Cheat on Your Diet Once or Twice a Week

Written by Yasar Shahzad Saturday, 03 July 2010 16:09

Cheat on Your Diet Once or Twice a Week

I am going to conclude this section on a note that will probably make you very happy. Paying attention to detail and eating healthy, natural, nutrient-dense foods most of the time is important. All the little things count, and if you cheat, it always has an effect on you. However, don’t worry about being strict 100% of the time. Food is one of life's great pleasures and when you deprive yourself of this pleasure completely, it can trigger almost overwhelming cravings. Some cravings are physiological in nature, such as those brought on by skipping meals or eating too many simple sugars by themselves. Other cravings are psychological in origin. If you’re too strict on your diet all the time without allowing yourself any leeway for an occasional indulgence, you can trigger these psychological cravings. Being too strict all the time can set you up for serious cravings and bingeing (unless you have the willpower and discipline of a world class athlete.)

It's human nature to want what you can't have or aren't supposed to have. If you have an occasional hankering for junk food, go ahead and get it out of your system. Don’t deny yourself completely. In fact, if you’ve had a great week, you can and should consider your cheat meal as a well-deserved reward.

Designate a “cheat day,” perhaps one day on the weekend, and give yourself permission to have one (or at the most two) “cheat meals" of whatever food you want, then get right back on your regular nutritional program. I do NOT recommend having an entire cheat DAY. I am suggesting one or two cheat MEALS per week. Depending on your body type, you may be able to cheat more often and still get results. However, don’t fool yourself into thinking that it doesn’t matter. Everything matters and every time you cheat you are slowing down the time it takes for you to reach your goals.

Promise yourself one thing right now: If you’re going to make a decision to eat something that’s not allowed on your regular program, at least do it as a reward and enjoy it, don’t do it and feel guilty. If you’re going to feel guilty, don’t do it at all! Just remember that you need to eat good foods most of the time to get good results. If you eat five times per day, that's 35 meals per week. If 33 or 34 of them are perfect, then a "cheat" meal or two isn’t going to have a substantial impact. In fact, it might help. Here’s why:

Amazingly, if you eat a "junk food" meal once a week, this not only will satisfy cravings and help prevent you from bingeing, but after weeks of low calorie dieting, a day of higher calories may even give a sluggish metabolism a boost. If your calories and or carbohydrates have been reduced for a prolonged period of time, your metabolic rate can begin to decrease. Once metabolic slowdown begins occurring, there’s only one way to speed up your metabolism and that’s to eat more. When you’re severely depleted, a cheat meal can actually be like fuel in the furnace. It’s a welcome treat for most people, but more importantly it can actually give a sluggish metabolism a kick in the pants!