Rules for Cheating on Your Diet | Foodfacts.com

Nobody’s perfect and that’s especially true when it comes to eating a healthy, well-balanced diet. Diet modification experts say you have to plan for occasional splurges as part of the long-term plan. Atlanta personal fitness trainer Beth Lewis offers empowering psychological advice to her clients who need a boost: “Don’t mistake setbacks with failure.” So, here are a few ways “cheating” on your diet can actually be a refreshing and powerful strategy to support successful weight control.

Order dessert first

This strategy helps you plan the rest of your meal around the rich dessert you really crave. The waiter may think you’re weird asking to see the dessert menu first, but you need information on your destination before you can map out the meal. So, if you know you’ve just got to have the chocolate cheesecake or coconut cake with pineapple ice cream, then you will make sure not to start with the fried calamari appetizer or the creamy New England clam chowder. Save yourself for your true love, dessert.

Picture this

A food diary or journal can help you keep track of your intake, so you won’t be caught going over your daily calorie limit. Resources like Foodfacts.com also offer tremendous help. Research shows the most successful dieters do it and do it daily. Your journal notes don’t have to be super detailed. This will give you an insightful snapshot of your relationship with the foods you love. Nowhere to write it down? Text yourself a message or, easier yet, take a photo of your meal.

It’s about technique

Your Foodfacts.com Blog editors are wondering: did you know that properly fried foods have less total fat and calories? These are the bad boys worth the heat. If fried foods are greasy, they are going to be higher in total fat and calories because they’ve soaked up more oil. Cooking oils with a high smoke point (peanut, olive and canola oils) allow foods to fry at a higher temperature and, therefore, cook faster and absorb less fat. However, fried foods are always a splurge.

Accessorize sensibly

As fashionistas know, accessories can make or break a look. The same goes for smartly dressing your dinner plate. For instance, think of blue cheese and bacon crumbles as accessories. They add flavor and flair to a dish, but too much just piles on unnecessary fat and calories. So, when you’re dining out it’s not necessary to totally avoid the butter, gravy, cheese sauce and full-fat salad dressings; just learn to accessorize sensibly.

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Source: http://blogs.ajc.com

Photo:  JOEY IVANSCO/AJC Special

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