Plan Cheat Meals With a Risk Versus Reward Mindset
They say, “Everything in moderation”, but exactly how much moderation? One donut a day or a dozen a week? Rather than relying on an overused and vague mantra, look at decisions to “change your diet” in terms of risk versus reward for a better judgment of how to “heal yourself”!
The problem with moderation is that it also makes you think, “Oh, since I’ve been ‘good’ for the last couple of days, nobody can hurt.” Not only is this a bad trigger for rewards, but most people just have trouble getting a hard line on moderation and end up overdoing it – more than once. Of course, some people find it easier to quantify moderation than others, but even that can change with each passing week.
I have found thatthinking in terms of risk and reward is more effective in setting guidelines for “moderation.” And while it deals mainly with finance, its essential idea can be useful for cheat meals, weekend treats, vacation meals, and many other decisions in life.
Let’s say you ate a piece of cake from your colleague’s birthday party. This is a store-bought vanilla cake with vanilla icing. Plus it’s really dry (yeah). Now you can pick your own cake regardless of that – no big deal – but think about the risk / reward: is the “reward” of eating that cake worth the “risk” of regret later? Or, if you do have a strict weight deadline at an event or competition, was it worth the risk to potentially fail? Also, did you really like the cake?
If your answer is yes, you simply accept the consequences and move on. If not, then you move on to a better and much tastier cake anyway!
Everything has a ratio of risk and reward. Everyone has it differently, but the decision to skip the diet can carry some risks:
- Loss of control and overeating
- Feelings of anxiety and guilt
- Loss of motivation
- Feelings of failure and general emotional distress
- In extremely rare cases, temporary regression of weight loss is possible.
You know yourself best; just be honest with your risk / reward ideas and avoid feeling guilty or worse, losing motivation.