It can be extremely easy to start a diet with determination and will-power but somewhere along the way, many people find themselves giving up on the challenge. Whether we are talking about people who are too busy for a diet, people who lose their desire for it, giving up usually occurs under the form of small cheats, snacks, desserts or fast foods with plenty of calories.
When it comes to cheating while on a diet, the general opinion is that it is an irreversible act and that it will forever ruin the outcome of your diet but are things as brutal as we think they are? Have you ever thought that cheating can actually be good for your diet or that you can find ways in which to reduce the amount of calories of those foods you consider a cheat?
The Truth about Cheating During a Diet
Did you know that there are people who consider cheating during a diet a necessity rather than a bad habit? That there have actually been books written about how to plan your cheats so that they favor your diets? So why are we still looking at cheating as a bad thing? If you ask people what happens after cheating during a diet, the wide majority would say that as soon as this happens the diets stops. This is the main reason for which people are so reluctant to consider that there might actually be benefits to cheating in the weight loss process.
But what if you kept going? What if you cheated and did not terminate your diet?
Studies have shown that people who did not get scared by small diet cheats and have moved on with their weight loss process have not been influenced by their bad habits and ended up losing all the extra weight. How can this be?
The most important thing you need to know about cheating during a diet is that, as long as you don’t exaggerate in quantity or do it daily, your diet will be absolutely fine. In fact, indulging yourself can even help you get back your motivation and help you go on with your diet. All you need to do is strengthen your mind and not allow cheats to become a regular thing. Let’s talk a little bit more about this:
How Can Cheating During a Diet Help
Cheating means eating forbidden foods, with many calories, foods that will sabotage your diet and bring back all the lost weight. Is that really true? Think back for a little bit. When u cheated on diets, did you gain back the weight from the cheat foods or did you gain it back from the fact that you stopped dieting after a cheat and turned unhealthy meals into a regular thing?
Planning cheating is actually an interesting concept proposed by a lot of famous nutritionists and refers to allowing yourself small quantities of the foods you love, from time to time, so that you lose the temptation of terminating your diet ahead of time. As long as you are strong-minded, dieting cheating can turn out to be a good thing for you.
Pretend Cheating
Did you know that there are a lot of ways in which you can turn unhealthy foods into healthy ones? By doing so, you are sticking you your diet but also getting to enjoy some of your favorite foods, albeit in a more healthy way. Here are some ideas:
- If you are fan of popcorn, don’t give it up while on a diet; if you prepare it yourself with little to no fat and salt you can still enjoy it (there are healthy low-fat oils you can use, you just need a little bit of imagination)
- If you love chocolate and find it hard to give up, consider replacing it with dark chocolate and reduce the quantity (20grams of dark chocolate have less than 100 calories)
- Did you know that peanut butter can help you lose weight? Although it has a significant number of calories it also contains fibers, vitamin E and proteins, which will help you feel fuller faster
- If you love pizza, learn how to prepare a mozzarella and vegetable pizza, with a thin crust made from whole-wheat flour; it will significantly reduce the calories but preserve the great taste.
There are of course countless ways in which you can turn healthy foods into delicious diet meals, you just need to do a little bit of research. And hey, you can think of this as your pretend cheat and as something that will give you the energy to advance towards your weight loss goals.
Regardless of what you thought of cheating during a diet before, the most important thing to remember is this: it is not the actual cheating that does so much damage, but the fact that most of us turn that cheating into a regular activity.
What are your diet cheats and how are they helping you deal with your weight loss process? Share your thoughts and stories with us via Facebook or Instagram and don’t forget to check out our Teatox products for a healthy and easy diet booster.