I eat pasta everyday... there can't be anything wrong with it... it's good fuel...

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I hate it, but I love it.

Pasta is a good carb source, combine that with a protein source (grill chicken, tuna) and you got yourself a good meal. Eat that pre/post workout and you're good.

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How Sweet It Is

WTF???
STEVE what does a typical day of food look like for you, cuz if i ate that much.......well i used to and i am fat! Not as fat as i used to be but i generally eat 1200-1500cals a day.......what do you eat??

By the way, I am, with M2M, I eat a dang cookie if I want one and avoid cheat days!

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biggest-298 current-177 goal-120 Lost-121
We choose the chains that bind us

For whatever it's worth, the best runner and mountain bike racer that I know of, who also owns a bike shop and is a certified coach, swears by Ramen Noodles. He eats them and chicken every day. He'll even shout it out and tell everybody as he's crossing the finish line... while getting first in the expert category. His daily exercise is through the roof too though.

We eat it often too. I don't see what the big deal is. I just stay away from the normal pasta, the white stuff, whatever you call it. I eat potatoes all the time too. If we're not eating that, then we're eating basmati rice. We eat what alot of people here would classify as ALOT of carbs, all the time, and I'm still losing weight. My daughter is skinny as a rail and doesn't exercise and she eats these things too. Actually we eat alot more stuff like this now than we used to, and we're much healthier. Back then I weighed 42 pounds more. So based on these experiences, I just can't agree with alot of the carbophobic ideas floating around.

It just seems as if the heaviest and most unsuccessful people are obsessed with steering clear of carbs, while the more fit and successful people eat them all the time. Why is that? Some may say that it's genetics and that they can get away with that naturally, but I think that this is the exception and not the rule.

My cheat day killed me, so I eliminated it completely.

One cheat day would be so amazingly delicious that it would turn into 2 cheat days or 3 cheat days. This usually resulted in a gain of 2 to 3 pounds.

I figured out that if I just don't splurge, my diet stays very consistent and healthy.

I'm with you 100% on this. I've found I just can't trust myself to "cheat". Maybe people who are successful with this strategy have more willpower than me. If so, my hat's off to 'em!

John

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Good point!
I have something to say about this: there is a WORLD of difference between simple carbs and complex carbs. Simple carbohydrates are often high in calories, low in nutrients (usually, ok!), and low in fiber. This equals the high risk of over-eating them. You just don't feel full! Also, carbohydrate comsumption spawns seretonin release--that happy-go-lucky, feel-good neurotransmitter. Why? Perhaps because:

THE HUMAN BRAIN ONLY USES CARBOHYDRATES AS FUEL

Therefore, it's only natural for our bodies to crave it, right? Otherwise our brain couldn't function properly. It's safe to say a low-carbohydrate diet will make you stupid For some people, especially depressed people with chemical imbalances (and depressed people OFTEN tend to get overweight, not all but many), this euphoric feeling is addicting. And simple-carb food tastes very good usually--a lot of it is loaded with sugar and salt, or has a great texture (think Franchese Bread, mmmh!). SO for some people, simple carbs are dangerous waters.

These people need to realize that they will be FINE and lose weight if they just traded in the simple for the complex. No one ever got fat off of vegetables, fruit, and whole grains (well, I doubt it! If so they're probably not being honest with themselves). Complex carbs are VERY filling. Add some protein in there (legumes, meat, fish) and you will feel satiated--and great! Most likely, your brain chemistry may start to become normal again. Because cimple carbs also create a high and crash of neurotransmitters. Put in too much sugar and the whole insulin-working-overtime and you're in a bad place.

OK, I said my piece--eat those carbs! Just make sure they're complex, and keep the simple to a minimum, and at last have them with protein or something.

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I have almost completely eliminated regular pasta from my diet. I have traded out for Barilla's PLUS pasta (yellow box).

One cup has 200 calories, 10g protein, 2 g fat, 38 g carbs and 4 g fiber. They added lentils and chickpeas to the ingredients, which add the fiber, and it has 360 mg of Omega 3s.

I like the taste and texture more than whole wheat pasta too.

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www.myspace.com/heathcat1972

Honestly, I try to stay away from cheat days

When I do cheat, I cheat BIG TIME and find myself getting back or wanting to cheat MORE after I do it.

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I've had my share of cheat days. But once I've managed to stay away from bad days I lost the apetite and started to love my much more healthier diet =) In my early years I even tryed to eat so much bad food so I would never want to eat stuff like that again and it worked but I don't recomend it

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Link Removed

I am going to be a pain in the @$$ here.

Is it ok for a married man to have a "cheat day" (well, technically nite ) with his wife?

I don't do cheat days (intentionally). Period.



EDIT: DO TO THE RECENT RESEARCH ON LEPTIN, I CAN NO LONGER SUPPORT THE CLAIM MY PREVIOUS STUPID SELF HAD MADE.

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"Pray as if it's all up to God, work as if it's all up to you."

Start Weight: 210 lb (5/1) | Current Weight: 210 lb (5/1) | Goal: 185 lb (8/1)

I agree with you, when we're on an healthy diet and body gets used to it, when we make smt more crazy, body rejects it... You can see it on the stool and, at least for me, it's almost like it never happened... it's just one time! And it is really good for the control of desire in the other days, because we feel like we're doing "diet" cause we want to and not we MUST to... must is just a strong feeling to carry on the day...

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i have a cheat meal or snacks from time to time. the secret is in my case at least is to enjoy them, and not feel guilty. i find if ive been on a bit of a plateau then upping my calories this way from time to time starts the scale moving downwards again. however i think you have to be really disciplined the next day not to carry on "cheating". i find i am more hungry the day after and crave more of the same. so far i have been pretty good.
also i find now i cant stomach the greasy type foods i ate before. take aways (apart from subway), cheese, butter/spreads and food like sausages either taste or smell foul or i end up on the loo after eating them slim

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Me too ! I find, when Im serious about eating healthy I cut off my junkfood and fast food altogether and replace the things I once ate with healthier substitutions. You'll find that after a couple weeks WITHOUT your favorite foods, the cravings will subside and you'll be fine after that. Once the foods you're used to sutffing your body with are out of your system, its so much easier to keep away from them..

BUT, the second I introduce them to my body again (a.k.a- cheat day) My body flips out and remembers how great the food tastes, and then it justs takes me back to craving those foods everyday!

Your best bet would be to wait a few weeks till the cravings subside (and they WILL) and then you will find that you rarely crave the foods that you once thought you couldnt live without. To me it just seems REALLY silly to have a cheat day because then the cravings will never stop, because the foods will be in your body at least once a week, and so you will continuously want it, whereas if you just GIVE IT UP, you'll get over it and move on.

Maybe everyone is different, that's just what works for me.

Take care everyone.
xo

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My diary: All for change