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Just to be clear, not everything in my current fitness regimen is peaches and cream. My exercise program has been going very well indeed, but like Mac, I’m beginning to have food issues. Maybe that’s stating it too strongly. What I should say is that last weekend was difficult for me.
Most of the time, I eat six small meals per day. I’ve written that they’re “boring”, but in truth I try to keep them varied and interesting. But they’re still six small meals a day — about 300 calories each.
For example, here’s what I’ve come to think of as “J.D.’s perfect breakfast”:
- one Al Fresco-brand all-natural roasted garlic chicken sausage
- 1/2 cup southwestern flavored Egg Beaters, scrambled
- half a bottle (~8 ounces) of a Naked “Blue Machine” juice
This meal contains 370 calories, 7 grams of fat, 46 grams of carbohydrates, and 28 grams of protein. It also has 8 grams of fiber. It’s a little high on carbs and a little low on fats, but mostly it’s a good balance. I try to have this twice per week. (Any more often and I’m afraid I’d grow tired of it.)
Not all of my meals are as tasty. I struggle to find interesting protein and low-sugar carbs. I don’t like cottage cheese. I don’t like cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli). I love most of the so-called Superfoods, but I don’t always remember to eat them. (Must put bag of spinach someplace where I can see it!)
Anyhow, I eat this stuff six days of the week. On the seventh day — as dictated in Body for Life — I allow myself to eat whatever I want. Generally this works fine. I have a hamburger and a milkshake. Or I have a slice of pizza. Or pancakes for breakfast. I choose something appealing, but eat in moderation. (So far I’ve managed to avoid candy and junk food completely!)
Last Saturday night, however, I made some poor choices.
Kris made chicken stew and corn bread for dinner. I had a big bowl of stew, and ate two slices of corn bread slathered in honey. No big deal, right? It was delicious. I felt full. But then I went back for seconds. I got another big bowl of stew and two more pieces of corn bread. Ugh.
After finishing my second helping, I felt very, very sick. Very sick. I actually thought I might vomit.
Then, for whatever reason, I decided I needed three cookies for dessert. This was utter madness! I didn’t need the cookies. I didn’t even crave them. But I wanted them anyhow. Because I could. Ugh. I felt even sicker.
Sometimes I don’t understand my own psychology.
This wasn’t a complete disaster, and I don’t want to make it sound like it was. I learned something. It’s okay to eat the foods I like, but it doesn’t make sense to have too much of them. Wouldn’t it have been better to save the leftovers for later in the week? I could have parceled them out in small portions to make a couple of interesting small meals. Instead, I gorged myself and didn’t even enjoy it.
Mac
21 responses so far ↓
1 Peter // Apr 15, 2008 at 9:32 am
The wonderful world of conditioning. For me, my body rejects exercise by getting sick. Bed-ridden, congested, coughing, the whole deal. Once I get through that period, it’s better, but it is a rough week or two.
As for the eating thing, I found the same. I _could_ eat just about anything I wanted to on my off day, but I found I didn’t _want_ to and felt much worse when I binged. Thanks for the inspiration and for letting us share in your journey.
2 Andrew is getting fit // Apr 15, 2008 at 9:50 am
This happens to us all at times. The best thing to do is just keep going, accept you made a poor decision and try to make better ones in the future.
3 Joe // Apr 15, 2008 at 10:12 am
I can’t begin to count the number of times this has happened.
And you’re right, completely, with the dessert. i can actually feel the strain of the full stomach, and yet, I gotta go for the milk and cookies.
4 Joel is fat. // Apr 15, 2008 at 10:16 am
Why don’t you like cruciferous veggies? Is it an issue where you had them prepared a particular way, and they were atrocious? I used to not like them either, but I learned to prepare them in a number of different ways. Now I love broccoli!
But I understand — you have a “break” from the diet, and you eat what would have been a normal portion, but somehow now it makes you wonder how your body ever tolerated such… eating! I had some fried walleye (one of Ohio’s few native culinary delights) after a long string on a very strict diet a couple of years ago, and I wasn’t able to have anything else for a day or two because it just sat so badly in my stomach, so to speak.
It’s a good reminder that certain foods, after not consuming them for awhile, shouldn’t be consumed in nearly the numbers we were used to.
Good luck, JD. This blog is inspiring - who ever would have thought that “Getting Fit Slowly” or “Getting Rich Slowly” were truly brilliant ideas?
5 Debi // Apr 15, 2008 at 10:20 am
My strategy for trying to avoid this is to keep logging what I eat. When I feel like I’m about to really tear into seconds, thirds, etc., I make sure to log it BEFORE I eat it, looking at the impact the splurge will have before I eat it. I’ve started using the free food log at sparkpeople.com and to see those calories counted out before I eat them. When I see them there, I try to think of alternatives or ways I could reduce it. It’s great to delete something from the log because you changed your mind!
6 Red // Apr 15, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I wonder about this as well. It’s as if there’s no conscious thought that goes into the eating of the cookie.
It’s just immediately after I swallow, i think “WHY DID I EAT THAT?”
7 Emily // Apr 15, 2008 at 12:32 pm
You may want to try having a two-week “diet” period before your first cheat day, and then try a cheat day every week after. I find if I’m trying to change to a lower-carb/low-sugar plan, having a cheat day the first week–or even every week–screws me up. Two weeks is long enough that my taste buds start becoming more sensitive towards the sugars and tastes of “blander” foods like cruciferous veggies. When I do have the cheat day, more sugary foods seem TOO sugary, I feel awful almost immediately afterwards, and often end up eating a lot less than I intended.
8 Eden // Apr 15, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I struggle with this all of the time too. I’ve narrowed it down to a couple of different problems-
1- Pure lack of self control and discipline. I’m working on that, but it’s going to take time to win that battle.
2- Old habits die hard. If I have a certain type of junk food that I really enjoy, I tend to consume as much as I used to back in my really fat, really poor eating days, rather than stopping when I know I’m full after a much more proper portion.
9 metroknow - AlmostFit.com // Apr 15, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Although its not the ideal experience when you’re trying to improve your health, it certainly is a positive reminder in how far you’ve come…
This happened to me in Feb. with a Wendy’s bacon cheeseburger (The Baconator, to be exact). I had one, which I formerly LOVED, and it literally made me ill. And this was not the desired effect - it wasn’t like I was doing it to prove some point about how bad it would make me feel physically. I just plain couldn’t stomach it.
I took it as a good sign - and I think you obviously are too.
10 Kym // Apr 15, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I had this same problem on my cheat day this weekend. I went for pizza with my boyfriend (we’re both doing BFL), and we shared a small pizza along with a caesar salad (amazing salad at this place despite the calorie-laden dressing). I felt disgusting afterwards, my body did not enjoy it at all. My tastebuds did, but my body no. We couldn’t even finish that 4 small slices of pizza - took home half. Made me really want a nice piece of grilled chicken instead.
11 Josh // Apr 15, 2008 at 3:39 pm
This is a difficult thing I also struggle with. I’ve lost 20 lbs over the last 4 months and am trying to lose 10 more. For the first 2 months I was very strict with the diet, but once I started allowing myself a cheat day, I couldn’t stop. I started stretching my cheat day to a cheat weekend, and then almost going back completely to my previous bad habits.
It helps me to go back to not cheating at all, and to take a day at the beginning of the week and prepare all my meals. That way I already have my portions set for the week and I know that when the container is finished, I’m finished. Also, I can’t then use the excuse that I don’t have time to make a healthy meal during the week.
12 sjean // Apr 15, 2008 at 5:47 pm
As a Get Rich Slowly reader, I have to comment on the Naked. That stuff is so expensive that I’m afraid to try it–no good can come from loving it!
13 greenman2001 // Apr 15, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Almost universal agreement to this post, I notice, including me. It’s a special kind of humiliation to continue eating after you’ve begun to feel sick from it. But I know that when I eat like this it’s because I’m extremely anxious (and more specifically, when I feel overburdened by responsibilities and committments) and these days I use this kind of “hitting bottom” experience to aggressively attack the source of my anxiety.
14 Joe // Apr 15, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Greenman2001,
I’ve been all about being an emotional eater, as well. Stressed, anxious, blue, the whole bit.
15 Toby // Apr 15, 2008 at 7:06 pm
one thing that helps me with cheat days is that I plan ahead (actually write out) exactly what I am going to eat — that way I am sure I plan what I *want* most and don’t end up eating myself sick.
16 Brigid // Apr 16, 2008 at 5:14 am
Bill was a genius when he added the free day to the plan because it works in two ways - it keeps you from envisioning an endless life of rabbit food without a single doughnut to dot the landscape AND it makes you sick if you go overboard.
No one can follow any weight-loss program to the letter so eventually you’ll slip, but just a little. Then a little more and so on. Eventually, you’re back to your former habits but you never get sick because it happens gradually. The free day eliminates that gradual build-up and gives you a good sugar-coated slap in the face. The free day will tell you a lot about yourself if you pay attention.
From my own experience, I did a lot of the same things you did - I’d eat myself sick. I’d eat crap I didn’t even really like just because I could. By Saturday night, I’d be vowing to never eat that much again and looking forward to my healthy foods and exercise. I probably went through the program twice before I finally got my free days to where I actually enjoyed them.
You’ll probably have at least a handful of free days like the one you just had. Don’t give them up and don’t try to place any restrictions on them - at least not yet. They are there to teach a lesson.
Keep up the great work - you are doing fantastic!
Brigid
PS: I didn’t like cottage cheese either until I tried the Breakstone brand. It has a good cheesy taste - not sour like some other brands. I mix in a fuji apple and sprinkle cinnamon on it.
17 TosaJen // Apr 16, 2008 at 5:47 am
Don’t beat yourself up too much. We’re hard-wired to try survive famines, which means stocking up the fat stores when food is plentiful. It takes a while for our habits to match up with the fact that food is ALWAYS plentiful in middle-class America — evolution has not caught up with this yet. (My mantra during a special meal: “This is not The Last Supper”.
) We need to “touch the stove” once in a while.
18 elisabeth // Apr 16, 2008 at 6:21 am
Hi. Yes, it is hard after one’s eaten the X to say, “OK, did that, now let it go and do better” but, really, there’s not much else you can do!
Around here, I try to make second helpings not possible — either I just cook enough for firsts only, or we serve dinner from the kitchen and put the rest away before we sit down, or if it’s something that really needs to cool before getting refrigerated/frozen, at least turn off the kitchen lights and make a real transition to the dining room; trying to send myself an unconscious message that we’ve got all the food we’re getting. I used to bring the bread to the table, but after the last baquette disppear during dinner, I said to my sweetie, I need to cut off slices in the kitchen. He said, “because of all the crumbs?” I said, no, portion control. Also, we usually listen to music (classical or jazz or maybe the blues) and it helps that we haven’t seen each other all day, so there’s enough going on that we can be sure to take the 20 + minutes it takes after you start eating to feel full.
But, it is still a daily battle!
19 Jeremy Kendall // Apr 16, 2008 at 9:48 am
Wow, I know just how you feel. I’ve lost about 50lbs, and I try to stick to seven 300 cal meals per day, but when I go overboard, boy, do I go overboard!
I try to have at least one free-for-all day per week, and that helps me to stay focused during the other six days.
20 Tom McNicholas // Apr 17, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I know exactly how you feel. Pizza is the worst, or fries at outback, if i allow myself to have them I have ALOT of them.
Vicious cycle.
21 Cynthia // Apr 21, 2008 at 7:18 pm
We’ve all done it. I recently brought home TWO king size candy bars and TWO snack bags of chips and ate them all at once. And didn’t really even enjoy them.
Just keep trying to remember these lessons and always, but always, get back on the wagon as promptly as possible after.
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