7. Designate ONE Day on the Weekend as a Cheat Day
I am a firm believer that purging ourselves on the weekends is one of the secrets to long-term diet success. I heard a quote recently that read “long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity”. The folks that purchase gym memberships on January 1st each year only to quit by February 1st are the definition of short-term intensity. This is because they try to do too much all at once. There’s nothing wrong with that. Many of us are type A’s who like to go all in on everything we do. This usually works to our benefit, but with dieting, it can overwhelm us. Personally, I have found that if I know I can go absolutely ballistic on Saturday with food, I will be much more inclined to stick with healthy choices during the week.
This is because knowing that I can purge a day on the weekend gives me incentive to stick with my diet plan. We all need incentive. We may not think about why we do certain things, but 99% of the time, we are incentivized in some way. Therefore, if we know that we can purge our cravings with food once each week, we will be more inclined to stick with a healthy diet plan 6 out of 7 days. If we do this, we will see the positive results we are looking for in the long run.