Are Cheat Days Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Efforts?
When we are into our diets and we get some steam going–it can be a very delicate experience. We are depriving ourselves of the things we love and most diets that are meant to be long-term will allow for cheat days. But are the cheat days sabotaging your weight loss efforts? They can if you are not using sensible restraint.
You may be saying “aren’t cheat days to be unrestrained?” That depends how many cheat days you have and how much you are eating. Now, it takes a lot of food in a day that would cause you to gain any weight. However we aren’t talking one day of eating a ton of calories as being your downfall.
How are your cheat days sabotaging your weight loss efforts?
When you “fall off the wagon” so to speak, you may just start up some cravings and blow the whole thing. So one of the most important things is to make sure you aren’t using your cheat days to start up all the sugar and carb cravings again and again. There is a way to have cheat days that does not have to have a negative impact on your diet.
What to consider:
Different people have different weaknesses and also different things make them gain weight. What you need to consider here is what these things are and steer clear of what you had the most vicious cravings for.
Sugar is one of the biggest culprits and really bad carbs like the potato or white rice. So don’t go on an ice cream binge or have a loaded baked potato if this is your kryptonite.This is where people go wrong. They will treat their cheat day like a party not as a treat. The key here is to make sure you know yourself. Each person knows how much and what it takes to throw them over the edge. The key is also to be honest with yourself about what you are doing on cheat days. If you know it won’t be able to handle that rocky road or mint chocolate chip or the steak then simply don’t do it.
Your cravings come from the body being deprived of what it was first addicted to. So when you put it back, then boom you can be hooked again. And yes, it is just like any other addiction to anything else. So how do you have that little taste and do it right? You really do need to try it first and yes you may fall off but you won’t be devastated. Know what tells your brain to go for it and what doesn’t.
