An old boss once told me over a drink: Once a smoker, always a smoker. And somehow quitting cold turkey or with the use of patches or chewing gum hasn’t worked and after point the craving always wins. The same is true of fad diets, crash diets or whatever you would like to call them, with little or no result in losing weight. If you don’t know this, almost 95% of diets followed are a complete failure, so let’s challenge the status quo by taking a ‘deviant’ approach to this topic, by understanding the concept of the cheat diet.
If you study people who go on a diet, almost all of them will feel the masochistic brunt in a short while as they deprive themselves of indulging in their favorite foods. Not to mention the anally retentive front that rears its ugly head at friendly and family get-togethers where everyone else is really having a nice time, leaving you to watch (and not eat)… the very pleasures that make life a bit more tolerable. Talk about cheating yourself!
Look familiar? Feels familiar too… doesn’t it? And it’s not funny at all…
Yet most nutrition experts today are accepting that it’s actually advantageous to resort to ‘cheating’ on your diet once in a while! Well, why not? We’re no strangers to the idea cheating to get ahead in other aspects of our lives… aren’t we? Hehe.
What makes this so interesting is (for vs. against) debate in favor of the ‘cheat diet’ concept.
If we look at the argument presented against the cheat diet concept, it uses an analogy of ‘saving money’ to cheating in a diet. It goes further to dismiss the notion of being able to get away by cheating on a diet. To elaborate, if you cheat with what you eat, it’s like splurging when you’re actually try to save money. So what they’re trying to say is that it works against the diet that you’re trying to maintain.
Conclusion: You won’t get here in a hurry, which was why you began in the first place.
Although the logic of the argument is rather simple and straightforward, it remains inconclusive without evidence. And here lies its weakness as it’s obvious that everyone’s body is so unique that it is borderline stupidity to make such generalized statements. Lewis Black in his rant on “Black on Broadway” spoke about a 100-year man interviewed by medical experts who asked him what his secret diet was in staying fit and alive this long. To which he responded: As much bacon and grease as it takes! Some people can only be that lucky… who knows, maybe a ‘cheat diet’!
And this brings me to the argument for those in favor of a cheat diet, fronted by Joel Marion with his break away from traditional dieting principles and the study of the hormone, Leptin.
Marion says that it is important to have a ‘cheat day’ when you can indulge in your favorite food (not going overboard though) while carefully following a carb-diet throughout the week. Yet experts suggest that it is an appropriate and safe dieting plan to follow. He also includes a strict cardio and strength training routine as well. And most importantly, he includes extensive research findings from various medical journals as well as evidence based on his personal experience.
Finally, this brings me to the hormone Leptin which is said to control appetite and in turn, will control obesity by helping you stay more active, hence ensuring that you burn more energy i.e. metabolism. Interestingly, what you eat regulates the amount of Leptin in your body and several medical experts have outlined a basic diet that you can find on the internet. An interesting fact while dieting is that you can increase your Leptin levels by having a ‘cheat day’.
In summary, these are some ways by which you can indulge without succumbing to bulimic tendencies regurgitation et al.
So, what do you think about the cheat diet idea? If you’ve had any experiences, feel free to share.
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