Saturday: Cheat Day (1)

Tom and I decided to try having one cheat day a week and that this day would be Saturdays.


Now it may turn out that this is a terrible idea and we shouldn't do it, but we want to at least give it a try and see how it goes.


Why did we decide to have a dedicated cheat day?  For a few reasons....


1) The kids were constantly asking "well, can I have just a bit of grain today?... tomorrow...when?" 

If you have children, you know it doesn't matter how many times and how many ways you answer their questions -- if it's not the answer they want, they'll keep asking. So I thought maybe having a dedicated Cheat Day would provide the kids with a sense of stability (which I believe is fundamental for kids, always to know what's going on and what is expected of them), and would also help save my temper from exploding by the 37th time they ask the "can we have grains now?" question.

2) I've never liked being told "you absolutely cannot do that."


Yeah, I know it sounds juvenile, but it's the truth. I really can't stand it when people tell me I have no choice in the matter. If God sees fit to give me freewill, I am fairly certain the guy down the street has no right to tell me otherwise. I kid, I kid!

 Sorta.


3) The emotional factor. 


Yes, I know, food should not be an emotional crutch, but let's face it: for many people, it is.

 (A friend of mine, mother of five, once said to me "You know... people look at us and think "why can't you just lose weight? I tell you why! because I'm about to go give five little kids a bath, so I'd better enjoy the hell outta this cheeseburger!" So for her a cheeseburger was a source of strength before wrestling five kids under the age of six in a bathtub. And I can't say as I blame her. ;) 

 I think it is expecting too much out of (most) people to expect them to happily give up every dish they've grown up with, relate to, and crave at certain times. Now you will say that that the health benefits of giving up these foods is worth the angst it causes. This depends on the person, I think. After reading many testimonials and talking to those who have GP I am realizing that it's really a journey. It doesn't have to be perfect right off the bat. Making one good choice eventually leads to many good choices... so if in the beginning you need tortilla chops every day, fine, but I think eventually we will all get to a point where our daily "must have's" will turn into "want to's" and finally "meh, I don't like it that much anymore's."   

In any event, I think it has lifted the mood of the household (not that it has been down and out) just to have a day where they can look forward to having a "forbidden fruit." I highly suspect it will not be an all out gorging, but eating one or two things we wouldn't normally have and not feel guilty about it. 

4) Why a dedicated day instead of whenever we feel like it?

I was afraid once we'd start to cheat here and there, the "here and there" would quickly become the norm without us realizing it. I don't think we'll always need a specified cheat day, but for now I think it's the safest way to go. 

5) Because I said so. 

So there :P


This past Saturday three of the kids were at Grandma's so Tom and I went out for lunch. He wanted pizza, so we headed to Old Chicago. I ordered a Stromboli (chicken, peppers, and mushrooms (GAK!) inside a bread casing, I dumped out the insides and left the bread. The lunch came with a dessert so I went for the cheesecake ball (maybe three inches) on a stick. I knew it had to have sugar, but it was at least grainless... it was way too sweet and Elizabeth ate half of it, which was okay by me. 


Tom had thin crust pizza with mushrooms (seriously icky) peppers, pepperoni and sausage. He hate about half of the pizza and took the leftovers home. About half an hour later he said his stomach felt a little off and he didn't enjoy it as much as he thought he would. He even threw out the leftovers!


Then we went shopping for a piece of furniture. Had no luck. Then we headed home since our city was supposed to be hit with tornadoes a few hours later. We went home and watched the weather and decided it was safe enough to have dinner. So we packed up Elizabeth and headed to Cheeburger Cheeburger for my cheat meal. We had cheeseburgers with a bun and a few fries. It was pretty delicious. And apart from a little bloating (not too bad) I didn't really suffer any ill-effects, I'm happy to say. 


I'm happy to say we didn't go crazy overboard, but we felt satisfied and happy... and we discovered that cheating can really make you appreciate being Primal. 

Last night... I Ate a Cheeseburger.

 So shoot me. 


Here's how it went down:  Yesterday was one of those days where the only thing that would make it better is if you had a big pile of grease to chow down on.  Yes, I know, emotional eating is a bad idea, but once in almost eight weeks, I think it will be okay. 

I've also had a few people say it's better for your metabolism to have a cheat-meal once a week or so. I'm a little skeptical of this, but I thought I might try it out since I already wanted a pile of grease. 

I went to Cheeburger Cheeburger since I've dealt with them before and I know they use fresh ingredients, and they don't add anything (like stabilizers and the like) to their beef.  I ordered the ten ounce burger with cheddar, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and two fried onion rings.  I also asked for a small order of fries. Hey, I figured if I was going to cheat, I was going to cheat in style!


The fries came out a little undercooked. Normally I would just deal with it (having worked in a restaurant, I cannot stand picky food people), but I thought "this is my first french fry in... how long?! I am not going to pay five bucks for fries that aren't great." So I sent them back. They were obviously annoyed, but I wanted yummy, delicious fries, darn it! 


Anyway... it was all extremely delicious. I didn't eat the whole (small) order of fries, but I really enjoyed the ones I ate! And the bun was awesome. I really thought by this point (almost eight weeks into GP) I would have lost my taste for bread, but this bun was really awesome. 


So here's what happened about an half hour after I finished eating: I had a headache (just annoying, not terrible), my back pain flared up, and my stomach was obviously bloated. D'oh. This lasted until this morning. The rest of today (and it still hasn't gone away) I've craved sugar. Any kind of sugar. Fruit juice, cupcakes, chocolate, chocolate milk, candy... anything! I did have some dark chocolate, but I managed to steer away from anything else too terrible. 


So, really... is it worth cheating?  Maybe. I suppose it depends on your reasons and how often you do it.  I don't want to be one of "those" people who freak out at other people for deviating. I don't think you're not truly primal if you cheat, and I think it's probably more than okay to cheat every once in a while. For some people this means cheating once a week. For others it could mean cheating once a month or so. 


I guess I would say if you have a lot of weight to lose, you can't really afford to cheat often (unless my friends are right and cheating once or twice a week helps your metabolism--if this is true, can anyone find me some info on it?). 


I really hope the sugar cravings go away tomorrow.  Anyhow, I have to workout with the trainer, so I'll at least have to focus on something other than food for a while. Ha!