Just add extra fast day or hours, later in the week. A flexible system cannot break, a perfect rigid system can. You might want give yourself more credit, 1 mistake in 4 years is nothing. There are people who need more variation each week for work and family.
Good evening Officer.
Don’t feel bad about having a cheat night. It isn’t in your character you described, so that being said; consider it a reward for how disciplined you are.
I think it is funny, because I too decided to have a cheat night tonight. Pizza, Chicken Nuggets and Caesar Salad.
I’ve lost 30 pounds in 40 days, and have been really “punishing” myself with extended water fasts and lots of exercise, but I have found joy in the process. For whatever reason, I felt like I deserved some comfort food. Am I planning on going back to eating garbage food / ditching my fasting? Absolutely not. I am determined to reach and maintain my goal weight.
I’m glad that you were able to celebrate with your fellow Officer’s tonight.
Tomorrow is a new day. Drink plenty of water and back to business.
Thank you for sharing.
I have some assumptions about our ancestors, periods of famine (fast) periods of plenty (fill up boys! Then again!) treat this as a time of plenty. Your body is designed for the occasional ‘cheat’ in my opinion. We have a stretchy stomach for a reason.
I’ll be shot down no doubt, but man you’re super disciplined so unless there are other factors (sudden bad news that could cause longer term emotional issues) you’ll be fine I’m sure!
I feel you!! I personally am an all or nothing type of person. I’m either in it or I’m not, and cheat days or giving in are a slippery slope for me personally. One cheat leads to two, and before I know it, it all falls apart. If this is you, and I suspect it might be based on how rigorous you have been, get back on the wagon quickly. As someone has already suggested, try a longer fast to get back to baseline and get back on track.
For me it always feels like if certain foods are in my system I lose all willpower. If I don’t touch it and am strict and disciplined, I could go for a year without.
in february, i went on a family vacation to the beach and i felt awful afterwards at the beach taking photos and stuff, i ended up binge eating and staying in my room for 2 days afterwards. i ate pizza, burgers, cookies with milk, m&m candies, many many sweets wafers (just thinking back makes me crave it) until i felt sick
after the two days i sobered up and decided to get back on my journey
the whole of february now over; overall i ended up losing weight! so its the bigger picture that really matters, dont let a minor setback get you doing worse, the sooner you get over it and get back on track, the better.
It’s a way of life. Letting loose every once in a while is a way to keep enjoying it.
I’m doing omad, but if I’m offered food I take it. If i go drinking you best believe the next day is filled with greasy fry up.
Just enjoy it with moderation.
I’m familiar with this self-defeating logic… I use it with wine. Despite my accomplishments and discipline with IR and food, I am guilty of berating myself and allowing fear to creep in for a 4 oz glass of pinor noir more than one day in a row. I can SEE proof on a keto stick that I have literally done no harm with a high quality, low sugar wine that I enjoy - inside my fasting window. But that FEAR is a bitch.
I’m just going to share with you what I’m teaching myself… change the phrasing. You made ONE choice… one which had zero consequence but for the mental whipping you’re giving yourself. Today is a new day full of new choices and the mental beating is wasting time. [I also have to tell my brain to help my body instead of putting stupid shit on repeat - I know that sounds corny but it helps to quiet things down lol] Fear breeds a sense of hopelessness… the fear needs to GTFO.
TLDR: so much of this is mental. Self doubt and fear, for me, is a much more powerful enemy than french fries [or wine!].
Don’t feel bad! I think a person who can fall off the wagon and get back on is much stronger than the person who never falls off. Also, it seems you’re a healthy weight but you have a lot of fear about gaining. You shouldn’t have to leave in fear. Hopefully this will prove to yourself that one night of bingeing does not have to turn into a year of bingeing and that you can choose to have the occasional late night treat and it doesn’t undo the years of health that you have built.
You need to fail sometimes to remind yourself of why you work so hard.
That said, Im a big believer in maintaining some social commitments and working around them. Have you considered participating in scrap night, then following it up with a 48h+ fast?
True strength isn’t in resisting failure. We will always break a good habit, eventually.
The trick is not to use it as an excuse to splurge or to completely fly off the handle. I.e. saying to yourself, “I already broke my fast/diet, might as well binge and give in to my vices (whether it be a diet, smoking, alcohol etc) until I regroup and try again”
This is what most people do, and I am also guilt of it. It’s also what you should NOT do. True strength is resisting giving in to your setback because you broke some sort of symbolism. That’s all that a streak is really, a symbol. Like resolutions made with the turning of a new year. It just feels better.
But I am here to tell you, ignoring this little failure and getting right back on the horse is the real challenge, and you will succeed in doing so because you are a badass and I believe in you. And then you will wear this as a badge of Honor, not as a stain on your otherwise flawless record..
I see word trio used for combo. I smell poutine. I smell a fellow quebecer. What do you train?
In times like these i find it important to remember it’s not the one off things that define you, it’s the little things you do everyday consistently.
This will only become part of you who are if you allow it. But you wont. Because you know it’s not in your best interests to cheat often. And you know that you have a responsibility to yourself to take care of your health.
Perhaps remembering how you felt after consuming this cheat meal will be enough to stave away the urge. Going back to this post the next time they have a scrape night and thinking, is this worth it?
Best of luck!