One of the greatest tricks that I use to stick to my diet is to allow myself a cheat meal once a week. For that one glorious meal I can have whatever my heart desires. I can eat pizza, cake, and ice cream, anything I want for that one meal. I believe that anyone who plans to diet for long periods of time should follow this principle. There are several reasons why I feel cheat meals are the key to dieting success.
First of all, we are all human. No matter who you are, you are going to have cravings for foods that you are not suppose to eat. The longer and stricter the diet, the more temptations you will have. It is human nature to want something that we are not aloud to have. Dieting is no exception to this.
The cheat meal approach to dieting allows us to break down and control our temptations. If we are craving pizza on Wednesday and our cheat meal is on Sunday, we know that within four days we will be able to satisfy our craving. We tackle our temptations with the approach that we can hold off the additional four days before we eat what we have been craving four. Under the traditional diet programs, we would not be aloud to cheat at all. From my experience with dieting over the years, the temptations for foods we want do not go away. In my case they become stronger over time. Having a cheat meal once a week allows me to stick to my diet by controlling the beastly temptations before me.
Another advantage to a cheat meal is that it is an award for us. Dieting is not an easy task and we should never expect people who are changing their eating habits to all of a sudden loose the desire to eat unhealthy food again. Dieting is a goal that should be rewarded not only physically, by the way your appearance will change, or mentally, the increase in self-esteem, but also should be a reward for the taste buds as well. Each week should be like a little goal to try and make it to the next cheat meal without breaking your diet. If you succeed, you eat whatever you want without any feelings of guilt whatsoever. You earned the right to that sixteen-ounce bowl of ice cream and you should not be ashamed to eat it either.
There is another benefit to the cheat meal approach in dieting. After time, you body will adjust to the current caloric intake that you are on. If you eat the same thing everyday, or the same amount of fats, proteins, etc., your bodies metabolism will eventually slow down to adjust to the current caloric intake levels. Cheat meals along with some other changes I make to my diet in the week allow me to shock my system. I keep my body guessing throughout the dieting process. I constantly adjust my carbohydrate, protein, and fat levels to keep my metabolism from slowing down. The cheat meal, if done once a week, is another way to effectively shock your body into maintaining a high metabolism.
In conclusion, if a cheat meal is to work effectively it has to be done once a week not once a day. The main objective of the cheat meal is to allow an individual a process or tool to use to defeat temptations that may arise during a diet. The second advantage to a cheat meal is that it is a weekly reward for all the hard work you put into your diet. The final advantage is the cheat meal is another way to shock your body. You keep your body guessing as to what your daily caloric intake is, therefore allowing yourself to maintain a higher metabolism.
Gerald Gore is the owner of the online fitness review site One4Fitness. For more health and fitness related tips and reviews on workout equipment visit Gerald's site at http://www.one4fitness.com. One4Fitness also offers a FREE Health and Fitness newsletter at http://www.one4fitness.com.
apartment cleaning near Highland Park ..You may not like what I'm about to say, but... Read More
The latest trend in the area of weight loss is... Read More
Chant the following each day, several times. They are mantras... Read More
1. Drink plenty of water. Our body needs a lot... Read More
The Dr Atkins Diet has been around for ages, but... Read More
Have you ever stopped to calculate how much time you... Read More
Today you have a good chance of getting diabetes or... Read More
Looking for Diet Programs on net is like looking for... Read More
To see the "low carb" diets on the way out... Read More
It seems there are two schools of behavior patients follow... Read More
So your neighbor, office mate, best friend, whoever just lost... Read More
Everybody you know is on the latest weight loss bandwagon:... Read More
Are you someone who has, in the past, been on... Read More
The huge companies stealing your money by promising impossible results... Read More
Permanent Weight loss is not about Diet. If you are... Read More
Obesity acceptance, also known as fat acceptance, has a simple,... Read More
I was so embarrassed for her. After a grueling 45... Read More
What is the link between Hispanics and obesity? Are people... Read More
1. Increase your water intake to at least 1 gallon... Read More
One of the biggest misconceptions about exercise is that there... Read More
The holidays are now officially over and it's time to... Read More
There are all kinds of fad diets and quick fixes... Read More
Am I missing something here? If I am, someone please... Read More
There are many factors responsible for abdominal fat like processed... Read More
An eating disorder is a life threatening condition that often... Read More
cleaning lady near Arlington Heights ..On the road to weight loss, fitness, and health,... Read More
For some of us, food is warmth and love. We... Read More
Body wraps can help tone and tighten the skin, improve... Read More
The only way you will ever follow through on an... Read More
Compulsive eating is characterized mainly by periods of impulsive bingeing... Read More
Two basic approaches to losing weight; one approach is correct... Read More
If you have recently found yourself fretting over your child's... Read More
Have you ever wondered why diet books always seem to... Read More
How to Break the Weighing HabitFace it, if you weigh... Read More
A very interesting story was reported recently by WebMD.com. A... Read More
Maybe your doctor suggested it. Maybe your favorite outfit doesn't... Read More
Believe it or not, losing a little or a lot... Read More
Let's not talk about diets. Diets are punishment ? like... Read More
When you truly consider the weight-loss process, the battle waged... Read More
Whether coming from a close friend, the nightly news or... Read More
I'm sure you have heard it before, but one of... Read More
Digestion is a chemical process. Our body combines different types... Read More
Gastric bypass patients face a great task in the following... Read More
Dieting and weight loss is almost certainly the most lucrative... Read More
When you are faced with the daily challenge of trying... Read More
Some of you will not like what I'm going to... Read More
If you want to find a way to lose weight... Read More
In the early nineties I had the opportunity to work... Read More
When we hear all the success stories of the gastric... Read More
Whew! So how did you do on that last lesson?... Read More
Weight Loss |