I've wanted to make a post about this since starting up the blog, and today seems as good of a day as any to do it!
First, the word "diet". It is often seen as something temporary and utterly horrible to go through. Really, though, your diet consists of everything you put into your body. It does not have to be something you do once or twice a year to slim down for the beach or those special occasions. Starving yourself for a few weeks and eating things you don't enjoy just to quickly lose 10 pounds basically guarantees two things, in my opinion: a bad relationship with/understanding of food, and weight re-gain. And no one wants that.
Our low-carb diet is a permanent one. The goal is long-term, not short term. I can eat tasty food, I just choose to eat the right tasty foods that help me to be my healthiest self. There are no tricks, other than avoiding sugars and other carbohydrates. It works for me and my body. I feel good, I eat VERY well, and I don't really feel like I'm missing out on too much.
Until I get the cravings.
Now, I don't think any diet should completely remove any sort of food group. This also, generally, guarantees failure in any attempted diet. We need all the food groups in our diet. We need sugar, we need fat, we need protein. It's the ratio that needs to be shifted, not any one of these eliminated. You notice, on low-carb, you still eat carb-containing foods, just not the ones that deliver a quick sugar rush to the body. Because we need them!
And sometimes our bodies think they need sugar. Because we evolved to want sugar and salt and fat and all the things that are far too easy for us to eat these days.
SO. We have "Cheat Day". Cheat Day is the day, once a week, when we are allowed to eat whatever we want, whenever we want, and how much we want. Perhaps this could be once every few weeks for you, or once a month. We do it once a week.
You will not regain the weight you have lost with one day of bad eating (you might bloat up for a day or two, but meh). You WILL get rid of any of the cravings you have. And, over time, you will find that you don't even want to indulge in much "bad" food on Cheat Day, because your body begins to realize, "Oh, hey, this doesn't really make me feel good OR full!" BUT you're allowing yourself the option of having whatever you have craved, and preventing any downfalls during the rest of the time.
So, enjoy those things you want every once in a while, and don't beat yourself up about it!
Today is my Cheat Day (every Saturday). I had a big huge breakfast with toast and hashbrowns (usually, we have pancakes or waffles, but we're out of maple syrup), I had some soup for lunch (I never feel like having much lunch on Cheat Day, hehe), a big ol' chocolate truffle, and tonight I'm making myself a nice pasta dish. As much as I'm craving burgers and fries, I know I'll enjoy the pasta more :). And then, beverages! Yay!
I have no idea if this post is super-coherent. I'm starting to discover that I'm not a great blog writer.
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