Go cheat, to stay loyal!

Renupreet Kaur

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Summers and long holidays are interconnected for the young lot. But if you are committed to shedding oodles of weight and side-by-side enjoying these holidays, you need to be a little bit tricky. Normally, gymming and diet programmes go hand-in-hand and your hard work shows in terms of desired results. But rewarding yourself off and on for this hard work will boost your energy levels to stay on the track. 

In other words, following 80 to 90  per cent of your diet in a week and rewarding yourself with delicious meals once a week is not a bad idea. For example, if you take five meals a day that means you are taking 35 meals a week. Out of these, if you take liberty during 3-5 meals so as to amuse your cravings, it is definitely going to be a mind booster. Therefore, relax and enjoy the weekend meal of your choice but at the same time, just keep in mind that you are on a diet and try to make smart meal choices with the help of an expert.

Of hormones and 

brain signals 

An important factor to always bear in mind is that mindless noshing during cheat days doesn’t happen. Fat cells in our body secrete a hormone called Leptin. Leptin helps maintain energy levels. When its levels drop down, hunger signals to the brain are at their peak. You tend to eat mindlessly but if its levels are maintained, your brain signals that you have sufficient stored energy and puts you on the normal mindful eating. Including some healthy carbohydrates in the meal is the best way to avoid such situations. 

Choose your cheat day

When on diet, decide the cheat day in advance. Make a tentative plan but try to keep five days of diet before having a cheat break. A structural meal plan is a better idea to keep you on your diet track and to satisfy your cravings simultaneously.

Rule of moderation

Follow the rule of moderation. One single cheat day a week can blow out your six hard effortful days of diet. Moderate eating is very effective while keeping one foot out of your routine diet. 

(Renupreet Kaur is a Chandigarh-based dietician)