It's a fine line, friends. I found myself turning a day of grazing on foods I usually avoid, to self proclaiming that it was my cheat day. First of all, shouldn't it be a cheat meal, not a cheat day? Yes, I do restrict myself to stay within the low carb area, but that is intentional for me FOR NOW. I may not always need to do so, however, sugar is my trigger, and I cannot have a healthy relationship with foods containing sugar at this time. I have just started to incorporate berries back in to my diet as they are a lower sugar fruit.
So, what is the difference between a cheat day or a binge day? I have overheard people at my gym say they're going to have a cheat meal by ordering pizza, and then it occurred to me that if we put a negative connotation to it, we are going to make it a negative experience, and I don't need anymore help on that. As someone who has a binge eating problem that mostly does it in private as not to be ashamed in front of people, it is a real struggle to be able to eat certain foods in moderation. I almost feel like if I call it a cheat day, I will inevitably make it something unhealthy for myself in the long run. When I had my self proclaimed cheat day, it turned in to a mega binge, and I cannot afford to do that to myself after having made so much progress. It started with popcorn, then quickly went to oreos, cereal, chocolate that wasn't even all that good, pop tarts, and that is just the beginning. I went swiftly down the rabbit hole. I did step on the scale the next day and noticed a change, not for the better- but this time it didn't seem to make an impact on my next steps. This is where I would get caught up in the past, I would tell myself that since I was already in a binge cycle, I may as well just continue on with it until it was over...then I realized, I have the power to end it and not let the cycle continue.
Why am I sharing this? Because this is the absolute first time in my memory that I can remember having a binge that was just one day in length, and it wasn't actually the entire day either. No, I'm not happy that I did have a binge, but boy am I proud that it didn't last weeks and months as in the past.
Progress, not perfection.
