Sometimes when I know I’m going to have a cheat meal or have already ‘messed up’ my diet for the day, I tend to say “What the heck, I’ve already messed up so I may as well enjoy myself and start fresh tomorrow. Come to think of it, since I have that get-together on Saturday, I may as well start on Monday.”
If you’re human and not a cybernetic organism, I bet you’ve had similar thoughts…probably within the last week!
Well here’s the deal, you don’t just get to hit the reset button and start over! The more you cheat (eat stuff you shouldn’t), the more work you’re going to have to do and the longer it’s going to take to undo the damage and get the lean, healthy, sexy, (whatever) body you want! Every bite of every meal that’s something you shouldn’t be eating is taking you further from your goal.
Let’s say you want to save $500 so you can go on that long three-day weekend trip you’ve been wanting to do. You’ve got $200 saved so far, but since it’s holiday and gift-buying season, you can’t afford to put any more aside for now. Would you say “Well, since I can’t save any more right now I should just go ahead and spend the $200 I already have put aside and just start over on Monday”? I highly doubt it, because you realize you’ll never save that $500 with that mindset.
Well, my friend, that’s exactly what fitness is like…you don’t just start over.
All the best,
Dr Clay
Dr. Clay,
Speaking of cheating, it would be interesting to get your take on the topic of cheat meals versus cheat half or full days for those using a low carbohydrate style of eating much of the time. I’ve seen various so-called experts discussing these topics and whether the potential benefits are mostly psychological or physiological (e.g. most will say any potential benefit of a cheat meal is strictly relegated to psychological, while half or full days of “cheating” would be necessary to elicit an impact on leptin in situations where that might be desirable).
You’re one of the few informed straight shooters out there, so it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this at some time in the future.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, and I hope that 2010 is your best year yet!
Dr. Clay,
With your amazing help, I was able to take my body fat down from 20 percent to an amazing 13.5 percent. 2 weeks after the peaking diet, I was a very lean 115 pounds..(haven’t weighed that since highschool!). But I went thru a phase for about 2weeks where, even though I felt full, my mind drove me to eat! And eat I did! Anything and everything! I ate good food and bad food but I just ate and ate! During that 2 weeks, I only gained 5 pounds and I have no idea how! Can you explain what may have been happening here?