From the South Beach Daily Dish
Cheating?

Makes perfect sense to me as we are all human - if we were perfect then we wouldn't looking to modify our eating plans.

For me there are no illegal foods in my home. An indulgence must occur as a treat outside of the home and be planned as a night out with friends. We don't do it too often as a group we are kinda thrifty and we often entertain at our homes (this does not count as a place to indulge and I stay on plan).

For the same reason I don't eat out much I have never liked restaurant desserts simply because they are too expensive. I'd rather spend my money on something else.

Personally I see these as either planned indulgences - or a slip. In either case they are limited one time affairs. So that a planned lunch does not give me the license to continue blowing it for the rest of the day. Or an accident does not allow me to blow the rest of the day.

For me it was letting an indulgence become a daily feature that got me into trouble so I have to recognize that a treat by definition occurs occaisionally. This works for me as I can then look forward to another treat sometime into the future. The idea of never, makes cheating appealing - so I plan for an indulgence - I enjoy it then I get back to schedule, eating on plan.

I know for some this is not acceptable but for me I am not looking for record weight loss but for a WOL that can be a permanent change. In the past saying never did not work - I need to say occaisionally and learn to keep it that way.

Just one person's thoughts on stepping slightly off plan.

I'm with you Steph!!

I never would've lasted this long on this plan if I hadn't cheated along the way. My cheats are small and have not turned into any binges....and I always go right back to my plan at the very next meal.

I also do not allow myself to feel bad when I go off plan. I am working hard on accepting myself as human with flaws ....to expect perfection is setting myself up for failure...there is no perfection...only perfection in our human fraility.

I went out to dinner last night and ate(white rice) and drank(saki) off plan. I enjoyed every minute of it!! today I'm eating on phase I, maybe tomorrow too!!

I agree! I'm not happy when I go off plan, but getting upset with myself will only get in the way of getting back on track. I do acknowledge the cheats (some in my online journal, some in my private journal), but then put them behind me by moving on and getting back on plan.

I agree with you Judy, I find if I allow a single Chocolate kiss, its much easier not to eat any more sweets when I game. I have participated in the sharing of food at my gaming groups table

That is the thing I like most about SBD. There's no "shame" or illegal foods and if I have a real craving it's OK.
So far I've only fallen off the wagon completely for one weekend when I was visiting out of town. But when I came back I did a week of Phase I to get myself back on track.
It's working really well for me and for the first time as an adult I'm optimistic about actually reaching my goal.