Giving Myself License to Be Bad on My Birthday, Kind Of

Last Updated on May 21, 2023 by Michael Brockbank

With my birthday coming up, everyone wants to have something good for dinner…and I want cake. So, even though I’m trying to maintain my 12-week fitness challenge, I am giving myself a license to be bad one day this week.

That’s because as we already saw, a day or two of eating poorly really doesn’t overly affect my weight loss. Well, as long as I focus on being good the day after.

This means that I’ll weigh myself every day still, but I won’t fret too much about what the scale says until Sunday morning. At which point, I should be back on track.

Sometimes You Gotta Splurge for the Right Reasons

I’m not a fan of diets that make you avoid some of the things you really, truly enjoy. In my case, I can eat whatever I want, as long as it’s in moderation and I keep active.

But sometimes, you need to give yourself breathing room to enjoy those foods. You shouldn’t have to cut them out altogether, unless you have physical issues that need to be addressed, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, or diabetes.

Those are extenuating circumstances that you need to adhere to.

But for the average person like me who doesn’t have extreme physical conditions, giving yourself a day to be bad isn’t the end of the world. And as long as you can get back to fitness the day after, you won’t gain as much as you think you will.

Can’t Eat as Much Anyway

In the grand scheme of things, I’m not the fat kid I used to be. Back when I weighed 300+, I could easily pack away the food. Nowadays, not so much. In fact, I have to really force down a $5 meal deal from Taco Bell.

My stomach has shrunk, and I just don’t have the capacity to eat as much as I used to. This is a good thing, though. I don’t want to eat that much. For one thing, it can be quite expensive.

So, splurging on food for me is roughly 3,000 calories or so worth of food. Of course, this also depends on what I’m eating. For example, 3,000 calories in vegetables would be an insane amount of food.

But last week when I binged at the party, I only had 3,990 total calories and still burned 3,140. And that was me actually trying to eat my way through the night. Most of which was alcohol.

Bottom line is that even though I don’t plan on tracking my birthday food, I doubt it will be enough to balloon me back up to 240. I just can’t eat as much today as I did in 2013.

I’ll Make Myself Sick, I Know It

I know that what I plan to eat on my birthday is going to make my stomach upset the next day. Not to mention having to face heartburn that night. But, I’ve been looking forward to this all year.

Though, I did originally want to be below 220 by now.

Still, I’m excited for lemon frosting and dipping cookies. We’re making a blueberry Stargate cake, and I am looking forward to having a few drinks.

However, last time I said I was going to put myself into a food coma, I actually ate far less than I thought I would. Again, this is due to my stomach not being able to hold the same capacity it once did back in the day.

I guess that’s a good thing, though. I would hate to consume that many calories after losing so much weight.

Why Give Myself Permission?

There are times when I literally have to convince myself that something is OK that many people take for granted. For example, if I’m still exhausted in the morning, I have to tell myself it’s OK to get another 30 minutes of sleep.

Because if I don’t give myself permission, I wind up getting overly angry at myself. Especially when it comes to sleeping in. If I’m not OK with it, I feel like I wasted my morning and didn’t get as much done as I wanted.

There are times when I know it’s in my best interest, such as getting a bit more sleep. Then there are times when I need to just accept the situation and enjoy myself instead of being angry, such as a birthday dinner.

The point here is that getting mad at yourself can ultimately ruin your day. And it really doesn’t serve a purpose, other than highlighting your emotions. Just accept the situation for it is, learn and adapt, and make sure you move on.

Can’t Let it Become a Habit, Though

It’s OK to let yourself be bad one day on not feel like a failure. Enjoy your “cheat” day, just don’t let it become a habit. That’s how I gained so much weight in the first place.

I’m pretty good about getting back into production mode after binge eating. So, I’m not too worried about picking up bad habits again. But, not everyone reading this has the same amount of willpower.

If you do fall off the wagon, the important thing is to not be too hard on yourself. Yes, you’ll feel anger, frustration, depression, and possibly anxiety after a day of being bad. But it’s these negative emotions that will keep you in a rut.

Learn from your mistakes and do what you can to improve.

I know, it’s easier said than done. I’m a prime example of how hard it can be to stay focused and build willpower. I still have my moments of disappointment throughout the week.

Still Plan on Being Physically Active

One of the things my friend wants to do on my birthday is to take me out golfing. So, I’ll easily burn several hundred calories while on the course. In fact, I think I’ll use it as an excuse to do a case study for calorie burn.

But if we don’t make it onto the course, then we’ll probably hit a bucket of balls on the driving range. This, too, is actually quite a bit more physical than some might think.

In any case, I do plan on maintaining levels of being physically active. If anything, I am still playing the Xbox Kinect every day. So, it’s not like I’m spending the day sitting on my ass writing blog posts or playing video games.

Plus, I am working on a blog post for next week about using the stability ball with dumbbells, so I want to work on a few exercises I’ll be featuring.

I Could Go Healthy, But…

I don’t want to.

There are all kinds of healthy alternatives to what I want to eat on my birthday. I could go so far as to have a keto-themed party. But, I’m not really feeling that is what I want to do.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that…a lot of people may want to look for alternatives when partying from the perspective of food.

And because I know I am able to bounce back pretty well, I feel that I can afford a day or two of eating horribly. I mean, look at last week. I binged quite a bit and have still lost 7 pounds this month.

It all comes down to training your body and metabolism to adapt to days like this. The work I’ve put in lately has helped me stave off adding more inches to my ass and gut.

Here’s to 45 Years of Survival!

Once you get to a certain age, birthdays just really don’t have the same appeal. I remember back when I was a kid being excited about my “special day.” For me, it’s a Thursday, which means WriterSanctuary content and streaming that night on YouTube for ColoradoPlays.

In reality, it’s my kids who are more excited about it than I am. Still, I’ve managed to stay alive for 45 years, despite nearly kicking the bucket in 2016.

It’s my goal to go another 45 years before caching my chips in. But given the genetic nature of my family, I’m not sure if that’s possible. Still, I’ll keep trudging forward.

Perhaps I’ll break the mold.

About Author

Michael Brockbank

Since 2015, Michael has put in the effort to lose more than 80 pounds by gamifying fitness and eating proper portion sizes. He conducts extensive research into various health and fitness products to provide the best answers possible according to his own experience and knowledge.

See author's posts