ugh I am dying here!

Ok, I am a junk food junkie.  I love all sorts of sweets and I am trying to keep track of my calories.  I have done good so far, I have kept track on here, and if I go over it's not by much.  But now it's been almost a week and my weakness is kicking in.  Last night I wanted cinnamon rolls and ice cream.  I normally crave until I can't handle it anymore.

So here is my question for you all, I read somewhere (don't ask where cause I have no idea) that it's not bad to reward yourself once a week.  That the one day of extra calories actually helps keep the metabolism kicking.  So I was thinking if I do good all week, then say friday night or saturday have ice cream or cinnamon roll.  Maybe find a lighter version of what I am craving and reward myself.  I just know I won't be able do do this without Something like that once in a while at least.

Anyone try this, or know anything about that?

I am the same.  I totally crave sweets like all the time!  I did really well for about a month - not eating anything that was too totally bad - i would have 2 mini snickers a couple times a week and that seemed to tide me over.

THEN came HALLOWEEN!!  i have been desperately trying to get back on track since Halloween and then came Thanksgiving and now it's my bithday and then it's Christmas - so I have vowed to stay within my calories on every other day besides the days I have "special events"  Although that's how all of this got started.  I lost about 22 pounds and I haven't lost a pound since Halloween!

So all I can say is that for me to cut it all out works best because it is so hard for me to stop!!  I understand the whole - give yourself a treat thing but I have a bad habit of sweets and i know if I start it will be ten times harder to quit when I want to get it back together again, you know?

I guess what I am saying is whatever works best for you to stay on track - not really just for the day but for the week!  If yo ugo too over on that cheat day you could spoil all the work you did during the week!

Good Luck!!

Thanks!

I guess the best think I can do is try a few different things and see how it all goes.  Trial and error!

Original Post by krystaldoo82:

Ok, I am a junk food junkie.  I love all sorts of sweets and I am trying to keep track of my calories.  I have done good so far, I have kept track on here, and if I go over it's not by much.  But now it's been almost a week and my weakness is kicking in.  Last night I wanted cinnamon rolls and ice cream.  I normally crave until I can't handle it anymore.

So here is my question for you all, I read somewhere (don't ask where cause I have no idea) that it's not bad to reward yourself once a week.  That the one day of extra calories actually helps keep the metabolism kicking.  So I was thinking if I do good all week, then say friday night or saturday have ice cream or cinnamon roll.  Maybe find a lighter version of what I am craving and reward myself.  I just know I won't be able do do this without Something like that once in a while at least.

Anyone try this, or know anything about that?

This can work but it really depends on the person! This idea or system can actually be a catch 22.

Some people who try this do ok and the others fail hard!

I am not speaking about you or anyone specific but I thought that I would give you an idea of what can happen and then you can choose what route to take.

Some people who do this do great all week long but the anticipation all week for that cheat day drives them insane and when the day comes they go crazy and ruin the entire week of hard work, by eating more than they should, the body then stores the excess as fat and you spend the next week burning it off only to get it back on your cheat day.

Do you have the items that you crave within easy reach? Can you walk into your kitchen and grab a sweet? If you can then get rid of them! Make it as hard as possible for you to get what you know you don’t need. Instead think of items that you can substitute that are good for you. Look into protein bars some taste just like candy bars.

You want to get your body used to not eating sweets and the cravings will stop.

 Chris R

I hate the word diet because it implies that you have to completely cut out some of the things you enjoy most.  I like the word moderation more. 

I have an ice cream every single night.  A skinny cow.  Husband calls them crazy cow because I love them so much that the rest of the family have gone crazy and started eating them too.  It is a fat free frozen yogurt ice cream sandwich, 140 calories. 

So everyday I work that 140 calories into my plan so that I can enjoy every single bite!

Hope that helps!

Original Post by tciherr:

I hate the word diet because it implies that you have to completely cut out some of the things you enjoy most.  I like the word moderation more. 

I have an ice cream every single night.  A skinny cow.  Husband calls them crazy cow because I love them so much that the rest of the family have gone crazy and started eating them too.  It is a fat free frozen yogurt ice cream sandwich, 140 calories. 

So everyday I work that 140 calories into my plan so that I can enjoy every single bite!

Hope that helps!

 Yay for skinny cow!

The above posters all have good advice. You may or may not be able to do a cheat day if you cant control how you "cheat". Maybe instead of thinking of it as a cheat, think of it as a treat. Cheating is something bad that you have to be sneaky and ashamed of doing. But a treat is something good that you can look forward to, and can be happy about earning. No matter what, you need to work your cheat-treat into your diet in a way that it wont ruin all the rest of your hardwork. That may mean that you need to do a longer workout in the morning of that particular day, or that you substitute full fat ice cream for a skinny cow like tciherr. Just find what works for you and go with it, but be mindful at the sametime! :)

the 100 calorie klondike bars are soooo good. try them out if you want some ice cream. and i say go for it... you're lucky if you can eat that stuff in moderation without binging afterward. i stay away from that stuff because i am likely to eat it, want more, and binge.

kind of my idea.  Buy the skinny cow or something else most of the time.  I don't think there is a low cal version of a cinnimon roll so I guess I will just have to come up with a homemade version or go to something a little less fattening.

You all gave great advice.  When I was younger I was trying to firm up a bit, and I would not eat sweets until Friday night, after my workout.  Then I would have something like a tootsie roll.  It worked great and now I know I have the self control to regulate myself.

The other thing that might work, depending on the person, is simple portion control.  My grocery store charges $8+ for a box of five skinny cow ice cream bars.  That's just not in my price range.  They have an equivalent own-brand that's only $3 and they're okay, but for the same 130 cals, I can have 1/4 cup of a really good rich ice cream.  I find the latter very satisfying whereas the diet ice cream bar leaves me still hungry. 

My trick to making sure I don't overportion is that I use a teeny tiny little bowl so it actually looks pretty full with the 1/4 cup ice cream in it.  Obviously, this only works if you're the sort of person who can put the ice cream tub back in the freezer before you start eating, but it's an alternative approach - and it lets me have ice cream about 4 times a week (which, ironically, is about 4 times a week more often than I had it before I started dieting; this would not work for me with homemade cookies as I have no control when it comes to those; you need to find treat foods that are truly treats but not triggering).

vitamuffins are absolutely delightful! you could warm up a chocolate chocolate chip [100 cal] one  and throw on some fat free cool whip [15 for 2 tbsp]. frozen fat free cool whip is AMAZING! throw some berries in there, maybe a packed of splenda, you'll be soo happy you did. orr the cool whip with a little sugar free nesquik.. basically frozen coolwhip is amazing. half a cup is only 60 cals!

Wow that sounds sooo good!  I think I am definitely going to try that!