Finding my Feel Great Weight had nothing to do with strict dieting. It was all about eating healthy foods that filled me up while still allowing myself to indulge my sweet tooth so I wouldn’t feel deprived. I love sweet treats like cake and cookies, but enjoying them a little too much prevented me from losing weight. Now balancing my carrots with my cupcakes keeps me healthy and sane!
Ditch the diet mentality
I realized a long time ago that diets don’t work—especially in the long run. I used to set myself up for failure with restrictive meal plans that didn’t allow for my favorite foods. Inevitably, I’d only last a few weeks on the plan before I got frustrated and quit. And then, almost immediately, I’d regain all of the weight that I had lost. I love to eat so by not allowing for the occasional splurge, I wound up overindulging when I found myself near my favorite sweet treats.
Cutting dessert out of my life also made me miserable and obsessive—I couldn’t stop thinking about all of the foods I wasn’t allowed to have! Instead of ditching sweets, I pare-down my portion sizes. I allow myself to indulge in a small piece of high-quality chocolate almost daily. I love Lindt Lindor Truffles. They’re rich, delicious, and portion-controlled—and they’re only about 75 calories each.
Schedule your splurges
While a small piece of chocolate each day is a delicious way to indulge my sweet tooth daily, sometimes I really want to splurge. That used to mean donuts, pastries, and cookies almost daily—they were hard to resist when they were sitting in my office kitchen. But splurging never felt special since I was doing it so frequently. I felt powerless to my cravings.
To keep my sweet tooth from taking over my life, I schedule a specific time each week to enjoy a really a decadent dessert. For instance, every week on “Cookie Friday” I allow myself to enjoy any treat I want. Needless to say, I really look forward to Fridays now!
Make it a balancing act
I’m not one to pass up dessert on a special occasion, but I know that those additional calories will eventually show up on the scale if I’m not careful. So I slightly cut down my calories at the meals before and after each splurge. That way I don’t feel deprived, plus I don’t blow my calorie budget for the day. I also try to squeeze in 15 extra minutes to my workout when I can.
Get creative in the kitchen
Making my own baked goods allows me to control what ingredients go into my treats. My favorite healthy baked treat are oatmeal raisin bars, which I make with heart-healthy oats and canola oil. They’re so delicious that they don’t last more than a couple of days in my house! And I recently started experimenting with a tofu product to bake a light and moist vanilla cake.
Learn to live with it
Is there anyone who doesn’t feel disappointed in herself after really blowing her diet? I’ve been there too many times, so I’ve made peace with the fact that I love sweets and don’t ever want to eliminate them completely. I recognize my limited control around certain foods, so giving myself permission to act on these cravings (in moderation) emphasizes my conscience decision to splurge. I also make sure to savor each bite of my treat and enjoy. No guilt allowed!
Read Tina’s daily food and fitness blog, Carrots ‘N’ Cake.
Previous posts by Tina Haupert:
Comments (8)
I agree with the guy that eats the whole bag of cookies. I mean, after I got done with that last oreo I didn’t want any sweets for like 3 days!!! Wow, we might just have groundbreaking info here
Grab your Free Vegetarian Fat Loss Meal Plans
Agreed 100%. been there and done that. I last for a few weeks, and am motivated no end with the losses, nut eventually I start feeling deprived when everyone else still enjoys treats around me. And then, needless to say – I lose control and the diet goes out the door. Nowadays I do my best to eat healthy most of the time, and have my little treats every now and then without guilty feelings. I just keep track of what I eat in a free food diary to make sure I remain within my limits. It also helps just to keep that awareness of what I eat going.
i have lost 16lbs by cuting out chips and fatty foods it is hard going but once you see your weight coming down in first couple of weeks it spurs you on.iv done nothing drastic just calorie counting. and just two main meals a day staying to 1500 calories a day for first two weeks and then increase as you wish to 2000 cals. if you feel hungary in between meals i have a few mixed nuts and raisins try to drink two pints of water each day and halve your sugar intake.hope you will find this helpful
Yeah I ussualy just wolf down a whole bag of chips ahoy every 12 hours, this keeps me from wanting any more sweets in between. The downside is that it sometimes causes diarreah but its worth it, anything to stay nice and trim.
Thank you for the great post. Smoothies also can be part (healthy and tasty part!) of your diet. You’ll like these recipes: http://going-well.com/2009/07/08/how-to-make-healthy-smoothies-smoothie-recipes/
Great post–talk about inspiring! I agree that strict diets are just too difficult to maintain. I think that when you obsess over losing weight, you end up not thinking clearly about what you’re really doing here. Splurging and treating yourself to something sweet is SO necessary! :) I notice that you treat yourself to some chocolate. To make you feel less guilty, eat dark chocolate. There are many benefits from it!
Amanda
Endangered Species Chocolate
Yay for you! One of the best articles I have read lately on healthy lifestyles and weight! Good for you. I agree that fad diets are NOT the way to lose weight. It is more about choosing healthy foods and having a balanced diet. I have learned how to incorporate more whole foods into our daily life and less processed foods. We read all kinds of labels now too because our son suffered from severe Eczema and food allergies. All of this made us very aware of how foods affect us! It was finally Vidazorb probiotics that helped our son to begin to look and feel so much better-and now we all take a daily probiotic as well. I have also been reading that probiotics are being shown to help with weight. So, again, I agree so much with your ideas here and there are many resources on how to cook with whole foods out there! Thanks, Caroline