Because the chocolate or apple pie would cause a feast, I typically look for creative ways to pack more calories into my diet.
One way I help cut the calories from the ‘cheat day’ is by eating healthy foods, such as cottage cheese or yogurt, and loading up with extra veggies on a daily basis.
Add in meals like cauliflower steaks (avoiding the cheese!), stir-fried vegetables, and a mid-morning smoothie (nope – I never skip that part!), and you’ve got a healthy meal plan to help curb the craving.
Since you don’t want to feed your stomach a diet of energy drinks, energy bars, and other unhealthy snacks, I like to add a new food to my diet to help with this challenge: vegetables.
If you plan on staying on this diet, you’re going to need to have at least four servings of vegetables, preferably one per meal. The idea behind this is that you’re getting enough protein in your diet, so you need something else to balance it out.
I suggest including steamed, roasted, or sautéed vegetables as well as some type of fruit, and you’ll see that the extra nutrients in vegetables are really worth the extra calories.
I like to encourage people to include greens in their diet as a way to keep hunger at bay. I know, you’re thinking, “Hey, my favorite vegetable is broccoli,” but broccoli isn’t exactly healthy in a vacuum.
Carbs, veggies, and proteins are absolutely important, but to lose weight you’re going to need a balanced diet – that’s why I encourage people to include lots of healthy foods, such as spices, fruits, and vegetables.
The key here is that vegetables contain antioxidants and other nutrients that are crucial to staying healthy, such as vitamins A, B, C, and D, and fiber. That’s a great place to start when losing weight.
If you’ve never thought about eating vegetables, now is the time. Give this a try and see how you feel after just a few days. If you really want to start seeing results, you’ll have to find something else to add into your diet on a daily basis.
Next on the list: Beverages. It’s easy to get into the bad habit of constantly drinking one cup of coffee, one glass of juice, or one glass of tea. Once you start, you’re going to want more. One of the best ways to cut back on the calories you drink is to plan your day around your beverage and make it a priority to avoid getting too thirsty.
Not only is thirst a great way to subconsciously eat (you’re thirsty so you need to snack), but a lot of people still drink too much. These drinks can include soda, juice, and fruit juice, which are three of the worst for nutrition. One glass of juice and a handful of popcorn are much more nutritional than one glass of juice.
Once you’re conscious about the ‘cheat days’, I’ll also recommend that you save one cheat day per week. If you change other aspects of your life, like entertaining yourself with new casinos to try out online, that can go a long way in taking you mind off the tendency for strict diets to start becoming stale.
As someone who’s been on several diets in the past, this is another reason I love this diet – it helps me stay mindful of the diet and avoid feeling hungry, which helps keep me focused.
