Cheating Your Way to Diet Success
Most of us equate “cheating” on our diets with failure, but it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, it’s possible to “cheat your way” to a slender, healthy new you – IF you do it right. The most important thing to do is change your perception of what a “cheat” really is.
Right now you may think of cheating as eating something you are not allowed to have – those “forbidden” foods that tempt you oh so much! The problem with making foods completely forbidden is that it will only intensify your desire for them if you know you can’t have them.
Instead, why not change your perception of forbidden foods and instead call them “occasional yummy indulgences” or “treats worth waiting for”? If you know that you can have some of these goodies now and then, you won’t feel such a strong wave of temptation every time you see them, smell them, or hear about them. You’ll know that you can indulge occasionally, so the urgency to have them right now will fade somewhat.
The Challenges
The first big challenge is in not making these cheats a daily occurrence, because that’s what got you into trouble weight-wise in the first place.
Decide ahead of time how often you will cheat.
It’s very feasible to cheat once a week, or twice a month and still continue to lose weight very steadily and easily. Do what would work best for you. If you notice that a weekly cheat slows down your weight loss too much, push it out to every 2 or 3 weeks and see if that works better.
The second challenge is in keeping serving sizes modest. A cheat does NOT have to be a 3-scoop hot fudge sundae with all the fixings. In fact, if you gorge on your treats you will only reinforce the perception that you are out of control and can’t enjoy treats.
On the other hand, if you firmly stick to having just a small serving of whatever goody you wish to enjoy, you will keep reinforcing your perception that you CAN trust yourself with food and you CAN lose weight while still eating foods you enjoy.
Keep in mind that this approach may be more challenging for some people than others. If you have a strong habit of eating for emotional reasons, you may find that cheating becomes a convenient excuse to overdo it and sabotage your weight loss. Not good. If you struggle with this, it might be a better idea to space out the treats more, like once every 3 months.
As you gain better control over your eating habits, you should be able to enjoy a treat now and then without slipping into old destructive habits again.