The goal of this post is to shed some light on the concept of flexible dieting. There’s a lot of information you can find online about this concept; some better than others. However, this post is to tell you about MY use of the concept and MY experience.
For me, flexible dieting has been a way to stop cheating on my diet. With flexible dieting, foods are not banned or restricted. As a matter of fact that, they are encouraged in moderation. Think about it…. don’t you crave chocolate, chips, cookies, ice cream, etc the moment you tell yourself they are forbidden because you’re on a diet? Why not make changes in the way you eat to allow for healthier options while still making it absolutely okay to have the pizza or cookies you love?
With flexible dieting, I am able to focus on my overall intake and making that work for my fitness goals, rather than each and every meal having to be “clean”. Clean eating is great! And yes, it’s an effective way to lose weight, but without cheat meals or cheat days, it became an easy way for me to drive myself crazy! On top of that, it was a way of sabotaging so much of my progress because cheat meals turned into cheat days, and even food binges.
Now I focus on all the things I crave and that my little heart desires by adding them into my diet in moderation. When I know I want a huge serving of frozen yogurt and toppings, I balance out the rest of my day with options that have less sugar and carbs. When I know I want a hefty serving of peanut butter or already had the hefty serving, I plan the rest of my intake around smaller amounts of fats. The best thing is that all the negativity and guilt i had around eating my favorite food is gone! When you plan and make the necessary modifications, you don’t need to feel bad for eating your favorite food! When you plan and make the adaptations to satisfy your cravings, you stay on track with your goals. There’s no sabotaging or cheating involved. And when it’s so easy to plan to do the same thing again, you don’t need to binge and get it all down your mouth at once in fear that the next time you allow yourself to “cheat” is too far out in the future to be foreseeable!
eatsquat 