{jeng's 2 cents: cheating}

{jeng’s 2 cents: cheating}

And NO I’m talking about cheating on your loved one. I just want to make that clear right away.

I’m talking about cheating on your lifestyle of healthy eating…I’m not going to call it a diet. It is a lifestyle. OWN that healthy living! Make it yours! “The old has passed and the new has come!” Make it your normal for the rest of your life! No turning back!

So is it okay to cheat on your healthy lifestyle? If so, when is it best to cheat? What’s the best way to cheat and not feel guilty?

I truly believe in loyalty. And another one of my biggest values is integrity. If you say you are going to do something, you better do it. If you say you aren’t going to do something, you better not do it. If something happens to change your yes or no, than be manly or womanly enough to come out and say it rather than pretend you never made the commitment to begin with. And I believe that applies to everything including a commitment to eating healthy.

I understand we are human and we all make mistakes. But fess up to them. I respect that more than just going on like nothing happened.

Somehow my rant is related to my topic. But I’ll get off my little soap box now. :)

A commitment to a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean it’s over if you cheat. I have some suggested rules for cheating which hopefully doesn’t take the fun out of cheating for you. But consider it being wise about your cheat.

So here are JenG’s opinions on how to and how not to cheat on your healthy lifestyle:

DO plan your cheats. If you know the next time you get a cheat, you might be less likely to binge cheat or cheat more often. For me, Sunday morning is when I have my cheat breakfast. It’s either a small amount of pancakes, muffins, waffles, or cinnamon rolls. But I usually have my breakfast cheat with some fruit and eggs with sautéed vegetables. One night over the weekend, I’ll have a cheat dinner - homemade pizza, maybe out to eat, a creamy pasta dish. One or two days during the week, I might have cheat chips (just a few) with my lunch or a cheat cookie. And I don’t have them because I think I deserve them. My planned cheats keep me pretty much satisfied for the week.

DON’T make your cheat a reward. This is especially true if you eating something bad (or eat bad all day) with the excuse it’s okay because you worked out that day. I often hear people say that they deserved that high calorie junk because they went to the gym. Or another one I hear is they worked out today just so they could eat bad. One of the worse excuses ever! What purpose people are really trying to accomplish with kind of justification, I don’t understand. That bad eating just cancelled out what good you did at the gym.

DO make it small. Either have something already portioned or portion out a small serving of it and put the rest away. Like away away. Under lock and key if you have to. Just do something with that cheat so you won’t be as temped to get more.

DON’T make a full day of it. I once did a eating and workout program that gave me one day of eating freedom. For the first 6 days, I was very strict on my eating. And at the end of day 6, I looked and felt great! Day 7, I could get whatever I wanted. I mean WHATEVER. I was doing this program with my husband at the time and we took that WHATEVER truly to heart. A dozen Dunken Donuts shared between us in the morning. Pizza buffet at lunch.  An afternoon snack of Arby’s curly fries and milk shakes. Goodness gracious who know what we had for dinner. By the end of that 7^th day, we felt so miserable and any progress we had made that week was totally ruined. Our bodies had to start over for our next 6 days of eating strictness. Later I redid that program where I didn’t gorge myself on that 7^th day and it made a HUGE difference. I looked pretty darn good by day 90!

DO enjoy your vacation, but DON’T ruin what you have worked for. It is very easy to get off the track. BUT it’s very hard to get back on the track. Just like your plan your vacation activities ahead. Plan your eating ahead. Bring some of your normal eating foods and snacks with you. One, you will save some money. Two, you will be less likely to eat poorly the whole time. Three, you will feel better about yourself after your vacation.  

DON’T keep your cheat in the house if at all possible. You will be less temped to turn that cheat into a habit rather than something special. Stuff typically means more when it’s only used or had at special occasions.

DO make it a quality cheat. I said quality, not quantity. Make it really good. It’s your rare cheat. Why waste it on something half as tasty, when you can have something REALLY tasty? Pick something you really love. Don’t settle for some stale cake or donut or yucky artificial chips and dip. Make it worth your time. It’s your little cheat, why pick something you sorda like, when you can have something you love. For example, I like cinnamon rolls. If I’m going to cheat with a cinnamon roll, I’m going to make it a darn good, ooey gooey, just out of the oven with icing melting all over it rather than a dinky cinnamon roll that is even a few hours old. Compromising on your cheat is probably the worst waste of calories.

DON’T let your emotions take over. I’ve done this too many times. My head is saying “This is sooooo good! Just one more bite, because I never get to have this.” And then one more bite turns into eating way too much and later my tummy isn’t feeling well and I’m not happy with myself and my lack of self control. Here is another emotion, “I’ll just eat it all now or finish the rest of it so I won’t be tempted by it later and it will be gone from this house.” Ever used that one? Yep, me too. Best advice when you are thinking that – just throw it in the trash! I’ve done that on several occasions. Let that good eating angel on your shoulder speak much louder than the bad eating angel.

DO enjoy getting together with family and friends. But eating crap doesn’t make that time spent together any better. I understand there will be times you will be at a get together and have a wealth of unhealthy foods available to you. There will be foods there that you don’t normally eat but love. I’m not saying not to try a bite or two. But keep some of the dos and don’ts above in mind to help your cheat not turn into a huge disaster.

Here are a few JenG tips for when you are at party or get together…

1.       If possible, eat a big healthy meal beforehand.

2.       Definitely bring a healthy dish.

3.       Try not to hang around the food. Because a little here, a little there can add a whole lot you know where!

4.       For every bad bite, have at least 2 good bites.

5.       Avoid dips. The dip isn’t necessary to enjoy that veggie or fruit or chip. That is just extra calories. More calories are probably consumed in the dip than what is being dipped.

6.       Have an accountability partner. If you know someone else is trying to watch what they eat, you guys can encourage each other.

7.       Keep a drink (non-alcoholic) in your hand…water is a fabulous choice ;) Not something sugary, that just increases your craving to eat junk. It can create a viscous cycle – something sugary can lead to wanting something salty, which can lead to wanting something sugary….  I always have to end on something sugary after going back and forth several times.

I have truly found that I have less of a desire to cheat after making such a serious effort to eat better and not have junk in my house to tempt me. My view of food is different that it was before. I see it as fuel rather than a pleasure. And trust me, I like to eat! I’m not saying you shouldn’t enjoy your food. But it doesn’t need to control you. Food is either going to make you less healthy or more healthy. And I prefer the more healthy.  So when I see a food, my first thought is will this food help or hurt my goal to be healthy? And why or why not? Understanding that why or why not is very important. Educate yourself.

I think allowing yourself to cheat on your healthy lifestyle here or there will help you maintain eating right and staying on track. It does take some time to train yourself on cheating “properly”. But being intentional about it is important. You gotta give 100% to see success.

If you go off the cheating deep end, stop yourself as soon as you can. Your path to a healthy lifestyle isn’t over. Learn from that hiccup and strive to avoid it from happening again. One thing I think is certain is once you realize how much better you feel and how much your body likes this healthy lifestyle, it won’t take you as long as you realize you have gone off the cheating deep end. When your body isn’t used to that junk, it will quickly start yelling and saying it doesn’t like what it is having! But that’s only after good training.

Remember one of my mottos -

              Choose STRONGER! ~ ♥ JenG     

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