Have you ever cheated on a diet?
I’ll go out on a limb and claim everybody who has ever been on a diet has cheated. I’ll go even further, and claim that any diet without built-in cheating is doomed to fail.
That’s right, unless a diet lets you cheat, forget it. This requirement is second only to not eliminating any food groups in your diet (that’s a show-stopper too).
What does cheating mean? It simply means not having to stick to a strict diet all the time.
For example, if you can’t eat any carbs, you’ll end up wanting to kill for a dinner roll. If you can’t eat sugar, you’ll move heaven and earth for some. That leads to binging, which hampers your progress.
The best diet out there puts absolutely zero restrictions on you. In fact, it’s not really a diet at all. The Mediterranean “Diet” is really just a smart, healthy way to eat. That’s the key.
You can eat anything you want, including cake and pizza. You just can’t eat twelve pounds of it every day. If you do, there’s no way you’ll lose weight. But a slice of pizza once per week won’t kill you.
That’s what cheating is. Taking a break from the “no fat in my food” pledge is healthy. It keeps you balanced, which makes it easier to stay consistent. And staying consistent is the key to long-term weight loss and health.
So go ahead and cheat. It’s good for you.