I have always been somewhat ambivalent regarding the concept of cheat meals. Is there a psychological benefit? Do you owe yourself a “reward”? Or is it more of a social necessity? I really don’t know. Nonetheless, I had my first cheat meal on Saturday since beginning keto at the end of December.
It wasn’t terrible, but my head wasn’t spinning with glee, either. I went to Ankar’s – one of my favorites, where I predictably get exactly the same thing every time. Steak in a Sack with cheddar, onion rings. Easily 1000 calories and 50 carbs (they don’t publish nutritional info, but I have a pretty good idea about such things). Easily. Plus a 3rd of an Oreo bar thing. And later, a tasty treat at Panera. Now, this was following a good 6 mile hike, plus lots of walking at the mall – so, it wasn’t like I spent the day in bed, stuffed my face, then sat on my huge, fat ass the rest of the day. But ultimately, the concern I had about going off-plan outweighed the short term binge happiness. And it took two days to get back on track – yesterday, the Aria was not my friend. That was depressing. But today, I worked hard at the gym, and hit a new lowest-ever weight (more on that in a sec). So, basically, one cheat meal = one bad day on the scale. Worth it? I’m not real sure. But it didn’t kill me.
Will I do it again? Sure. In fact, I’ll be doing it again next weekend. Something different though – where I’m going I don’t think will be as bad as Ankar’s. So, I guess the answer varies by person. I’m more interested in hitting my ultimate goal than anything else right now, but once I’ve hit that, I don’t see having a cheat maybe once a month as a deal-breaker.
So, lowest weight ever, again. Only 5.9 pounds to go to a goal I quite frankly didn’t think I’d be able to hit. That means 24.1 pounds down since December 28th, which is, quite frankly, stunning. I’m practically willing the weight off (well, and working super hard). No starving, no crazy-ass fasts, pills, surgeries, or anything like that. Carbs. Eliminating as many of them as possible (I’m staying around 10 – 15 a day now). And I’m not hungry at all. Eggs, bacon, fish, jerky (homemade in my dehydrator), Ensure shakes. Tuna. Olives & pickles. Low-carb stuff. Seeing my weight graph is awesome. Hitting that final goal will be even better. I’m not sure when that’ll happen – maybe sometime next week. Until then, I’m just going to keep digging.
I’m also continuing the crush on the Apple Watch. 64 straight “perfect” days, perfect December, perfect January. Combined with my trusty Fitbit & Aria, I’m getting all the motivation I need. Of course, the mirror isn’t hurting, either.