How Not To Cheat On a Diet
Continued from Stomach Hunger vs. Emotional Hunger.
Actually, you should cheat on your diet – it’s healthy – but be smart about it and develop a relapse-prevention plan.
Inevitably you’re going to indulge in too much birthday cake or go on a guacamole-and-chips bender at a Mexican restaurant.
That’s OK as long as you know how to correct your behavior the next day.
“Just because you splurged doesn’t mean everything goes out the window,” says diet expert Charles Stuart Platkin. “People throw in the towel because they don’t do any planning.”
Keep your relapse-prevention strategy in your back pocket so you can turn to it immediately. And keep it simple. For example, make sure that your next meal is particularly nutritious or that you go for a brisk 45-minute walk the next morning.
The idea isn’t to instantly negate the damage; a walk may only burn off 300 of the extra 900 calories you overate. “But emotionally, it gets you back on track,” says Platkin, whose personal strategy is to temporarily stop going to restaurants.
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