Cheat on Your Diet

Dieting can get pretty boring, especially if you're restricting your meals and are eating the same old food. If you’ve been dieting for a while and feel craving pangs sneaking up on you, you might be considering making a small cheat on your diet. However, rather than reacting in guilt to this idea, consider the possibility that doing so might just be what ensures that your diet does continue satisfactorily. In fact, many weight loss experts believe that incorporating a scheduled "cheat meal" or "free meal" every once in a while will help you lose weight more efficiently because it helps with adherence. In a study where participants were instructed to deliberately go off of their diets, the surprising result was that they did not lose any less weight than the control group (which did not take a break from their diet) and they had no problem returning seamlessly to their diets.[1] This implies that it's better to "cheat" on your diet on purpose because it gives you a greater feeling of control than a spontaneous cheat, in which you are more likely to binge.[2] Don't give up, don't start binging... but "cheat"!

Steps

  1. Cheat by making smart choices. If smart snacking isn’t part of your diet protocol, consider adding it as your daily “cheat.” The right snacks may actually help to boost your metabolism, while at the same time reduce your desire to overindulge. In fact, if you're on a diet that restricts food or calories, you may not getting enough nutrition to sustain an active metabolism––which may bring weight loss to a grinding halt. Instead of not eating, consider eating six small meals or snacks throughout the day to avoid spikes in blood sugar levels. Examples of smart “cheat” snacks include:
    • Instead of going for the full-bodied, extra buttered popcorn, consider adding a little butter spray (such as non-stick butter spray) and light salt to hot air popped corn.
    • Suck on hard candy during the day. No one will know what you are eating, plus the candy will satisfy your sweet tooth cravings.
    • In the mood for chocolate? Try a version of weight control or sugar free hot chocolate. Many brands contain 25 calories but deliver the same rich, chocolate flavor that may help curb your cravings.
  2. Cheat with your favorite foods––just practice portion control. You don’t have to limit your cheat meals to raw carrots and sugar-free hot chocolate. You can have your pizza and eat it too. Avoid packing on the pounds by eating a smaller portion of your favorite foods including ice cream, pizza and pasta. The Mayo Clinic asserts that you can eat anything you want and still lose weight, as long as you stay within the parameters of eating less. In fact, some overweight people eat what is considered to be a healthy diet, but simply eat far too much food. The American Cancer Society gives examples of what is considered to be a normal portion amount:
    • 1 oz. (28g) meat should be the same size of a matchbox
    • 3 oz. (85g) meat is equal to a size of a deck of cards or bar of soap (the recommended portion for a meal)
    • 8 oz. (226g) meat should resemble the size of a thin paperback book
    • 1 medium potato is about the size of a computer mouse.
  3. Hide alcoholic drinks with seltzer or another low calorie beverage. Going out and want to have a drink? Instead of going with a full-bodied drink, add a low- or no-calorie mixer. One of the lowest calorie alcoholic beverages is vodka. For a vodka and Diet Coke, you're imbibing only 56 calories per drink versus 116 calories in a 175 ml glass of dry white wine. If you don’t like Diet Coke and prefer something clear and sparkly, skip having a vodka tonic and request vodka and club soda instead. Tonic water has almost the same number of calories as a regular soda, whereas club soda has none. You can also mix drinks with Crystal Light or use another calorie-free drink mix for lower calorie cocktails.
    • Drink eight ounces (236ml) of water between drinks to stay hydrated and reduce the number of calories you're drinking.
    • Add sparkling water or club soda to white wine to reduce calories.
    • Don't overdo cheats on alcohol in your diet. Alcohol is not the dieter's friend as it is so easy to take in lots of calories without realizing it.
  4. Go out to dinner. While eating out on a daily basis can stall weight loss and even encourage weight gain, eating out every once in a while can help you stay on track for success. Why? If you’ve been eating the same number of calories for several weeks, bump up that number by 200 to 500 calories one night to rev your metabolism. How does this work? Eating different amounts and types of calories from time to time is called caloric cycling. The metabolism reacts when it's fed a higher number of calories and has to work harder to gobble them up. Many body builders and fitness experts practice "caloric cycling" to build muscle but also to boost metabolism. However, when dining out, don’t go crazy to boost the number of calories; in fact, many dishes that appear harmless may be packed with more calories than you require:
    • Select an appetizer as your entrée. Go for something that has green, leafy vegetables and is light on sauces––salad for an entrée is perfect. Request the dressing on the side and avoid anything that is fried.
    • Eat only half of the food on your plate. Practice portion control and take the rest “to go.” Toss the food in the trash when you get home. Or, if you feel safe, give it to a homeless person on the way home.
    • If you opt to have a drink, skip dessert. If you choose dessert, pursue fruity, light items rather than going for the chocolate mousse bomb.
  5. Avoid talking about your diet. One of the things that can make you feel bad when indulging a little now and then on a diet are the recriminating looks and scolding comments of others who know you're on a diet and who feel free to make their own judgments about your intake. The less you talk about being on a diet and the more you simply assert that your eating choices are the way you prefer to eat, the less people will be quick to jump up and point out your detours. Unless your friends and/or family members know every intimate detail of your diet they won’t be any wiser if you add cheat foods. This means that you can cheat out in the open without being badgered.
  6. Just don't eat the fattening stuff. You could eat sugar free cookies etc. They taste delicious.
  7. Consider one square of dark chocolate a night as a reward for sticking to your diet all day. It has about 70 calories and it's melt in your mouth, oh so rich and decadent taste will send the pleasure centers in your brain into Nirvana. Individually packed ones from Ghirardelli come in several flavors.



Tips

  • Replace food with something else to obsess about: write a novel, start walking, then up it to running, crochet yourself a giant afghan while you watch ever episode of Upstairs, Downstairs. Do something different so you won't be obsessed with food.
  • Consider that it took you a long time to gain weight, so it will take a fair amount of time to lose it. Slow losing may last longer. Yo-yo dieting is bad for you. Eating a new way takes time to become the new normal.
  • Subsidize your diet with plenty of water or club soda. The more you drink, the fuller your feel during the day, which ultimately reduces your desire to cheat.
  • Don’t beat yourself up if your cheat becomes a binge. Instead of throwing up your hands in defeat, climb back on the diet horse because tomorrow is a new day.

Warnings

  • Never drink and drive; drink alcohol responsibly.
  • Avoid restricting your diet to eating less than 1,200 calories per day. Not only will you slow your metabolism, your body won't receive the nutrition it requires to properly function.
  • Don’t become so diet obsessed that you end up eating your “cheat foods” at night to avoid anyone finding out. Eating before bed prevents you from properly metabolizing calories and may even encourage nightmares. And cheating all the time simply means you'll never lose weight and risk putting it on with the added calories on top of the diet food. The "cheating" advocated in this article is more akin to indulging now and then, not nightly binging or scoffing.
  • Before you consume a sugar-free treat, check the label to make sure it contains natural sweeteners, rather than artificial ones such as aspartame, which can cause weight gain.
  • Alcohol, like sugars/carbs, cause our bodies to store calories as fat, so consuming it on a weight-loss diet is doubly bad.
  • Hard candy is NOT diet food.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12582226
  2. ↑ http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

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