After losing 50 lbs, I wanted to eat junk food again. I also wanted to keep the weight off. What could be a bigger weight loss nightmare than gaining it all back? I felt like I deserved to indulge after a year of absolutely no fatty/sugary treats. I had to summon all of my willpower and more to stay away, especially with my sweet tooth! Now I wanted to enjoy myself a little bit.
I like the idea of a "free day." A free day is allowing yourself to "let go" one day of the week. It's permission to give in to the cravings without any guilt of ruining or cheating on your diet.
Benefits Of A Free Day
-If you have trouble staying away from junk food, having a free day to look forward to, will force you to control your cravings until that day.
-Many times I noticed that by the time the free day came around, I had lost the craving. Free days can teach you patience and control managing your nutritional habits.
-Having a free day is psychologically comforting. Being on a "diet" can seem restrictive and suffocating. Knowing that there is a day to be your old self makes for an easier transition in to a healthy lifestyle.
-A free day can stop you from "cheating" during the other six days of the week. If you are prone to giving in to cravings then it's much better to give in once, rather than seven times.
A free day still needs to be handled with your goals and progress in mind. It doesn't mean you should eat thousands of calories worth of sugar in a sitting. You don't want to blow a whole week of work and progress in a single day.
Eventually you will find that the new healthy you, starts to overpower the old unhealthy you. Even on a free day you will find yourself getting Becel on a small bag of popcorn at the movies, instead of butter on a large.
A free day is simply a security blanket and one day, you won't need it anymore.
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June 28, 2008
Fabulous Free Days
