1978Emma
Full Member
I found this on the internet and I think its so true! I personally find whilst 95% of the time I eat regular healthy meals with healthy snacks on my new eating plan, a nice planned food treat every week not only makes it easier for me to remain on track as I don't feel hard done by but it also helps me avoid my food binges, something I have battled with most of my life due to my binge eating disorder, the treats for me have to be planned as I can't have trigger foods in my house so I go out for a nice meal or have a special treat when out and about. I then look forward to my night off each week and I allow myself whatever I fancy in the restaurant, saying that I can't eat anywhere near as much as I used to. I think almost the worst thing many of us can do is make something totally off limits as it becomes all the more attractive then and we are likely to eat more than we would do if we just allowed ourselves to have the treat we desired in the first place. Em
Deciding whether to treat yourself during a diet or instead sticking only to the diet plan can be a difficult choice. However, research has found that treating yourself during a diet can not only help you achieve greater weight loss, but will also increase motivation for the diet, prevent decreases in metabolic rate, and eliminate binging.
Helps You Maintain Your Motivation for Diet
Research has found that treating yourself during a diet can help you stay motivated. Creating a small goal for yourself, and then treating yourself when you achieve this goal, is a better way of goal setting than simply coming up with one long term goal and trying to stick to it. In order to achieve optimal results when dieting, set a long term goal, and then break this goal up into shorter, more achievable goals—and reward yourself when you achieve these goals. The reward doesn’t have to be big. It can be as small as a manicure, a cup of ice cream, or simply a trip to the movie theatre. Using these tools, you’ll be sure to see results in no time.
Helps Prevent Decreases in Metabolic Rate
Another reason why treating yourself during a diet is important is because it may actually help prevent a decrease in your metabolic rate. Often, when you are on a diet you tend to create a “meal plan” that has healthy foods on it that you are determined to eat. However, many people take this meal plan a bit too far, and eat the same foods over and over. When this happens, your metabolism (which is the part of your body that digests foods and aids in their storage and excretion) starts to recognize what foods you are eating. This decreases the amount of work that your metabolism has to do, and can result in major weight gain. Therefore, getting a tasty treat in once or twice a week during your diet may actually be helpful in allowing you to reach your long term weight goals.
Helps Prevent Binges
Finally, one of the most important reasons why it is important to treat yourself during diets is that failing to do so can actually result in food binges. Research has found that when individuals crave a particular food, and prevent themselves from eating this food, they may actually experience decreases in weight loss and even more weight gain than if they had simply eaten the food they were craving to begin with. This is because when individuals crave a particular food, they often eat lots of other “healthy” foods in an attempt to satiate their craving. However, these foods often don’t do the trick, and the dieters end up eating more calories than they would have if they had simply eaten the food they had been craving to begin with. Therefore, treating yourself when you experience a craving for a particular food may actually be an effective way to help you stay on your diet.
Deciding whether to treat yourself during a diet or instead sticking only to the diet plan can be a difficult choice. However, research has found that treating yourself during a diet can not only help you achieve greater weight loss, but will also increase motivation for the diet, prevent decreases in metabolic rate, and eliminate binging.
Helps You Maintain Your Motivation for Diet
Research has found that treating yourself during a diet can help you stay motivated. Creating a small goal for yourself, and then treating yourself when you achieve this goal, is a better way of goal setting than simply coming up with one long term goal and trying to stick to it. In order to achieve optimal results when dieting, set a long term goal, and then break this goal up into shorter, more achievable goals—and reward yourself when you achieve these goals. The reward doesn’t have to be big. It can be as small as a manicure, a cup of ice cream, or simply a trip to the movie theatre. Using these tools, you’ll be sure to see results in no time.
Helps Prevent Decreases in Metabolic Rate
Another reason why treating yourself during a diet is important is because it may actually help prevent a decrease in your metabolic rate. Often, when you are on a diet you tend to create a “meal plan” that has healthy foods on it that you are determined to eat. However, many people take this meal plan a bit too far, and eat the same foods over and over. When this happens, your metabolism (which is the part of your body that digests foods and aids in their storage and excretion) starts to recognize what foods you are eating. This decreases the amount of work that your metabolism has to do, and can result in major weight gain. Therefore, getting a tasty treat in once or twice a week during your diet may actually be helpful in allowing you to reach your long term weight goals.
Helps Prevent Binges
Finally, one of the most important reasons why it is important to treat yourself during diets is that failing to do so can actually result in food binges. Research has found that when individuals crave a particular food, and prevent themselves from eating this food, they may actually experience decreases in weight loss and even more weight gain than if they had simply eaten the food they were craving to begin with. This is because when individuals crave a particular food, they often eat lots of other “healthy” foods in an attempt to satiate their craving. However, these foods often don’t do the trick, and the dieters end up eating more calories than they would have if they had simply eaten the food they had been craving to begin with. Therefore, treating yourself when you experience a craving for a particular food may actually be an effective way to help you stay on your diet.
