My Thoughts on Dieting and Cheat Days

With marathon training, also comes trying to zero in on a proper diet. I was pleased with my weigh-in yesterday. I’m losing the right kind of weight: I’m starting to see a significant drop in my body fat percentage. I was also asked by a co-worker, as she perused through a pharmacy flyer, about my opinion of nutritional supplements and the weight loss pills promising to shed pounds off instantly. Generally, my answer was that I thought crash diet pills are largely a scam: most of them are substances that are loaded with some combination of diuretics, excessive caffeine, or other stimulants that put one on a cycle of rebounding, and ultimately only do more harm than good. When people ask me about what I have practiced for any real weight loss success, they don’t generally like or want to accept the answer that I give them: I don’t believe in anything except hard work, persistence, and patience. I probably looked a bit hypocritical after I explained that, since she saw me sampling a dessert later that day. That’s because I mentioned this during the day which was also my “cheat” day: when I get to eat anything I want; usually sampling those fatty, greasy, salty, sugary, carb-laden things I’ve listed as cravings in the previous six days of the week. The weekly cheat day (Saturday for me) is important for the following reasons:

1.       It gives the metabolism a large boast, which will prevent the thyroid from resetting itself to a lowered energy burning level

2.       For banking enough sufficient nutrients, minerals, water and energy for the super-tough workout you will have to do on the following day (e.g. the 19 plus kilometers of running I’ve done today), and getting adequate protein to heal from the pounding taken earlier in the week (provided you cheat with some high protein meals)

3.       To dissuade and deter any feelings of deprivation. You can still eat anything you want; you just can’t eat that thing exactly when you want it. It allows you to take one step back and six steps forward: which will still advance your progress, as opposed to one forward, one back, one more forward, one more back, maybe one more back,which leaves you stuck in exactly in the same spot or worse

4.       Most importantly, I think for me at least, is that a cheat day will undoubtedly change the perception and attitude of the food that initially was craved before. If you gorge yourself on enough of it, there will be a higher likelihood that you wouldn’t want to eat it again for a long while.

Here are the strategies I use to make my cheat days count, and to stay disciplined on my regular dieting days:

·        Note what you are craving. I actually use the notepad, or the camera on my iTouch to make a list and/or capture those instances when I am at anytime craving something. Record it, and be very specific. The iTouch/iPhone* note and photo apps are great in that they also automatically date/timestamp the photo or entry, so you can note any patterns of times of the day when you typically get any particular craving. Save them and review them when your chosen cheat day comes. Then, decide if you really want to eat any of the items you listed. You’ll realize that some were just fleeting moments of temptation; let them be so and let them pass and feel proud that you gained some willpower and discipline. Around 80% of the things I initially want and note as cravings are just passing fancies. Some other cravings on the list are still enticing, so indulge in any of them on the cheat day.

·        Really make an effort to taste and savour your foods on the cheat day. Hint: when you eat slower, you’ll feel fuller faster. Ask yourself, and discover what it is that you really love about this particular food you’ve chosen. Is it for one of the four basic taste sensations (sweet, sour, bitter, salty)? Is it the texture (creamy, crispy, chewy, etc.)? Is it a particular flavour (spice, herbs,chocolate, butter, fruit, etc)?  For any one of those naughty food treats with those characteristics, there is a healthier alternative or substitute out there with those same prefered qualities of flavour or texture to use on your non-cheat days. Stock up on them.

·        If your cravings for fast-food/junk food are triggered by a TV commercial, get real and tell yourself that it always looks better on TV than it actually is, and paying dearly for, and then getting something that ends up being mediocre is a waste of your time and money. Don’t be a sucker to the mass-media.

·        Be mindful that there is a sometimes a big difference between a food’s smell, and its taste. For instance, I love the smell of freshly baked bread, but I’m quite indifferent to the actual taste of bread in general, plus I’m mindful that it usually has to be doctored up with something else that’s usually calorie loaded, like butter, or jam, to make it tastier. Don’t allow yourself to fall into the trap of eating something just because it smells good. If the smell is better than the actual taste, just allow yourself to enjoy the smell.

·        Reserve your most intensive workout day of the week on the day after the cheat day. There is a price to pay for that reckless abandon. For the rest of the week you pursue moderation in exercise, rest as needed, and stick to your diet.

I would guess that this cheat day strategy would be very challenging for people who are majorly obese, prone to being impulsive, have addictive personalities, who can’t offset their need for instant gratification, or too damn stubborn or obsessive to think of alternatives outside the limited set of things that they think will give them satisfaction.

Food addiction is not like anything else we construe as addictive, like smoking, gambling, drinking, or other drugs, because we actually need food to physically survive, and we just can’t treat it like any other bad habit that we could eliminate entirely. It's our relationship to it that has to change. Cheat days are valuable for contemplating the value of the quality and quantity of the food intake we have. It is a day of indulgence, but also a day of being mindful of one’s consumption: a positive new habit that most people struggling with weight problems have probably never ever explored before. I think that is the major factor that will determine if a diet will work for someone or not.

*-Addendum: regarding iTouch, it doesn't work so hot for editing blog entries, the spacing screws up somehow. In other words, I'm really not that careless as a writer if you saw all the spacing errors earlier before i corrected them.