If I'm "good" all week, I can" cheat" on the weekend

StrongWellness.net @StrongWellness_24.7 I get it. I clearly remember being raised by a well-meaning mother who taught me that “as long as I diet all week, I can have fun on the weekends”. The theory was to restrict calories and “be good” Monday through Friday. Being good meant no desserts or alcohol, and certainly no “junk” food. Once Friday evening rolled around (right after the weigh-in), let the party begin. Because I had been “good” all week, I could feel free to eat and drink as much as I wanted because I knew what was coming on Monday morning, after having been “bad” all weekend. The shame and disappointment would arrive, and I would vow to “be better” the next week. And the cycle would begin all over again.
This pattern reinforced many beliefs that were deeply rooted in my mind. For starters, I was taught to view not only myself but also food as “good” or “bad”. Deprivation and scarcity were my constant companions as I repeatedly reinforced my thinking of “I have to eat it all now because it will be taken away from me on Monday”. The approach that I learned later, and will teach you at Strong Wellness, is to view all foods as morally neutral. We simply make a series of small decisions by asking ourselves “what is one thing I can do better today than I did yesterday?” That may be drinking an extra glass of water, stopping at one serving of mashed potatoes, or taking the yoga class you have been putting off. Big massive changes are not necessary. I will help you lose weight the way you want to live the rest of your life, and that does not include restriction and deprivation. What it does include is falling in love with yourself and the process.