Cheat Days

The debate about cheat days has been around from the time the word diet was first spoken.  It's tough for some people not to cheat, while others can remain fairly discipline on any nutritional regimen they use.  There are many reasons why cheat days should be part of your overall lifestyle and there are also very good counterpoints against them.  As with anything in life cheat days are about striking a balance.


First you have to ask yourself why are you making the decision to eat something unfavorable?  Is it because it's 12:30am and Dominos doesn't close till 2?  Or is it because you really have been good with your eating habits and just need to "reset" your mind for one meal.  Maybe it's your daughters 3rd birthday and she looks up at you and says "daddy can you have a piece of cake?"

Whatever the case may be, cheating and moderate exposure to less favorable foods is inevitable for EVERYONE.  No one is perfect, and the fact of the matter is, it is impossible to know exactly where every single piece of food you put into your mouth is coming from.

So what is one to do?  Just say screw it and eat crap because there are so many variables out there?  No.  You can eat Paleo consistently and that is why it is favored by so many people out there.  You can make the right choices more easily with Paleo eating because there are no stupid "points" or calories to count.  Visually you have a good idea of what you're eating because you can see it's a natural food and not some pink scary looking processed chicken mcnugget.

Cheating happens and will continue to happen the rest of your life.  Luckily there are a few things you can do to help yourself when a cheating situation presents itself.

1) Eat ahead of time if you know you'll be around a ton of crappy foods
2) Make the best decision of the choices in front of you - For example, let's say your at a party or event and there is pasta galore around you and the only thing remotely Paleo is some form of cold-cuts.  If you're starving, have a few and preserve your muscle loss for the few hours that you may remain in this situation.
3) Cheat with the purest of food options available.  This one is a bit tricky to find most of the time but it pays to eat foods that are made up of natural ingredients when your cheating versus pigging out on a charleston chew or krispy kremes.  This just means if you're a baked foods junky don't cheat with oreos and hohos use your cheat and eat something that's baked using the least refined ingredients.
4) Control your portion size and make sure it's on lock down.
5) If there's truly nothing favorable around do not eat at all.


Understand that if you were to cheat once a week that makes you a cheat eater 52 weeks out of the year. Think about the big picture before you cheat.  52 weeks is a lot of cheat meals.  Some people argue if you're going to do it, do it right and go hard or go home.  Eat till you puke from all that crappy food so it makes you never want to do it again?   For some this may work, but just remember that staying consistent does involve a little bit of effort and planning ahead on your part.  There are some truly amazing food blogs out there with some outstanding recipes, tips and resources.  Utilize them to the fullest and always be prepared for the next meal or long durations in between meals.