Employing well-executed cheat days can help you to push through your diet initiatives. By incorporating cheat days into your weight loss plans, it will be easier to stick to your overall goals. Here are three things that you need to know about using cheat days as part of your plan to lose weight.

When to Cheat

If you decide to lean on cheat days as a way to keep you motivated, you need to decide when to cheat. If you do not want to use an entire day for cheating, you can pick just one meal per week to splurge. You should also choose your cheating occasions in a way that best suits your personal schedule. For example, if you know that you have a social event coming up that will provide eating temptations, perhaps this is the day that you want to designate as your cheat occasion for the week?

Cheat Smart

Just because you are using one of your cheat days, it does not mean that you have to go all out and eat too much. You want to use your cheat day to indulge a little without going overboard and negating all of your efforts for the week. One way to cheat smart is to allow yourself to eat your favorite foods but with slight modifications. For example, there are even healthier pizza options you can choose if you have a craving. Using low-fat mozzarella or a whole-grain thin crust can help to cut the calories and fat while you still enjoy eating pizza.

Don’t Be Discouraged

If you decide to instill a cheat day system, it is important that you are not discouraged if you fall off of the wagon and go overboard. Just because you stray from your intended goals on your cheat day, it does not give you license to keep binging. Instead, you need to remember that every day is a new start in your goals to boost your overall health. An unexpected binge can leave you feeling discouraged and frustrated. To combat this, do something good for your body such as going for a walk and making yourself a healthy meal. This will get you back on track.

It’s hard to stick to any weight loss plan without rewarding yourself occasionally along the way. Incorporating cheat days into your plan will keep your motivation up and help you to avoid the dreaded weight loss plateau.

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