What I mean by "cheating" is the occasional "gotta-have- that-piece-of-pecan-pie" that occurs only when the opportunity strikes. We all do it, but the idea is to always go back the next day to the right WOE.
I believe it is counter-productive psychologically to plan a cheat, and/or to use it as a reward. (This indicates a mind-set that has not accepted the fact that to stay trim for life, we must stay on the WOE, at least in the maintenance portion, which allows a few more carbs.) The real reward is the self-esteem brought on by the hard bod and the weight loss. Staying at our personal-best weight for life is our real goal, is it not?
Planned cheating also puts a negative onus on the diet, that makes it something we are just suffering through, and when we have lost the weight, we will feel free to go back to the old addiction of sweets and pasta. (Result: another cycle of yo-yo/leap-frog weight gain, a very unhealthy outcome. How many times have we all done this?)
I have noticed a great number of Posters on this site that admit that they have “been on and off the diet several times.” This makes it obvious that they never really accepted the fact that they must stay on this WOE for the rest of their lives to stay healthy.
In my seventy years, this is the only diet that is comfortable to live with. The low-fat, low calory diets, and others, (I’ve tried most of them) are temporary, because few people will starve themselves (and should not) for very long. On low carb eating, starvation is not required. If you are hungry, you’re not doing it right.
We have become spoiled, and believe we can have it all, but this fact remains: enjoy your carb-addictions and be fat, or accept that we must find the best WOE for us and stick with it.
Believe me, it does not get easier when you get older. In fact, the “middle-aged spread” we have come to accept as normal, is the result of an accumulated insulin-resistance, that requires more and more insulin to handle the blood-sugar load. As most of us know, all carbs basically turn to
sugar in the blood, causing high insulin release by the pancreas. Insulin is the hormone that not only controls the blood sugar level, it also facilitates fat-storage. With our low-fat, high-carb society, is it any wonder we all are getting middle-age spread decades early?
