Top habits of successful dieters: Take the day off occasionally

Habit: Take the day off occasionally

One of the things that always frustrates me is seeing someone who looks lean and fit having a meal that is clearly 'bad' for them. "HOW DOES SHE DO IT?! So lean, but eating JUNK FOOD!" my mind screams.

Well, there are two things at play here.

Number one: One bad meal doesn't affect your weight. BUT a bad meal five times or five days in a row does.

And number two: You NEED to take a day or meal off your strict eating plan EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE. Not once per day. MAYBE once per week, MORE LIKELY once every two weeks.

That 'bad' meal you're watching someone eat may actually be helping the person to stay lean or even get leaner.

Why?

Because you need to keep your body guessing a bit in order to keep shedding the weight.

Because you need to keep your body guessing a bit in order to keep shedding the weight. If it gets too used to a low calorie diet then the only way to get leaner is decrease calories further. But if you have a high calorie day every now and then you can effectively trick your body into not settling into a pattern of low-calorie eating.

The best way to do it?

Identify one day every week or two and eat too much (double the normal amount) of (mostly) healthy foods. The extra calories will help you achieve the effect you’re looking for.

You DON'T EVER need to eat twenty donuts to do this. You're still looking to nourish your body.

The next morning you should notice that you actually look leaner. Weird, but true. Try it.

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