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cheating

It’s All in Your Head: Your Cheating Heart

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Cheating is VERY personal.

No - not that kind - the kind where we go off the food plan!

Let’s address the term first - “cheating” sounds kinda harsh. You’re not trolling Ashley Madison; you’re eating a donut. Or a piece of pizza. Or whatever you’re not ‘supposed’ to be :). You’ve wandered off-plan. I’m using ‘cheating’ for brevity :).

There are a number of different KINDS of cheating and cheaters.

The “Optimist Cheater” - this is the person who each day arises with a new reserve of willpower, determined to eat the bare minimum the food plan requires, like they’re cramming for an exam (because a weigh-in is often around the corner.) And by 5pm or whenever that last straw of stress falls on your back, and the kids are fighting in the back of the minivan and you’ve calculated that you can just barely beat the Papa John’s driver home if you call the order in NOW, you’re done. Lather, rinse, repeat. Sadly, this is the most destructive kind of cheating, because having been in a state of famine much of the day, AND nearing bedtime, the body very efficiently processes and stores the extra calories, not knowing when it may be fed again.

The “Hostess Cheater” can’t stand the idea of making those around them uncomfortable by not eating everything they are. Never mind that no one will notice you skipped the mashed potatoes. It’s the office birthday party sheet cake and no one will care if you don’t have a piece (except the person who was raised not to “waste food” and will take it home.) If you’re THAT person, it may be helpful to consider that cake isn’t really food - it’s closer to a delivery device for the drug “sugar.”

The “Tag Team” cheater - these are the people who are supposed to serve as accountabilibuddies, keeping each other on track. Maybe they’re office mates or a couple, but when one folds, he or she takes the other one down, too. Guilt shared is not actually guilt halved. Sometimes you can’t save both of you, but you’re not obliged to go down with the ship.

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The “Oops Cheater” - how did THAT get in my mouth? It just happened! Better to acknowledge the choice that we make in putting in there - not as an exercise in penance, but in asserting our control. :) This is a close cousin to the “Unplanned Cheat Cheater” - this person believes they fell into a cheat, but it was more likely a failure to plan NOT to cheat.

The “Secret Cheater” - this person is the most concerning to me - disordered eating is a diagnosis beyond my scope of practice to make, but if you cheat in secret, or binge eat, that’s a potentially serious problem that you may want to consider discussing. I recommend logging specifics of cheat meals for all clients; facing our food is a big first step to shaking its hold over us.

Look for patterns in your forays off-plan. Guilt is a massively useless emotion - it happens after the transgression and rarely affects the decision to commit the next one. How can we set ourselves up for success each and every day?

All the best,

Marcey

Coach Marcey Tidwell started as a client with NGPT in January 2011. Joining the team as an accountability coach, she wears many hats in assisting the Meltdown Nation! Nurse Marcey by day, she brings a wealth of knowledge the program! She believes that we control far more of our lives and choices than we usually like to admit :).

 

 

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It’s all in your head - “Enough is as good as a feast”

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“Enough is as good as a feast”

My dearest friend Barbara attributes this saying to her late Mother who was English, and I remember hearing it growing up courtesy that other maven of politesse, Mary Poppins. Simply put, there is no benefit in going overboard (on food, if taken literally, but can be applied to many areas of life.)

Boot campers are nearing their first weigh-in checkpoint, and those doing the “classic” plan are gleefully plotting their cheat days. For the uninitiated, cheat day is the first day after two weeks of following the Meltdown food plan, when newly ‘detoxed’ participants have the opportunity for one day, morning to night, to partake of whatever they want to eat (or drink.) After this weekend, 25 bootcamps-worth of Meltdowners will attest to the notion that there is little comparable to the dietary debauchery of a first cheat day. One long-time friend of the program was famed for his ‘McWenby’s’ combo - three drive-thrus, and a meal fit for a death row inmate’s final feast.

Since Little 500 also happens to fall this weekend, I will put up the most bedraggled Sunday-cheating Meltdowner with a ‘carbover’ Monday morning against the bleariest-eyed participant of Sunday Court. In many ways the effect on your body of suddenly infusing it with mass quantities of sugar and fat is the same as an alcohol hangover. It feels really good, right up until it doesn’t.

Many people find that despite having a culinary wish-list a mile long, they don’t get near the amount of food in after weigh-in that they think they will. As soon as that first meal hits the bloodstream, they hit the couch, sometimes waking up in a panic that perhaps the day has completely passed them by! NO? Phew! Time for one more run - Jiffy Treat, Chocolate Moose or Brusters? QUICK - THE SUN IS SETTING!!!!!!!

That first class the next day will be the real challenge. It’s like your legs are filled with the pureed remnants of jelly donuts. Please, for the love of all that’s good and right and pure in this world, Trish, DON’T DO THE BURPEE SINGLE SET IN T60!

Ooooh - that’s gonna hurt.

Now, I say all this NOT to be a biscuits and bonbon buzzkill. I’m merely throwing out the seed of an idea - I hope it will take root. This is NOT your last meal. You _will_ enjoy your whatever your food drug of choice is again. I’m just asking you to be mindful in your eating, even on cheat day. Especially on cheat day. Stop and enjoy the journey. Ask yourself if the next bite is because you are hungry, or because of something else. Once we are able to ascertain what it is food is doing to us and for us, then we will truly start to gain control over it. Long term, this is not the rote recitation and repetition of a proscribed food plan for eight weeks. It’s the beginning of a journey that I hope will find you healthier in the months and years to come.

Now where’s my carrot cake?

Coach Marcey Tidwell is started as a client with NGPT in January 2011. Joining the team as an accountability coach, she wears many hats in assisting the Meltdown Nation! Nurse Marcey by day, she brings a wealth of knowledge the program!