Cheat Days!

I got my first suggestion for a topic in my email. Thank you Carrie! Here was her question:

"I've been on other diets that allowed one day to have a 'cheat' meal, and it really gave me something to look forward to. Can I have a 'cheat' meal on your diet?"

Here's how I feel about cheat meals, and the reasons why I feel the way I do. First, with diets that allow "cheat days" they also have other gimmics attached - No carb diets, No fat diets, yada, yada, yada. On those diets your body starts craving the things you're keeping from it. If you're on a no carb diet, guess what you'll crave?

With the lifestyle I'm proposing, you won't crave those types of things. That doesn't mean you won't be tempted by them if they're in your presence, but you won't crave them when they aren't. You get carbs, you get fats, you get protein, you get EVERYTHING with this lifestyle. Your body isn't depleted of anything, it doesn't crave anything. Here's the surprising thing - if you crave ice cream, that craving can be taken away with fruit - it's sugar for sugar. The only way it ISN'T taken away is if you, while eating your fruit, think to yourself "this isn't the same as ice cream." To your body, it kinda is the same - only much, much healthier.

Here's my second reason for not agreeing with cheat days - and see if this makes sense. If you are choosing this lifestyle to help you lose weight, it means you had a problem with the previous lifestyle that made you gain weight - portion sizes, snacking, fast foods, etc. Why introduce a food that in your previous lifestyle helped to make you unhealthy? Look at it this way, would you want an alcoholic to have a cheat drink? Do you think that, over time, those cheat drinks may turn into binges?

If you eat healthy, body-beneficial foods, you won't desire the foods that got you into trouble. Again, if you're faced with them, then you might be tempted - but you won't crave them. So, in my opinion, cheat meals aren't necessary, and they're downright dangerous. Because cheat meals turn into cheat days, which turn into cheat weekends, and there you go...

Thank you for your Email, Carrie. I hope I answered your question with reasons that make sense.

Remember, you can reach me at bnessel1973@gmail.com.

Thanks for readin'!