2017 is turning out to be a tempted vixen in disguise. I’ve been good and dedicate to my regiment- (I’m referring to food here), in case one let their mind wander frivolously. Invariably the cosmos aligned and temptation had me meet a lovely lady who asked me out on a dinner date. Yeah, that’s a first for the year. I am as surprised as you are-believe you me! Whilst I promised utter dietary dedication over the last few weeks, I couldn’t just sit there and eat a salad while she consumed her meal in abandonment feeling guilty every other passing minute.
I decided to play the chivalry and cheat card and order on behalf of us both. She was kind enough to accept. Started off with a mushroom soup and a wholesome salad followed by some vino and a clam pasta with a light drizzle of olive oil, chopped garlic and some oregano seasoning. Dessert in a sinful chocolate mousse was for one with me playing second fiddle, consuming a miniscule excuse of a gelato to keep up with Robinsons.
Let’s pause for a second- I think splurging on a diet is mandatory, not an option. Now that I’ve got your attention, taking away a person’s favorite foods can be the death knell to a diet, in my honest opinion. I read somewhere of this concept called ‘structured cheating.’ Allow me to play devil’s advocate and elucidate this concept further. There’s a difference between enjoying your favorite foods occasionally and eating everything you adore. The key to maintaining ‘control’, is deciding what you want and how much you’ll have, and then “eat it with full consciousness … lick your lips, and then move on with your life.”
Here’s my personal 5 cheat point plan to allow one to lose weight without literally losing one’s mind.
1) Accept your “binge foods.” Acceptance is half the battle won. We know your desire for them isn’t going anywhere. And as we all know, when you tell people they can’t do something — like enjoy a slice of pie — they’re going to want to do it even more, human nature at its defiant best. With this in mind it builds up a ‘calorie count meter’ that’s imperative to psyching ones mind strategically much like the feeling of a depleted bank balance at the end of the month in lieu of our salary credit.
2) Have a plan. As weird as it sounds this helps me every single time. “If you happen to be a dessert lover (like moi) and eat out ever so frequently (guilty again), ask to see the dessert menu first,” This way, you can budget your calories for what matters most to you. Knowing where you’re really headed — toward that lemon cheesecake, perhaps? – It will make it easier to skip the creamy clam chowder or deep-fried cheese sticks as mains.
3) Eat what you love, in small portions. You can have it all, just not all in one day. No food is off-limits as long as you keep your portions reasonable. Don’t believe me? Make a beeline to my next review and witness it first hand. Everything goes! I cheat daily. I satisfy my sweet tooth with a teaspoon of organic honey that I keep in the freezer so it melts slowly with the slurp atop my tongue and satisfies my craving without consuming too many calories. Also try the ‘8-chomp mastication rule’. Chew each morsel of food repeatedly 8 times and over before consumption. This is scientifically proven to gestate and burn food simultaneously with a workout of sorts.
4) Compromise. Much like the lovely ladies who urge me to watch Netflix rom-coms over Sci-fi fantasies at home, a diet is a love affair filled with compromise. I love my creamy chicken salad- however drastic changes were made to mine by cutting the calories with replacing half the mayonnaise with yogurt. Compromises are an empowering thing. Especially when a Rom-com can be practiced in real time post the movie v/s a dream within a dream, if you get my drift?
5) Cheat galore only on what you love. Here’s my philosophy- ‘If it’s bad (for your diet), it had better be good’. So instead of grabbing a trio of donut holes each morning with ones coffee, and distractedly downing a doughy 300 calories, I would recommend splurging on something worth savoring. Donuts to me could be a perfect wedge of pineapple upside down cake, if your heart so desires?
Having opened up the cheater’s handbook, the underlying principle, which you got to stay committed, too is any format of physical activity or a mix format of a few. Kickboxing, Yoga, Pilates, cycling, swimming, walking, running anything goes. That’s something one could never cheat on irrespective.
So go ahead; have your weight loss and eat cake, too!