What really makes it special to have a cheat meal? This week my boyfriend and I are on vacation, we have my family coming into town the first part of the week. We are going to Galveston for a day, and then we have another side of the family coming in for a few days. We are most likely going to be eating un-healthy most of this week. I am a perfectionist in a way that it makes me feel so guilty to have anything other then healthy food for me to feel like I have succeeded in my weight loss journey. So, our thought process at this point is, if we have a few cheat meals while our family is in town, we regroup and start to prep our vegan food the first day we are done with vacation.
My boyfriend always tells me, let’s not have a cheat meal as a reward for something great we did that day. Let’s change our relationship with food and make it about the people we are with, and the situations we encounter. I’ve always said to myself, “I’ve eaten healthy for this many days so far and lost this many pounds I deserve to have a hamburger today.” Or “Today has been the worst day EVER I need something to make me feel better how about some comfort food…. maybe takeout Chinese?” Every time these thoughts occur, I used to fail. Day in and day out more and more your mind seems to give in to more bad situations, and next thing you know you are back where you started. Everything in life should begin with family and friends. Stop your thought process of rewards for what you do or haven’t done and make it about the people you care about and the experiences you deal with. Even though this week, we have failed in a sense of sticking with our diet plan, but in reality we have had an amazing time with family making it about them, and then when this week is over with we still know what we want in the end. To be happy and healthy, so we won’t give into the thoughts of well we cheated the whole week it’s ok to do it ONE MORE TIME. So instead of thinking we have failed in actuality we have WON! We plan to go back on track on this specific date and we know 6 days in advance what we are going to make to eat, how we are going to do it, and the challenges that come with going back to eating a different type of way. Forgive yourself for eating poorly and see it as a great experience you just had with some of the most important people in your life. Enjoy the rare inappropriate’s and have the plan for going back to what you want. It’s not hard if you keep it simple. Which is exactly what we plan to do! We will keep you posted on what our plan is for next week and will share some great food we intend to have. Keep it up you’ve come so far!
-Katie