.  If I want to have french fries, for example, I make sure I have a lower fat day to accomidate them, and I don't have them often.  (about once every couple of weeks).  It's not all or nothing.  Having planned indulgences keeps one from feeling to deprived and giving up, and the planning keeps one from ruining ones progress.

I agree with athena that i also do not exclude foods.  I really focus on portion control since that is a problem for me.  Currently, I have some great ice cream bars in my freezer  that are 150 cal. each that i have in case I really need something sweet.  I just figure it into my total cals. for the day.  I really do focus on eating healthy for the majority of my life, but there are just some things that I am unwilling to never have again.  Since joining cc, i seem to plan my meals better and have better portion control, and still am losing weight even with some unhealthy foods thrown in there.  Also, I don't beat myself up if I over indulge one day, hey, I'm human and tomorrow is another day. 

I totally agree with athena. There are no blackballed foods and there are no cheat foods. You can eat *anything* you want, but, as she said, have smaller portions of high-calorie foods, or, really, just be aware of the calories and eat around that for the rest of the day.

A 500 cal. chocolate chip muffin for breakfast?

Well, then...Have a piece of fruit as a midmorning snack (if you even need it, since you'll have had GIANT MUFFIN). (50-100 cal)

For lunch, a big green salad with veggies of your choice, some low-fat protein (tuna, chicken, beans) and a lo-cal dressing (250ish)

Snack: Fruit/yogurt/1 oz. of cheese/whatever 100-cal snack you're craving. (100 cal)

Dinner: Stir-fry veggies & shrimp or chicken or tofu -- heavy on the veggies (250)

Dessert: Fruit/jello cup/1/2 cup Edy's Loaded (my favorite brand) ice cream/or, again, whatever you feel like having for 100 calories.

That totals 1300 calories. If you simply *must* have it be 1200, eat some berries instead of a banana as a snack, and have a 60( or less)-calorie yogurt/jello. That'll bring it down to 1200.

And voila! You have had a chocolate chip muffin for breakfast, and still totally did not veer from how you usually (and would like to) eat.

I like that term, Plaidpooka -- "planned indulgences" -- because the term "cheating" implies something underhanded and "wrong." If you are trying to make this a lifestyle then you have to plan, eating healthy (healthily?) does not happen without some planning.  Furthermore, if you eat something that you didn't plan for, but still you log it (mentally/physically), then you acknowledge to yourself that you went off-plan -- and you can adjust accordingly.  Continuing to look at it as "cheating" will usually lead to more of it and eventually take you off your plan. 30+ years of yo-yo dieting have taught me this much.

Oh -- and I try to plan room for some chocolate every day -- I finally know better than to try to give it up then sneak it in.

Hear, Hear Athena...

That is exactly how I feel about it as well.  I have lost almost 60 lbs. in 6 months doing it that way and I feel great.  When I am out people are constantly surprised that I eat "what everyone else eats."  Of course I plan in advance when I can, but I don't live and die by the amount of calories that are in a meal.  I concentrate on my overall trend and as long as it is positive I am ok with that.  I think that too many people become unhealthily obsessed with counting every last morsel. Counting is a fantastic way to get where you want to be, but don't go OCD on it

I walk every night almost 4 miles and do an hour on the elliptical 3 times a week.  I am almost at my goal weight so am starting to reduce the cardio and put in more strength training now. 

Dave

mop, when I have the chocolate chocolate chip muffin for breakfast, I don't need a midmorning snack; I'm good until lunch. Same with the days I get two strips of bacon (70 calories) with breakfast. The extra fat really does make a difference in whether I'm hungry midmorning or not.

And the rest of you are making me want to stand up and cheer! Yay! for reasonable eating and including whatever foods we want!

My goal is to eat a healthy, whole grain, clean diet 90% of the time. The most important part of that, for me, is eating fruits and veggies - I get around 9 servings a day. As long as I've done that, from a health perspective, I feel I can relax a bit if I feel like it!

Things I indulge in include:

- french fries, on the rare occasion, and only at certain restaurants (I'm picky!); I will however have 2 or 3 fries from my DH's plate every now and then. This is a big change for me, because french fries used to be my biggest downfall. I'd eat them several times a week! Now I order green beans instead, douse them with salt, and eat them with my fingers. I have actually come to prefer this strategy!

- Ice cream, about 3x's a week, measured out in 1/2-1 cup portions, or I'll have a 100-cal Skinny Cow bar. Depends on how many cals I have left for the day. I will never give up ice cream.

- Hazlenut gelato, which is my number 1 favorite treat. Since it's not easy to find, I'll have this on any occasion where it's offered!! Because I'll never know when I'll see it again!

- Desserts at restaurants, my DH and I will frequently split a dessert if something looks really tempting. His favorites are strawberry-rhubarb pie, cannoli, and bread pudding - if they are on the menu, we do not pass it up. But I rarely eat anything chocolate because I'm not all that into chocolate anymore.

- Pizza, just two slices, once a week on Fridays. This is our routine "pizza and a movie rental" night.

- Potato chips, on very rare occasions. Like if I'm on an airplane and they're offering them for free. Or the night before a 5K (I can tell myself I'm carb loading!). I love chips but have to go very easy on them or I'll be eating them every day!!!

- Birthday cake: if it's someone's birthday, I'm not going to say no. I just eat a small piece.

I did eat McD's once in the past 8 months. I ordered a small burger and small fries with water. It was a planned meal too - I had a craving!

I lost the "last 10 lbs" this way.

I think most people NEED a cheat day or a CHEAT something.  For the most part, I have done a lifestyle change (which was the point, the plan, and the intention this time, for good!).  I have "semi-cheat days."  I do 100-cal packs (though much fewer now than when I started, just don't want them much anymore).  I have meals out OCCASIONALLY where I eat smaller portions of whatever I'd like.  I don't just order salad, no cheese, no dressing.  I have a bite or two of dark chocolate most every day.  I budget for the snacks and the chocolate.  If I have meals out, I estimate the cals and write that down in my food log. 

Otherwise, I plan all meals and snacks out in advance as much as possible and stick to it.  I find planning ahead helps to keep me "honest."  It helps keep me from getting off track too often or going overboard on any one thing.  I know where my calories are and what will put me over if I stray.  I know I have to come in my office and redo ALL THE CALCULATIONS I have done as far as cals remaining for the day and week, etc., if I decide to eat something that wasn't on the day plan.  Like I said, I do allow myself "indulgences," just not as big or nearly as often as before.  When I know I'm going to eat out (like once a month or once every couple weeks), I eat lower cal around that meal and try to adjust as much as possible.  I don't get myself into a tizzy over it.  If I go over my daily cal budget by 200 to 300, I don't just lose my mind over it.  I enjoy the time out, the company, and the meal.  I get back on the plan tomorrow. 

That said, I also try not to keep or buy things that I KNOW are known weaknesses for me, or the former me.  HA.  I buy snacks for my husband and son that they like and that I DO NOT LIKE in most cases, so I'm not even tempted.

I am happier than I have ever been, feel healthier than ever, have more energy than I've ever had on any DIET, do not feel hungry OR deprived or pissed about this "diet" I am on and things I can't have.  Therefore, I also don't go and eat the whole bag of whatever when I finally break down and can't take it anymore (as I have done so many times in the past).  I eat ONE.  Most often, one part of my brain says "reach."  The other part says "YOU DON'T REALLY WANT THAT," or "YOU'RE NOT EVEN HUNGRY, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!!," tells me it's the old me trying to rear her ugly head and sabotage my success, and smacks me down.  I am losing weight every week by doing these things.  :-)

I agree with all of you---its great to read these posts  you ppl make sooo much sense - I just had my treat and feel good before- during and after it...just double my  exercise on the eliiptical and an hour of housework to work it off ---now im relaxing :)

We are all very smart!

     When I was dieting last year I really only ate very healthy foods, and I lost the weight with only a handful of cheat days in there throughout the (which were special occasions like a wedding and holidays) and I lost the weight. The problem however was when I was done and then needed to maintain I found that I just could not bring myself to regularly eating the things I had ?blacklisted??and boy was that list LOOOOONG lol. So I ended up coming up with the ?genius? idea of only eating as much of these bad foods as I could on Fri, Sat, Sun and virtually eat nothing else during the week?.as you can guess I developed an eating disorder of binging-fasting and often ended up ?going off? during the weekdays too because I was starving so I ended up gaining about 18 pounds in just 3 or so months. Luckily I was able to stop this and naturally lost about 15 of those pounds (I needed to gain weight anyway because I went too low while dieting?so it was good)?but the only thing that stopped this was reintroducing ?blacklisted? foods into my diet on a daily basis...now when I have these foods they are all portioned controlled and within my daily caloric limit and they are low fat/reduced sugar etc. when that version is offered?.I know some people do completely believe in keeping these foods out of their diet, but I just don?t think it is practical for me, because any time something goes ?wrong? and I eat one of these foods at an event, etc. it just results in a binge, because I figure if I had one I might as well have as much as I want?and when I missed these foods so much I overate them because I figured ?well who knows when I?ll get to eat them again??if I have them everyday what?s the point of binging or eating them in large quantities?you can?t even enjoy them that way?I am a huge fan of 100 calorie packs, whole grain crackers, ice cream, and my all time favorite treat VITAMUFFINS lol?now when an occasion comes up where I would have binged I just sit there relaxed and say to myself "what's the point".....and the truth is there isn't one now...my body is nourished and satisfied


No truer words have been spoken to me when it comes to eating properly then EVERYTHING IN MODERATION?it is just so true

I try to eat healthy, and I am eating much better, but there aren't really any foods that are off limits.  I try to keep at 1200 calories a day.  Most days I do, but some I don't.  If I am really craving a food, I will have a taste of it, but don't overdo it like I used to.  I  had french fries and a hamburger (on my diet bread:)) just this week.  I am slowly loosing the pounds (11 so far in 6 weeks).  I know I will not be able to keep up a diet or life style change, where some of my favorite things are off limits.  It is working for me!  I also call it treating instead of cheating. 

nods