David's Guide to Blood Sugar Control
Get your numbers under control today.
I have a lot of friends who have a cheat day built into their eating plan. They watch what they eat six days of the week and then one day, usually a weekend day, they allow themselves to have whatever they want – within reason. Well, there’s actually a popular diet built around this principle, but with this plan you don’t get just one cheat day you get two!
The Cheaters Diet by Dr. Paul Rivas says that the cheat diet helps dieters do the two things needed to help them lose weight: remain interested in the diet and keep their metabolism up.
The idea behind this diet is that by building two cheat days into the plan, the body doesn’t go into starvation mode and weight loss continues even after people on other diets hit plateaus. It’s not uncommon for weight loss to slow after you’ve been on a diet, this is because the body has been consistently getting fewer calories than it’s used to and so your metabolism slows down to compensate.
During the Week
When you’re “on the diet” Dr. Rivas recommends an eating plan based on the Mediterranean diet. He encourages foods that are low in calories and rich in healthy monounsaturated fats, lean meats and whole grains. Food on his plan includes, seafood, vegetables, lean cuts of meat, olive oil, salads and berries. He does not allow sugar, bread, saturated fats or alcohol during the week.
The key is to follow a structured eating plan Monday through Friday and then on Saturday and Sunday you can eat whatever you want. During the week it’s not only important to watch what you eat, but it’s also imperative to monitor how much you eat. Dr. Rivas recommends using the plate method and filling half your plate with fruits or vegetables, ¼ with lean protein and the remaining ¼ with whole grains. To help you do this he provides recipes and visual cues for portion size.
Cheat Days
This diet encourages followers to cheat on the weekends. By eating more on these two days you consume more calories and rev up your metabolism. When you resume your diet on Monday you’re going to burn more calories than you would have if you stayed on the diet over the weekend.
However, Saturday and Sunday are not free-for-alls. Dr. Rivas outlines recommended cheat foods that include pizza, chocolate, beer, wine, cinnamon buns, ice cream, strawberry shortcake and other comfort foods like cheese, bread, meat and nuts.
He advises against eating any foods that are triggers for you. If you haven’t been able to eat a food item without finishing the entire package in the past, you should still avoid it on your cheat days. You don’t want to put yourself in a position where you can’t get back on your structured plan Monday morning.
Dr. Rivas also recommends specific brands of cheat foods that he says are healthy for you and will increase your metabolism. These foods include Cinnabon’s Cinnamon buns, Smuckers Peanut butter and Dove Dark Chocolate.
Physical Activity
- Font size
- Email This
- Bookmark
- Thank you for your input
- Save
- RSS
- Report Abuse
