Self Care

If you read my food log on a regular basis you will notice something unusual tonight.  I entered Night Off in my food log tonight.  When I got home tonight I was seriously craving a big bowl of pasta.  At first I thought it might be a physical reaction.  I was at a business meeting today, and had less control over what my food options were.  I also had less control over myself.  Instead of choosing Diet Coke, I had 2 – 12 oz Cokes during the course of the meeting, and I had two cookies for dessert.

Not that those food selections are certainly not the end of the world, and they are a lot less serious than they could have been in the past.  I passed the cookies a number of times without having one, which is improvement.  But between the soda and the cookies I took in a lot more carbs than I would normally and a lot more sugar.

So I was concerned that my desire for pasta was biochemical.  Then I started thinking through my day and trying to determine if the there was some emotional drive that was making me want to eat.  After tackling that for awhile I realized I was making myself kind of crazy.  Maybe a desire for some pasta is just a desire for some pasta and a wish not to eat chicken tonight.

That’s when I realized that what I am experiencing is closer to the way that “normal” eat.  Sometimes you just get a craving and sometimes you just want to eat something different.  So I ate a bunch of pasta.  A great big bowl… and I am going to have dessert.  And tomorrow I will be back on my food plan and move forward.

I think that an occasional night off is going to be good.  I can’t make a regular process of it, but that is a decision for me.  One fitness and Diet Program, Body for Life (www.bodyforlife.com) recommends that participants follow their program six days a week and then have a free day in which the person can eat anything he or she wishes.  The philosophy is that in one day a person cannot eat enough to throw off the good done in the other six days.  A large number of people have experienced a lot of success on the program and it seems to be very healthy, in my layman opinion.

For me, a free day doesn’t work but that’s because I compulsively overeat.  But I think occasionally incorporating a free meal; say once or twice a month may be motivational.  I am going to give it a try and be willing to give it up if it appears to interfere with my overall goals.