Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Cheat Day, defined

Are you trying to lose weight, or to eat a little healthier?


Have you been eating too many delicious DipSticks Gourmet Pretzels? :)


Years ago I attended, and then worked for, a nutritional counseling company called MPS Weight Loss and Wellness. It was a fascinating, new concept of eating whole foods, mostly whole grains, fresh fruit and veggies etc. No preservatives and all that good stuff. It worked big time! I lost lots of weight and kept it off for a long time. I gained a lot back with child number one, but was able to lose it once I started following the basic concepts again, and have maintained a consistent diet of these types of food until recently. (my candida battle doesn't allow many foods that were allowed on the MPS plan)


One term we used that I believe may have been one of the best things to come from that class was the notion of a "cheat day."


All too often we start a diet and end it in a few days or weeks (or in my case, hours) because we can't bare the idea of "never" being able to eat food X again.


So, with the cheat day concept it works like this:
As you crave specific foods, write them down prominently somewhere so that you can see it.


I put it on my refrigerator. I write things like Taco Bell, Lemon Meringue Pie, pizza, whatever I happen to crave at any given moment. Some weeks the list is a mile long, other weeks it's only a few items.


The act of writing this down does two things. It takes the immediate action of wanting (craving) something, and putting a time line on it. It makes you feel good knowing that you will definitely get that food again, just not until Saturday, or whatever day you have determined your cheat day to be. (it really helps to plan the cheat day around a special event like weddings, or holidays too)


And, most importantly, once you actually get to the cheat day, you will find that you only eat one or two things off of that long list. Thus, saving you tons of calories and regret. It works liked magic, and I suggest giving it a try for a few weeks.


You'll be surprised how easily you manage what you thought was too difficult to concur.

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