Notes to Self

Tuesday I went off plan. It wasn't intentional, but it just kind of happened. We were meeting my Dad for lunch and instead of taking the time to make something healthy for myself, I just opted to eat what everyone else was eating for lunch. I had plenty of pointsplus for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. However, instead of adjusting the rest of my day accordingly, I let myself go and ate whatever I wanted throughout the rest of the day.

As a result of my poor food choices, I spent Tuesday evening in a lot of physical pain. There is a good chance that I have some gallbladder stones that tend to act up when I make bad food choices. I have not had an attack like this in a long time. While I was doing everything I could to ease my pain, I decided that I need to begin to write notes of encouragement to myself, so that this won't happen again.

Yesterday, that is exactly what I did!

I wrote two notes to self, "If you feel like going off plan" and "If you feel like overeating". In my note, I described how it felt to eat off plan on Tuesday. I reminded myself of how far I have come and to continue to keep up the good work.  I also mentioned just how awful I feel when I overeat or eat off plan.

I don't want this slip up to keep me from reaching my weight loss goals, but I want to learn from them. The next time I feel like overeating, I can pull out my note to self and be encouraged to make a healthy choice. I am excited to see how well these notes work in the coming months as I continue to lose my baby weight.

As I have more time, I plan to write additional notes to myself. I have a list of ideas below.

- If you feel discouraged

- If you feel like you are ugly

- If you feel defeated

- If you feel like you are having a fat day

- If you feel like going off plan

- If you feel like overeating

Are there notes that you need to write to yourself? What other ideas do you have? What would your note to self say?

A "Cheat" Day

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A woman recently emailed me and asked if I let myself have a "cheat" day. It's a great question!! I don't think that we have ever talked about here on my weight loss blog.

You want to know the truth... 

Yes, I have a "cheat" day.

I am not saying that this is what you should do. I am just trying to be honest about my own weight loss journey. In a perfect world, I would be able to follow the Weight Watchers plan all day, every day for 365 days of the year. However, that is not the case. Sometimes I need a break from my weight loss plan.

Normally, I choose Saturday or Sunday to be my "cheat" day, because those are the days we go out to eat. I do not go crazy and eat everything insight, but I do enjoy higher PointsPlus foods. On a "cheat" day I often use more than my Daily PointsPlus Target and dip into my Weekly PointsPlus Allowance, because I am not writing down what I have put in my mouth. 

If you are going to have a "cheat" day, here are a few things to remember:
1. Do not let one day become two days, a week, and a year!! Pick which day you are going to "cheat" and get back on plan the very next day.

2. Save your Weekly PointsPlus Allowance and plan to use them up on your "cheat" day. That way you have your Daily PointsPlus and Weekly PointsPlus Allowance to help cover the extra food that you are eating.

3. Exercise, exercise, exercise! When you earn extra Activity PointsPlus on your "cheat" day it will help offset the extra PointsPlus values that you have eaten.

4. Do not schedule you "cheat" day right before a weigh in. This will cause you to gain weight and discourage you from getting right back on plan.

Do you let yourselves have a "cheat" day? Why or why not?