You have read what we have written over the past two years about keeping your eating flexible, but you might want to know exactly how this feat is accomplished while still maintaining your desired weight. How do you have a treat now and then, and stick to your plan the rest of the time? What will happen if you don’t have the treat you crave? Well, let me show you!
Today my partner and I went to “In & Out Burger” for lunch: Home of the “double-double” cheeseburger and the most glorious fries you’ve ever tasted. And just because the signature burger is a “double-double” doesn’t mean I have to eat a “double-double.” Nope. I ordered a “single-single,” a diet coke, and shared some of the fries—made from fresh potatoes before your eyes! Lunch was just as good as I had hoped it would be, and worth a small splurge to get the real thing.
I’ve learned a smart hack for maintaining my weight: When I crave something, I have that thing (not some other thing that I will eat before I actually eat ‘that thing’ I am craving). I have come to believe that bodies have a wisdom all of their own, and that cravings mean something. Karen has written about rejecting foods that just are not quite ‘it.’ If you do not eat ‘it,’ you very well may graze until ‘it’ is finally in your stomach (on top of a few other things).
Now it’s back to business as usual. Tonight, we’ll have a wonderful dish made of turkey Italian sausage, cannellini beans, kale, and tomatoes with fresh blueberries for dessert. I can’t think of any reason to feel sorry for myself about dinner, even though it’s loaded with phytonutrients, fiber, complex carbohydrates, and protein (unlike lunch was).
I have not experienced one moment of guilt or remorse and will probably not repeat this particular lunch outing for a year or more, depending, of course, on what I crave. Let’s review: listen to your body, honor your cravings, make rational choices about quantities, return to normal. That’s all it takes!
Stop Losing and Win 