If you cheat, you are only hurting yourself. It is totally stupid to cheat on a diet. Who do you think you’re winning against? Like when your grandma was all indignant about some hoax she believed, so she boycotted KMart. But she didn’t even write KMart a letter to let them know she was doing it. Did she really think KMart was going to notice that they no longer got her $20/week? “Uh oh!” they’d say. “We must have pissed off Mrs. Rice! Let’s give her a call and find out what we’re doing wrong so we can stop doing it and make her happy!” NO. They didn’t even notice, and she had to find somewhere else to shop, where the prices were higher.
Don’t think about food so much. In theory, dieting should be easier than not dieting, because there are fewer choices, and fewer times of the day to be deciding what to eat. This should free up so much time. I said, THIS SHOULD FREE UP SO MUCH TIME. I cannot believe it—are you ALREADY thinking about what to eat next?
Remember to weigh first thing tomorrow morning, to get a starting weight. And write it in the Diet Journal—there’s still plenty of space from the last time you were writing in the Diet Journal. In fact, there’s probably no need to write in the Diet Journal this time: just cross off the dates from last time and write in the dates from this time. Saves paper! Saves time!
Think ahead about the times when you are likely to be particularly weak, and make arrangements. Like, when the kids go down for their naps and you would normally break out the contraband—I don’t think a vegetable platter is going to fill that void. Or what about after dinner, when you wash out the taste of dinner with something sweet? What’re you going to eat THEN, tough girl? FRUIT?
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. What? A thousand miles? Nobody said anything about A THOUSAND MILES!! Let me off! Wait! Let me OFFFFFFF!!!!
I should be eating a dessert the size of my head right now. I’m not hungry for it now, but tomorrow when I’m looking back, I will be KICKING my last-night self for not eating whatever I wanted while I still could.
I lost 120 pounds before I got pregnant with my first child. I did it on my own and it took me nearly three years (the first 75 fell off – the last was 20 the hardest and took almost a year). And I was in my early 20s. I lost 60 pounds before getting pregnant this current time. I was in my mid/late 20s – took 18 months. I fear I may never get this current chids’ weight off.
It gets harder and harder the older we get and the more children we have. I think there is a inverse law of physics somewhere.
My only secret to losing so much? I could. not. cheat. Not once. It was an all or nothing for me. Except for holidays, weddings, parties, etc. I was ON HIGH ALERT all the time. I couldn’t have just one bite, or just one piece. That’s not how I operate. It would snowball and if I let myself have one chip, I’d be in an MSG coma in the corner having eaten 13 bags. So I cut bad stuff out completely, and as crazy as this sounds, after a few weeks, you really do get used to it and the cravings subside.
I may be of no help at all, but if you have any questions about losing weight, I am the queen. It’s pretty much been my life for the past 8 years.
Go, Swistle, Go! You can do it!!!!
& just what are you going to do with all of this extra free time you’re creating?
All good thoughts! Especially that first one. You are always so level-headed.
P.S. You can dooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeet! :)
Hell, if you can raise 5 kids and not lose your mind, this is pie!
I have to second what Andreanna said about not cheating. Granted, this is just my first week of this diet I’m doing, but it is going extremely well. The only thing I’m really watching is calories and trying to keep it at 1200 (or less, which I KNOW thats bad because your starving yourself, blah blah blah, I’m fat and don’t want to be anymore.) I have always been one to steal a bite of my kids’ cereal before I set their bowl on the table or to eat that last roll left over from dinner. This time? Huh uh. NO CHEATING. And, strangely, I’ve just told myself its now or never and I’m sticking to it. So…good luck. It is hard, but WE CAN DO IT! Rah rah rah and all that crap.
Oh, one more thing. Fitday.com is an awesome website for diets. You can track your food, activities, journal, weight, goals, all that stuff. Its free and its awesome. It really helps keep me on track.
Okay, going now. Fo’ real.
This is a great post. I know what you mean about the “dessert the size of my head.” I’m right with you.
Poor Swistle!
I’ll be rooting for you over in Hatchet Land!
Ooh! I second what Karly said about FitDay.com.
That way you can obsess over numbers on a spreadsheet and do graphs and stuff. Way more fun than just writing in a paper journal.
Yes, you better eat a HUGE dessert tonite! I am actually starting the ‘Master Cleanse’ on Tuesday, and all I can have for 5-10 days is this dang lemonade drink. That’s IT. Scary stuff for me, Miss sweet-tooth USA. So, good luck to you, and please know that you are not the only one dreaming of cupcakes and twizzlers while desperately thinking of how skinny you will look this summer. :)
Good luck Swistle. I know what you mean about cheating. I feel the same way. I have to stop eating the leftover dinosaur chicken nuggets. Those calories do count. No more handful of jelly beans. I’m counting on you to motivate me a little. Thanks.
AndreAnna- Pie? Mmmmmmmm, PIE!
Good luck! Usually a lurker here but I have to agree on the fitday site. LOVE IT! I love that you can input your own nutrition labels from stuff you buy.. It’s a great reminder of what you’re actually eating and it can track your weight loss etc.. just a great tool! Happy Healthiness ;)
Don’t give up the sweets after dinner. I have found that I eat few sweets if I let myself have that little sweet. I try to get something like Hersey’s kisses. I put them in the freezer and only pull out one or two. Since they are frozen, it is harder to eat. It gives your mouth and brain the sensation it is getting more. Also being individually wrapped and frozenkeep you from grabbing a handful during the day! Good luck
Hmmm. I suppose “pie” was the wrong word to compare dieting to.
Will this make you feel any better?
http://ktjrdn.typepad.com/whats_new/2008/01/20-off.html
A sale and 20 % off too?
Just trying to help
I should be a pro at this like the first person. I lost 115 pounds in 9 months a few years back. Yet I had a stroke to do it, not a very fun way to go, but hey, it was one positive thing about the whole stroke ordeal. I kept it off great until this last summer, and somewhere between augustish and now I’ve put back on 20 pounds.
So, I’m going to start with you today swistle. I’m trying to decide now whether to disclose my weight on my blog because what the hell its not like anyone but me cares right? Or hum…yeah still thinking on that one.
“If you cheat, you are only hurting yourself.”
I’m going to be reminding myself of this over and over. Great thought!
Good luck with the dieting. I know what you mean about WISHING you had eaten more when you coudl – there’s nothing worse than a spread of food when you don’t feel that hungry…
things i’ve substituted in the past for the Sweet After Dinner Fix:
-frozen blueberries
-gum
-anything minty, really
-a WEE bit of dark chocolate, although this one’s sort of tricky because if you have a wee bit, it means there’s got to be MORE SOMEWHERE WHERE LET ME AT IT
-hot tea (not sweet, i realize? but.. distracts my mouth, or something?)
good luck! you can do it :-)
When you are hungry in between meals, I suggest a salad loaded with veggies and light dressing. It has to have veggies, or even chicken on it though in order to fill you up. otherwise, it’s just like water. Skip the cheese (I don’t, but uh…do as I say, not as I do?)
Fruit is an excellent dessert, actually. What about sugar-free popsicles or chocolate bars?
Um, not dieting here, but I thought of you this morning anyway. It was sunny so, after dropping Harper off at school, I took the dog for a walk. Turns out it was not quite as warm as I’d hoped (my legs were achingly cold through my sweats) but I felt good about getting off my a**. And I thought, if I could walk every day (again, not dieting because pregnant), even for ten or fifteen minutes (I know I’m lame) that it could be my action in solidarity with you.
There you go, my footsteps applaud your efforts!
hehe. Diets are hard for me because the more I try NOT to think about food and what to eat the MORE I think about food and what I CAN’T eat. Urgh.
It gets easier after the first week or two though. YOu can do it!
Swistle – OUT OF MY HEAD! You are a hoot.
And the cheating thing depends totally on the person. Some people do really well if they cheat every now and again, some don’t. But I do think it is a good idea to not cheat for at least a month, because then your body won’t crave it as much and you’ll be less likely to go hog wild when you do cheat.
I actually gave up chocolate for six weeks once and when I ate it again, I ate it out of principle, not because I really wanted it. That was a very, very bad thing I did, let me tell you; because then the cravings became unstoppable.
Oh, I love this. I’ve done well so far this morning. But I’m worried about lunch already. I’d like a good salad, but there is no lettuce or chicken or anything. I’ll have to get creative and find something really healthy. Then I need to convince myself that my son’s naptime would be a good time to workout (instead of blogging or watching TV, ugh).
You can dooooooeeeet!!
Save some will power for me this August, i’ll need it.
I also really enjoy sparkpeople.com you can track calories and do all kinds of fun stuff.
Think about it like this, habits are very easy to do. Good habits, bad habits, whatever it is as long as you keep repeating it then quickly it will become a habit, something you’re used to doing. So just concentrate on making good habits this week and before you know it they’ll be second nature to you.
Okay, everybody who mentioned FitDay and SparkPeople: I’ll check them out. Thanks! My friend Lee mentioned SparkPeople, so I’ll probably try them first.
Danielle-Lee- I find that diet both fascinating and scary. I might want to try it someday. Not while I’m nursing, though (she says with a huge sigh of relief).
Tracy- Ha ha ha! I would have the ENTIRE FROZEN BAG eaten by mid-morning. And I would have discovered that being COLD made them EVEN MORE DELICIOUS.
Sara- Yay, company!
Alice- GUM? Sigh. This is not a happy time. Tea, though—maybe.
Farrell- Fruit is a SAD dessert. I will eat it after dinner, but I will not call it “dessert” unless it is double-dipped in chocolate.
Kelsey- That counts! Solidarity is awesome!
Mommy Daisy- It’s just one sad thing after another, isn’t it? Nothing good for lunch, and having to go OUT to BUY something not-good for lunch. And then using naptime (precious, precious naptime) for EXERCISE.
Natalie- I agree: I have to have some time invested before I can afford to cheat. Otherwise it’s like, “I’m only 2 days into it–I’ll just start over tomorrow!”
Skiplovey- I can dream.
Okay, so I first read this and totally emphathized. Even though I am pregnant now, I still have to watch the calories and sugar b/c of having gestational diabetes the first time around. Which as a side mini-rant, is so unfair! Pregnancy is the only time you get a “free” pass to eat whatever you want!
But as I was chasing my daughter, I remembered your jury duty post and that you were still nursing your little one. So, should you even be dieting???? Or is it more a matter of eating better quality (though we could all debate whether chocolate ice cream is quality! :o)) foods instead of whatever is around?
Anonymous Pregnant Reader #3
For some reason I found this to be oddly inspiring. I still have 15-20 lbs of baby weight, and my son turned two on Saturday, which, um, let’s just say it’s starting to not be baby weight anymore. I think it’s now just weight weight.
I think maybe you were better off NOT having had dessert right before you started. I mean, you don’t want the thought of delicious treats fresh in your mind when you’re trying to make a clean break, right?
Good luck!
Thoughts: One Hour Before Starting Aerobics Class: “You moron, you shouldn’t have eaten ten chocolate chip cookies today- now all you’re going to do is MAYBE burn some of those calories before they jump onto your thighs. Forget about making a DENT in weight loss tonight!”
Anonymous Pregnant Reader #3: Though I AM in it for the weight loss, you’re right that this stage is influenced by the breastfeeding. (Otherwise I might try the Master Cleanse Danielle-lee was talking about! Mmmmm, lemon-maple water!) I’m mostly cutting out the candy, and eating lower-fat foods. But plenty of them, and good-quality.
You can do it. :)
I have been struggling with weight ever since I turned 30. I never weighed as much as I did about two years ago. I lost the weight by drinking alot of water, to fill me up before I ate. That way I wouldn’t over eat. I also increased my exercise monthly. Baby steps, then worked my way up to two miles a day.
I love my new lifestyle, it makes me feel more alive and brought me back to when I was in my 20’s, trim and fit and active.. which I will never not be now.
Jillian
I have had so many “last suppers.” They’ve ranged from pizza to large Quizno sandwiches. But they really can work. I know it.
I hope that you provide some majah inspiration soon…my “diet” is headed down the toilet. Ew, bad visual. I just mean that I suck right now.