I don’t think it is possible to ever get used to waking up at 4:30 a.m. Humans weren’t meant to be up before the sun! And to make matters worse today, my stomach isn’t feeling too hot…Chinese food, chips, dips, cupcakes, ice cream, burritos, bread and candy all make for a nice little stomach ache.

A cheat weekend sounded like such a good idea on Friday…and today…well today I’m paying the price. Usually I only do a day, but for some reason I just let myself go all weekend. A nice little relaxing weekend with no stress – no stress even about what I was eating.

Why do we want to cheat on our healthy diets? Why does junk food sound so good when it really just makes us feel super crappy?

Today, I don’t remember how good any of the food tastes – all I can think about is how bloated I feel and how irritated my stomach is. All I can think about is how bloated my abs look and how much I set myself back (and my abs were just starting to look so wonderful!!! :-)).

So really, why do we cheat? I mean sticking to my healthy diet really isn’t painful – actually the reason I chose to do it, aside from health reasons, is because it is so easy to stick to on a day-to-day basis. I mean I’ve done low-fat, low carb diets. And I get why I can’t stick to them. But a diet full of flavorful foods that just requires you not eat processed crap? That should be easy! I mean dark chocolate is even allowed occasionally!

Yet sometimes I just crave certain foods. I mean sometimes I just want those bad for me carbs that I can’t have everyday. And so I eat them, never remembering or thinking about how crappy I’ll feel afterwards.

And then the day after I cheat, I swear I’ll never cheat again, but a few weeks down the road, my pain is forgotten, and I’m again giving into temptation. WHY!?! SERIOUSLY….WHY!?!

I guess if you need to cheat, the only reason to cheat would be to enjoy life and to then reaffirm your dedication to the healthy lifestyle you maintain at least 80% of the time. As most people who’ve been successfully eating healthily for any length of time will tell you – the 80/20 rule is key.

Anyway, here is my usual day after promise, “I will never cheat again….ok so at least not until Ryan’s birthday on September 13th!” Back to eating healthy!