Giving up your favorite unhealthy foods isn't always easy. It seems the harder you try the more obsessed you become and the more you cheat. The following tricks can help you cheat until you don't need to cheat anymore while still losing weight.
Balance It Out
The problem with eating unhealthy foods is they often prime your body to store fat. Anytime you eat meals/snacks high in carbs and high in fat like cinnabons, fries, krispy kremes, or snickers, your body turns on the fat storage. The same goes for meals/snacks high in carbs alone like half the bread basket at a restaurant followed by pasta with marinara sauce. The trick is to balance your meal to include the missing protein and fat. If you want a high carb fatty pastry eat it but drink a protein shake first or have a few egg whites on the side. If you're craving a big bowl of pasta add a tablespoon of olive oil and include some lean ground beef, baked chicken, or fish. If you need chocolate, try a small handful of soynuts before indulging. The advantage here is you'll probably eat less of what you're craving and control your insulin response so less of it gets stored as fat. Great for those who get the occasional craving. **Tip: Adding foods to create a balance can increase calories so you may have to reduce portions.
Divide It Up
You're craving a big mac meal with large fries and coke or you feel like eating an entire peperoni pizza or a pint of ice cream. No this isn't healthy but let's be realistic we all have moments like this and need a strategy to handle them. The best thing to do when this happens is to divide up your meal into several portions that you can eat throughout the day. Your body will process smaller amounts of calories instead of storing excess calories as fat. For example a big mac meal is over 1000 calories so you can eat half then have the rest later. Yes this takes discipline and it may not taste as good once it's reheated but it's well worth it. If you want a whole pizza try having a slice every two hours. You may find that your craving is satisfied with much less than you thought. Another good strategy is going half with a friend or co-worker who is also trying to drop pounds. **Tip: remember when losing weight that eating quality food is sometimes more important than the quantity so don't make this an every day habit.
Save It For Your Free Day
This is a classic trick used by body for life followers and many bodybuilders. The trick is eating 100% clean 6 days a week. This means no sweets, no alcohol, no fatty foods, no fast or fried foods, no huge portions of anything and absolutely no overindulging in starchy carbs. On your free day you can eat all the cheesburgers, pizza, beer, chocolate, donuts, cake, candy, sodas, and fries you want. Initially this will be great but after a while you'll find that overindulging like this just makes you feel yucky and you'll keep it to a minimum. This is great for people who need to gain self control and stop overeating. **Tip: keep all junk out of your house during the week and only buy enough for your free that same day.
Do It The 90/10 Way
Some just can't live without their treats and nothing's wrong with that, which is why plans like the 90/10 diet plan and weight watchers are so popular. They both allow you to eat daily treats as long as you stay within your daily calorie allowance or points. The key with this strategy is choosing treats low in calories that will satisfy your craving so you can easily stop after having just one or two. For example two mini nestle crunch bars are 104 calories but enough to curb a chocolate craving without ruining your diet. This is great for people who can stop at just one or two of something really decadent. **Tip: If you're into sweets balance your sugar intake by including healthy fats in your diet like flaxseed oil/pills, raw almonds, and avocados. If you're into salty treats drink plenty of water to avoid bloating.
Bring On The Substitutes
Cravings are a passing thing but most people often just can't wait it out and cave in only to feel guilty or disgusted after indulging. If you're this type of person substituting with a healthier options works really well. For example, if you're craving chocolate ice cream at almost 350 calories per cup, you can substitute with a fudge pop for just 50 total calories. If you're craving something crunchy and salthy like a small bag of potato chips at a 150 calories per bag, you can have 1 cup air popped popcorn for just 30 total calories. The key here is choosing foods similar enough because the reason you may be craving the food in the first place is probably emotional. **Tip: Just because you're choosing a healthier option doesn't mean you can eat more of it. Be sure you're sticking to one portion and monitor those calories.
Rules for Drinking Alcohol
Maybe you like an occasional glass of wine with dinner or you want to go partying with your friends. Because alcohol is all carbs your only option here is to balance with protein. Have a shrimp cocktail, a 3 oz steak, or grilled chicken and vegetable kabobs to balance out all that sugar. **Tip: Drinking inhibits your body's ability to burn fat for 48 hours so try to keep this indulgence to a minimum.
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