Some of you have asked if I agree with some diet plans out there who suggest eating perfectly during the week and then allowing yourself one free day to eat whatever you want. The Eating For Life book suggests this plan for instance, and there are several others out there that do as well.
I've done this before and I still lost weight from it. But in my personal opinion I don't recommend or encourage it. Here's why.
1. It's not realistic. If someone is having a birthday party on Wednesday (i.e. there will be dessert served) and you already had your free day on Sunday and gorged out all day long, do you really think at a birthday party you aren't going to have dessert? If you can resist, good for you and you probably don't need a free day of any sort because you have such great self-discipline. My point it, there are things that come up unexpectedly and if you've already chosen a 'free day' then I think you're adding extra calories than what you would have eaten had you not chosen this diet plan.
2. It encourages binging. In the Eating For Life book it says that after a while you won't binge because you won't like the way it feels after wards. Well I wish that were the case or none of us would EVER binge!
3. It feels like a diet. I don't do anything that makes me feel like I'm on a diet. When you feel restricted is when you make choices you usually wouldn't make. For example, if you constantly tell yourself all the foods you can't have, you'll be much more drawn to them, than if you were to say you could have a small amount instead of none at all. If you restrict yourself, and you're in the same room with the food you "can't" have, the whole time you're in that room that food will be calling your name. But if you allow yourself to have a small portion, the effects will be far less dramatic, than if you tell yourself you can't have any a thousand times, and then end up eating the whole pan because you "couldn't resist." Don't tell me that's never happened to you :) If so, props to you.
So there are different ways of dealing with sweets and desserts. Here are a few ways to do it:
1. Some people like one free MEAL a week. This doesn't leave you with sugar withdrawals the next day or with terrible binging habits. But it does allow you to have some pizza every once in a while, or other meals that are not a whole food. This also doesn't mean you can eat as much as you want. Just that you can have a less healthier choice of food.
2. Others like to have something sweet immediately after their meal. This way the sugar gets digested with the rest of the fat and protein as their meal so the effects aren't as bad on your insulin and weight gain in general. This way they get something sweet and aren't searching for it a few hours later. Again, this is something very small, like a few pieces of quality chocolate, not a big bowl of ice cream after dinner every night. Nice try :)
3. Others don't restrict themselves at all and try to do portion control. This works for some, not for others.
4. You can allow yourself a dessert or junk food (with a specific portion in mind) only on special occasions such as birthdays, holidays, or social gatherings. This way you aren't bringing those sweets into your house.
There are lots of different methods to choose from when dealing with sweets and desserts. Because remember, your figure is much more affected by what you eat than how many miles you run a day. So just make sure you DO have a method and it's one that works for you. You might try a few and see which one works best, but if you don't have one you might find yourself in trouble by eating sweets and junk whenever it's in front of you in whatever amounts you feel like it in the moment. And unless you're a very rare person, that doesn't make anyone thin.
So have fun deciding what your method is and good luck to ya! This should be especially helpful to you for the upcoming holidays!
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