Should you be doing this instead of a “cheat day”?

July 9, 2017 Ashley 0 Comments

“I’m sorry; I was just having a moment.”

Ever hear yourself say this? Ever get lost in “the moment”?

Yes, when it comes to indulging in bad food, I definitely Eminem level lose myself in the moment.

(Ah, yes, I recognize that expression quite well…)

I lose myself in a trough of takeaway noodles, and come to with my face glazed in Happy Family’s sodium filled sauce and a massive migraine, compliments of MSG. But I don’t have to feel too badly. Why? Because, after years of planning out cheat days that turned into cheat months, I finally listened to the experts who told me: “Don’t have a cheat day. Have a cheat ‘moment’.” See, the idea behind this kinda breaks from the traditional notion of going strong for six days with abstemious eating. We tell ourselves that eating healthily is punishment. We’re just surviving it. Then, Saturday comes, and all gastronomical hell breaks loose. Our tummy’s become finally-free college freshman who’ve been under their dietary parents’ stringent ruling all week long. And the buffet is their bar crawl. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not judging if this’s you. ’cause, trust: I used to do this right along with you. That is, until I realized it was failing me. I’d fall off the wagon too frequently when I gave a special day, each week, away to un-health. That, or I felt crappy for a day or two after from a food hangover. Which made me hafta ask myself: Ummm…. Isn’t that kinda the definition of insanity?

Doing the same thing and hoping you’ll feel different – even though you never do?

And the follow up question: Isn’t there a better way?

So, I read.

(But not like this. Never do this. This’s literally just as bad as texting while walking…)

I researched. And, after I read about dieticians confirming the fail rate of having a designated cheat day, I opted to try something new: allowing myself cheat moments instead’ve cheat days. See, the reason they say a cheat day’s less than great, is because it creates these unhealthy psychological rituals regarding food. This isn’t good because the tendency becomes one of celebrating unhealthy stuff, and resenting what’s good for us. We see our week long healthy eating as a penalty and cupcakes and quarter pounders as rewards for surviving the grind. Also, when we avert the health unfriendly foods in the first place, we don’t want the bad stuff so much. And that’s awesome. (Wouldn’t you rather just not want the bad stuff? And find something cooler as a reward for being healthy?) But every time we give in again, though, it has the potential to kickstart that craving all over again in our brains. It’s like an addiction ignition switch. The longer we go without it, though, the more we practice acclimating to enjoying and desiring our energizing, healthy foods. And after that comes the cool part. Because, once the new and healthy habits are in place, those rare unicorn occasions we give in at a shindig or less-than-fine dining experience, we’re less likely to regress later that week to dietary chaos. We’re less likely to lose our health and weight loss goals all over again. When you eat well 99% of the time and only topple off the weight loss bound wagon once or twice a month, it’s unlikely for the bad habit to stick again. You’ve already fortified the habits in your mind around healthy eating. And that makes it tougher to break. (Tougher than if you’ve been doing a weekly gorge fest.) So, instead of swearing off bad food or having a cheat day, just “have a moment”. Have it rarely and don’t plan it out – but let your hair down when you do.

Give in ‘n let your fur fall into your porridge like the Disney Beast, every blue moon.

And you’ll stand a better chance of becoming a Beauty and breaking your own habitual bad food spell.