Dammit. Broke my diet today. :(

[Lyric]

I've been trying to improve my health and lose some weight, so I'd cut out almost all refined sugar, cookies, candy, etc. and have been eating grilled chicken breast, salads, and shredded wheat every day, as well as assorted fruits and grains. I'd been doing so well! Last night I made fantastic spicy chicken tacos that were low calorie and low fat. Breakfast was shredded wheat and skim milk, lunch was a small piece of grilled chicken and some veggie couscous. Then I had my first slip--I split a piece of black forest cake with Rhythm. It wasn't a HUGE piece, but still...empty calories. But my biggest slip up of all came when I got home from school today and saw that my roommate (not knowing what I'm doing) had left a box full of Panera bakery goodies on the table. I was able to resist until I saw the shortbread cookie, and then I caved. I admit it--I LOVE Panera's shortbread cookies. They're my favorite Panera pastry by far. Unfortunately, they also have 350 calories per cookie. :(

So I'm eating a smaller-than-planned dinner, and I'll start again tomorrow with a big bowl of shredded wheat and some blueberries for breakfast. I forgive me.

:grouphug:

Edit: Just to make it clear, I didn't swipe my roommate's goodies. He works at Panera and brings us home stuff sometimes, but he's also both celiac and severely lactose intolerant. We know that if it involves wheat or milk, it's ours--he's told us that in advance. Sorry if anyone misunderstood. :)

[TZ]

1. Diets work better..

if you give yourself an occasional treat. In other words, small cheats actually will help you stay on your overall diet...

[Lyric]

4. Indeed.

I was totally using that exact rationalization for the half-piece of cake, but I admit that I feel a little sheepish about the cookie. I didn't realize how many calories those things have until I looked it up a few minutes ago and nearly keeled over in shock. *laughs*

[redqueen]

5. Yep...

that way you don't feel so deprived. Works great as a reward.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. Good.

The part about you forgiving yourself, that is. Remember that every day that you can stay on a more healthful regimen is better for you than not paying attention to what you're eating.
:hug:

[Heidi]

3. It's not like you ate it at 11:30 p.m., though.

It's still daylight where you are. You can still walk it off/work it off if you think absolution is in order. (And while your health goals are important, it's not as though you did long-lasting damage to yourself or someone else. What's to forgive?)

:thumbsup:

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. You sound like you're doing exceptionally well.

.
I would not try to compensate for your "slip" -- just go back to
the EXACT SAME routine that has been working so well for you.
.
Change it in just this way.
.
PLAN an occasional "slip", except don't think of it as a sin or
a "slip"... think of it as an exceptionally well-deserved treat
or reward.
.
You're lucky. Many people who give themselves no true "treat"
whatsoever BINGE like the criminally sweet-toothed when
they finally "slip".
.
So relax... don't fight "slips", incorporate "treats" into your
new lifestyle.
.
Well done and good luck.
.

[MiddleFingerMom]

7. By the way, if you've planned a treat...

.
and your friend brings home another "EAT ME NOW" irresistible
"treat"... just work it in to a re-worked schedule.
.
Who the hell you think you are -- Impervious Girl?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I've always wished I could be a cartoonist.
.
Doubly so, now that I've just found my main character.
.

[Lyric]

8. lol!

Now that's a comic I'd like to see. ;)

[WillParkinson]

9. We're trying, too...

But once a week (Saturday morning) we allow ourselves a day of rest. We eat one thing we know we shouldn't (usually a vegan pizza) and one thing to sate our sweet tooth (a vegan scone). Don't deny yourself a bit of pleasure or it can't last. Eventually your mind will revolt. :-)

[jobycom]

10. I've got a friend on Facebook with exactly the same problem.

:rofl:

Don't beat yourself up over it, is my advice. There's a great scene in a very underrated Anthony Hopkins film called "The Edge," where they are lost in the Alaskan wilderness, and Anthony Hopkins is trying to calm the others. He asks "You know what 90% of the people lost in the wilderness die of? Shame. They keep asking 'How could I have gotten lost?' instead of just admitting they are lost and trying to find a solution to it." (paraphrase).

You're doing fine. You just indulged a little. You're American, you were bred to indulge. You made good decisions until that moment, you had a little fun, now make good decisions moving forward. Don't let one moment of indulgence convince you you can't do it, or that you are too weak, so that you give up. Just enjoy the cake and cookies, and move forward. And don't try to starve yourself to make up for it, because you'll hit that rubber band syndrome where you'll get too hungry and gorge more. Just act like the cookies were a separate reality, a happy place with no connection to this world, where calories don't matter. Then pick up where you left off on your plan.

Just my thoughts. I'm pudgier than a bratwurst at Oktoberfest lately, though, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. :rofl:

[Lyric]

11. What an amazing coincidence!

:rofl: :loveya:

I like the idea that the cookie was a separate reality. I wonder if there's a law of physics to cover that?

:D

[jobycom]

13. I don't know, it's actually a pickup line I was working on

with this married woman... "Think of this room as a separate reality, and what happens here doesn't count outside of here..."

Don't look at me like that, I never used it! :rofl: I just hung on to it in case it ever fit in a story or something. :)

[LisaM]

12. Did you even eat these things on the same day?

I agree with the others - not only is an occasional treat okay, it's probably good, so that you don't feel deprived. And if you eat the treat, just wait an extra hour or so before the next time you eat.

[GoCubsGo]

14. So?

Do you do this sort of thing every day? If not, don't beat yourself up over it. There is nothing wrong with a treat every once in a while. So, you had a little piece of shortbread. Big deal. As the others here have said, you are better off having a occasional treat like that every once in a while. Otherwise, you will eventually wind up eating the whole plate instead of just having one. I say that out of the experience of fighting my weight for nearly 50 years.

[LeftyMom]

15. Try to keep a treat around that's a little better for you.

That way instead of saying to yourself "no, I won't have a cookie" and losing that fight, you can say "instead of having a cookie I'll have ______." It's easier to stick with a diet if you have some indulgences, but you can certainly change what your indulgences are.

[applegrove]

16. I broke my diet tonight too. I've done it before and it doesn't take long

to loose any weight you gain. Just so long as we go back on the diet.

[UTUSN]

17. Don't think "diet". I lost by eliminating bread/ tortillas/ corn/ (are these carbs?)

But then I stopped punishing myself and am gaining, so I guess I'll go back to depriving myself.

It's just a matter of , how old am I, do I need to punish myself. Maybe not. Have I lived long enought. Possibly longer than some of my high school peers.