2 Tips on Cheating: Cheat Days vs Cheat Meals

Ahhh, the infamous cheat day!

First of all let me start by saying that you should attempt to plan your diet in such a way that you have the flexibility to have the foods you really enjoy during the dieting process. Doing this reduces the need for a cheat. The following are some general steps a NuEnergy member may want to consider when approaching the subject of cheating:

Before you have a cheat you need to be 100% honest with yourself about whether or not you can handle a cheat day. For some people a cheat day turns into a cheat weekend, then a cheat month, and unfortunately a cheat year. So if you feel this may happen to you then you might want to stay strict for the time being.

Now if you’ve determined that you can handle a cheat, you need to decide if it’s going to be a cheat day or a cheat meal. There are a couple of factors to take into account when choosing between a cheat meal and cheat day, mainly how long you’ve been dieting and how intense your cravings are (the latter is usually a by-product of the former). If your cravings are INTENSE, then you’re probably better off having a cheat meal once a week. Now keep in mind that I define a meal as: all that you eat in one sitting and any leftovers must be discarded. Since the cheat meals will be weekly, you run the risk of plateauing your weight loss. If you find this to be the case then you may want to cheat lighter next time. On the other hand, if you haven’t been dieting too long and your cravings aren’t too intense then you may be better off taking a cheat day once every other week or so. In this case a day would be considered done at midnight of the day you started cheating. Again, these are all generalities and you can get a more customized experience with the Online Coaching option HERE. Stay tuned for part 2 of this blog where we discuss unscheduled cheat days and cheating around social events…

*Some folks may experience cheat day ‘hangovers’*