I need your comments... do you ever splurge and eat whatever you want?

We had pizza last night - and needless to say I could not stop at just one piece! I've been on the Zone for 30 days and this was my first meal that was not in the Zone. I woke up this morning feeling guilty - and gained 2 1/2 lbs!

What are your thoughts about maybe once a month just eating whatever you want?
Am I wrong to feel guilty?

Thanks!
Marge

That's Dr. Sear's recommendation, once a month, one meal, if you choose to. I don't because I don't like the way I feel afterwards and the next day.

... And don't worry about the extra 2-1/2 lbs. I am very Carb sensitive and when I do splurge - my weight goes up. Don't worry about the scale short term. Concentrate on getting into the zone your next meal, and remain focused, that extra weight won't stay long at all, a few days ...

Oh yes I do...and almost every week...

BUT I will choose something I really love and it will be planned. It would usually be a Saturday night. Being planned, it also really encourages me to workout hard at the gym that day to work my muscle to help to burn the calories to come. If I have a dinner with friends planned, this will be my cheating night.

Also, when it's possible, I still try to "control the damages" in my choices. I may let myself go regarding the quantities but I would still choose quality products/restaurants (ex: familial pizzeria that doesn't use preservatives/chemicals) or the best, I would try to cook it myself. Also, let say I have a big burger, I will have a salad on the side, never fries. If I have a good portion of spaghetti, it will be whole-wheat pasta and homemade sauce (done with turkey, lean veal or lean beef). When we cook ribs in the slow cooker, we will drain them 2-3 times and I would have steamed veggies on the side. If we order pizza, we would order smoked-meat or chicken as a topping and never pepperoni/sausage. I usually have red wine with my "cheat meal". I would not add a dessert but I would usually have red wine with my "cheat meal".

And the next morning it would be back on track right away.

I have to specify that I am close to be at my goal weight and I go to the gym almost everyday. I am quite disciplined with the food during the week.

As Zone is a way of living, I see it for long term so I have to accept and make room for some cheatings. They are part of life and to be ready for them can only help us with our success plan. But don't get me wrong, there is a difference between a planned cheating or a controlled cheating versus not being able to resist to the temptation...

this is what I ma trying to stay away this time.. I was really disciplined with this WOE before and I did not have any cravings at all.. I would really like to get back to this agin.. I am just waiting for the day where I can see pizza and I can't sincerly say again: I don't care...

I know Dr Sears says in his books to allow 2 weeks.. so that must be what will help me creating the habit again.. At least 14 days.. right?? But then again I wont feel like indulging because I wont want to feel sluggish next morning...

I thought once a week you should give yourself a cheat day?

Once a week is OK. Some prefer to be more strict - but its up to you.
If the Zone lifestyle was so restrictive, it wouldn't stick with folks.
It'd be more like a fad diet - vs. a new paradigm shift in the way you think about foods and eating - for life!.

I do splurge,, but very limited becuase of how I feeling the next day. I have my spluges by items, not meals. If it so happens to be desert, I will not have anothers splurge item for weeks and my deserts not are not anything that is really high in refined sugars...that just kills my fibromyalgia. A good slurge for me is sugar free soft serve yogurt with fresh fruit. :-)

Les

I was frustrated by my falling off the wagon--to the point that I bought a bottle of PGX by Natural Factors just today.

This product claims--and again I say CLAIMS--to reduce the GI (or GL? can't remember) of one's meal by 40% or 50%.

So those times I don't eat properly, I can pop a couple of those pills in, have them expand (up to 600x it claims) in my stomach, and because it induces satiety, I'll be ok--still be in the zone even though I fell off the wagon.

Will it work? I don't know. Yet.

I'll keep you informed if you want. In the meantime, if anyone else has tried this or a similiar product, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks,

Alexy

Alexy, off topic, but did you ever get to pick up any flavored carbonated Poland Springs when you were down here?

I cheat or splurge in samll ways but find myself doing more so lately.
- Not measuring carefully - like having 5 oz. or chicken instead of 4.
- Too much fruit. We stick to very healthy berries for fruit, but have at least one block with every meal or snack (4 blocks for breakfast).
- Chinese food twice/week (to give us a break from cooking). Our selections have improved - szechuan tofu, chicken w/ vegitables and mongolian chicken, all with extra vegetables and no rice. And I steam extra broccoli to go with it. But the oil and sugars in the sauces can't be very healthy.
- Dreamfields pasta once/week. Not bad in itself (IMHO) but by the time I add oraganic pasta sauce and chicken or chicken sausage the calorie count is probably 650+.
- Low carb bread. We usually have toast with an egg white omelet on Sundays. Occasionally, a sandwich during the week.
- Beer on Saturdays during football season.

I'm building a list in my head for bigger splurges and will probably let loose during Christmas week when we have company in town:

- blueberry pancakes with syrup
- pizza
- brownies
- M&M peanuts
- almond boneless chicken (with rice)
- Culver's butterburger

That's about it. Not bad considering all the temptations in front of me everyday with three little children. We'll see if I can bring myself to actually eat any of that.

It's funny how the definition of what a splurge has changed for us! Fat free frozen yogurt, extra berries, a slice of low carb bread. I love it!

My splurges are usually little things as well:

I used to drink 2-4 cups of coffee a day. Now I splurge once a week with 1 travel mug (16 oz) of coffee with about 1/4 of that being a flavoured latte.

In the fall, one of my local ice cream shops makes their own pumpkin soft serve. We've shared a sundae twice this fall. We used to go to Dairy Queen a couple times a month.

My partner makes the most amazing chocolate chip cookies. We used to have them every weekend, and sometimes during the week. We've had those a couple of times.

About once a month, I get my old favourite burger and fries. I've been disappointed with them 2 out of the 3 times.

When I was in California last month, I picked up a couple bags of peanut-butter-chocolate-covered-pretzels from Trader Joe's. I'll have 1-3 pretzels as dessert if I've saved my carbs. Once I also lost control and ate half a bag in one sitting... I don't call that a splurge. To me, splurges are conscious choices.

Hi Sue,

Hope you see this post! Great to hear from you. And no, unfortunately, at the three stores we DID manage to go to, they had the plain version of Poland Water but not the flavoured version :-(

Still, next year, when I come back, I should have more time to poke around ... !!

Alexy

P.S. Email you soon!!!

thanks alexy :-)

I did have a little splurge last weekend w/ a cpl pcs of halloween candy... But I really didn't feel that bad about it at all. If this is truly a lifestyle change then I feel like you have to give yourself room to eat a little bit of unfavorable food now and again. If you are too strict with yourself I feel that you may set yourself up for failure in the future. I think if you have small splurges spread out it will keep you from having large binges. One large binge a month would be way more calories and fat and unfav carbs than a couple well planed splurges spaced out in a month. So I think the key is to be aware but not obsessive. I have been finding that if I stick w/ the zone I no longer wish to splurge very often b/c I'm always pretty full and the food taste better than "splurge food." Had a bite of a hot dog and a french fry off of someone elses plate not long ago and honestly it tasted bad. I guess before I started the zone I wasn't really tasting the food I was eating, I was only eating it b/c it was easy and I would let myself get too hungry b/t meals.

I love pizza and wings.....but, I've changed a my eating habits a lot and have lost 20 lbs in six weeks in the Zone....Of course, I still eat pizza...however, I make my own now with whole grain flat bread(90 calories) organic tomato sauce, low fat cheese, spinach, onions,cooked chicken breast. I prepare this every other weekend......Oh yea, I eat a small piece of really good dark chocolate.........Now thats what I call a splurge.

I wish I could say I feel bad the next day (after a splurge) but I don't - I think a "carb hangover" would be helpful in fact. As is, I can't really see a reason not to splurge occasionally except I want to lose the weight. Prior to the 80s and the change in the American diet, I don't think people limited themselves to the extent this diet does. I mean, I know portion sizes have gotten bigger, but I think people would eat a 5-6 oz portion of protein with their meals (today is 8-10 or bigger!). I wish I didn't feel deprived with this lifestyle, but I do. Bummer. It's been 3 weeks and I splurged a bit over the weekend (not that bad really - some naan with dinner out and larger portions that at home - but no dessert or anything - and I put back on the 1 lb I lost last week. OUCH! Hopefully it will come off quickly this week so I can start working on my next 1 lb loss for this week. Is 1 lb a week too much to ask??

I have been doing the Zone diet for about three months and it is great. Lost 10 pounds only because I was never too overweight but my energy level is amazing now. I have eaten things out of the diet a couple of times and I have noticed that only sometimes I feel physically bad after it. Yesterday I went to a friend's house and we had pizza (I ate three slices) and two glasses of read wine. When I went home I mixed protein powder with water in a glass and drunk it to compensate for the luck of protein at my friends house. I counted all the pizza and wine that I had earlier as being enough carbohydrates (CH) for the rest of the day so I did not ate more CH until I went to bed at night and I had my perfect 1:1:1 block meal before going to sleep. Today I felt great. I think that the key, when we splurge, is to see what we ate and count it as part of the CH, protein or fat needed during the day and move on. When I have done so I feel great after it.

I find myself going over board when I splurge. I want to get to place where I can have a just a little and be satisfied.

i was trying to find any info on frozen yogurt on the site but didn't see anything. could it count towards a snack? i had a cup of strawberry (no added sugar) frozen yogurt with tablespoon of fresh kiwi and fresh strawberries and a tablespoon of raw almonds as well!

also, regarding eggs, my NP says my cholesterol is low so its ok to eat the yolk, not sure how to work that into my food blocks.
thanks!

trying to start up the zone again. found out my adrenal hormones are low as well as a couple vitamin deficiencies...even being a fishaterian. i had gained 10 pounds in the last 2 years after being the same weight for a long long time.

Its not cholesterol you need to worry about with egg yolks. It is Aridonic acid (SIC?) or AA. Excess, as explained by Dr. Sears, is a cause for inflammation. Inflammation, a root of many health issues.

ah ha! thanks john. i should re read my zone book but i got so busy with the end of the year.
happy new year!~

On your frozen yogurt question, I am assuming you are eating one that is commercially prepared?

I have read this discussion in Zone books, and Sears believes that it is better to just eat regular ice cream than frozen yogurt, since the fat in the ice cream will reduce the glycemic load. Of course, regular ice cream IS made with whole eggs, so I have never really agreed with this course of action.

That being said, you did mention that this was a "no sugar added" product, but I am assuming that there are still some carbs in it, so I would portion out enough for a block of carb, and then also consider the fat and protein--so you may have to find something else for your protein source, and add in enough almonds for your fat.

You will be able to figure this out using the label, in case you were wondering, but I assume you probably knew that!

my fiance and i just made homemade vanilla ice cream without eggs and it's delicious with fresh berries. live is too short not to indulge every once in a while!

YUMMY! Home made is definitely the best, no addititves!